A long way to school

                A long way to school.
             (Caminito a la escuela )


walking  in someone else’s shoes :

Imagine going thru a 7 or 9 year  journey,  with nothing in your hands, being forced to leave your familly just to find a shelter where you can feel safe , survive and with the hope that on the way you can  find a better life opportunity.

This was the life story for many Haitians since  the earthqucke of 2010 that left the country devasteted (No shchools, no hospitals, no houses,no jobs, more than 150 000 deaths.  ) 

When I was in Tijuana Mexican boarder, I met  a community of  Haitians that live in a church that opened their doors to them. I started as a Spanish teacher 


(Every day from 6 to 9 at night the kitchens were transformed into a classroom)

There I became close friend with Andre  Senat, a member of the class.

I still remember the day he approached me and  started with "I have a friend that is eager to study"and that  led into a long list of precise questions which made me realize he was talking about himself, but he was so afraid of being rejected again and ashamed of asking for help that he didnt want to say that it was him looking for an opportunity to enter a mexican college. 

It made me sad  to know that he had been rejected so many times before, during his 7 year journey and this created a barrier for him to ask for help.. 

 (this is my friend Andre, and he was holding his highschool diploma)

I took Andre`s dream of studying so personal, because I had the chance to know his story, to feel his passion for having a degree . I knew he applied to universities in haiti but just before entering  the earthquake swallowed everything.  He then  applied to some Universities in france but got rejected. He found himself with no other way that leave his familly , he took corage and went to Brazil where he worked  temporary jobs for 4 years  In Brazil, he also applied for universities and a scholarship and got rejected again. After other 3 years of walking miles and having temporary shelters he ended in Mexico.

So after knowing all this, I helped andre validate his studies and  I presented his case to my university , who accepted to give a 100% scholarship to Andre and today he is in his 3 semester of Telecommunications Engineering (IT). 

(Andres smile the first day he signed his documents for entering college,the boy next to him is his brother who already drop out of collage because of economic problems)

Even though he was able to start with a 100% schoolarship  theres still a lot of help that Andre needs in order to make the goal of finishing his degree. He is going into a lot of struggle nowdays  getting so tired between working at nights or weekends,  studying ,  leanguage barriers , new university system, trying to pay for a room  and help his familly back in haiti, it is getting harder for him to continue the paste of his studies.

We are asking for your help to give him economical support so he can keep going and finish his degree.

 
All the money raised here will go directly to Andre’s account. 

 No donation is too small.

 Thank you all so much for Reading Andre’s story and considering helping him !