Scholarships Change Lives

For Edouidge Joseph, age 19 and currently completing her final year of secondary school at College Classique in Fond des Blancs, giving back to her community is a priority. “It’s important to me to remember others in my community who are still in the situation I once was in and help them as well because I was once in the situation where I needed the help,” says Edouidge.

Edouidge is one of over 700 students HEI/SBH supports for primary and secondary school and university degrees. Through the Scholarship initiative, entirely supported by individual donors, we provide over $50,000 worth of support to students in Fond des Blancs. Recipients of the primary and secondary school scholarships are chosen based on need, while university scholarships are awarded on a combination of factors, including need, merit, and community involvement.

A year of school tuition in Fond des Blancs costs up to $160. In a place where many people live on less than $1 per day of income, families are often faced with the difficult decision of choosing between sending their children to school or putting food on the table. Going to school becomes a luxury some children simply don’t have.

“St. Boniface started paying for my school in the first grade,” says Estinvil Dulienne, “This was very good for me because my brothers and sisters didn’t have the chance to go to school the way that I’m going now because my parents were not capable of paying for their education. After my parents passed away, it was even more important for me to be receiving this chance and opportunity.”

Like many students in the program, Estinvil’s scholarship allows her to have big dreams for her future.

Thermitus Kervens, a junior at St. Francois Xavier school, is very conscious of the power that HEI/SBH’s donor-supported scholarship has had on his life. “If I didn’t have this aid then I wouldn’t have gone to school. I wouldn’t have this uniform that I’m wearing now and have the knowledge that I do now,” he says. He wants to give back to the children of Fond des Blancs after attending University

A single scholarship is not only an investment in one student but in his family and the whole community. 

Keltande Matignan knows the power of education first hand. She received an HEI/SBH University scholarship for her nursing degree and returned to Fond des Blancs in 2012 to join our team. “I wanted to work for St. Boniface because the hospital helped me and believed in me and because I love my community.”

Keltande was the first in her family to go to college, and now supports two of her sisters in University. She knows that it was the generosity of HEI/SBH’s donors that have helped her achieve her dreams.