Teaching Technology in Haiti

The following article was written prior to the devastating earthquake in Haiti. To contact The Children Heritage Foundation or inquire about aiding their efforts in Haiti, email or call .

When Jose Pierre, founder and CEO of Marketware International Inc., travelled to Haiti in 2007 he was struck by the enduring beauty of the country. He also met young people who were starving – for opportunities. That gave Pierre an idea. Marketware, a financial IT firm that develops Microsoft-based products including the .NET-based webBroker Plus, currently outsources some of its development to India.

“The whole tech discussion started about why couldn’t the same thing be done in Haiti,” Pierre says.

Upon his return to the U.S., Pierre decided the first step would be to create a program to better train Haitian students for work in the IT industry. Together with his wife Bernadette, Pierre started a foundation, The Children Heritage Foundation, to raise funds and begin laying the groundwork for an IT training program.

After speaking to several universities, the foundation found support from MIS professors in the U.S., who agreed to develop the IT curriculum. The American University of the Caribbean, based in Les Cayes, Haiti, donated classrooms for the program’s instruction. A team of students from Hunter College, of the City University of New York, developed the English proficiency curriculum, as Pierre had decided that the classes should all be conducted in English.

“We felt that part of Haiti’s isolation is that people speak Creole and French in a region that is primarily English and Spanish,” Pierre says.

With these steps in place, the foundation is moving forward, with its first class of 30 to 40 students beginning study this fall. At an information day on June 19, 300 prospective students attended, some of whom had returned from the Dominican Republic to apply for the opportunity. A two-year technical degree and four-year applied science degree will be offered.

“That way if students wanted to continue their studies, they will have a degree from an accredited American university. We want to give them a fighting chance,” Pierre says.

Pierre plans to open an office of Marketware in Haiti in two years, when the first class would be graduating, starting with small Web-development type tasks.

“We want to make sure they have opportunities and that we are not just creating the knowledge with no opportunities when they are done.”

There are still challenges: the foundation is still hoping to raise money for more laptops as well as for transportation of equipment. In addition, fiber optics is not in place and today Internet connections remain slow at best.

Yet Pierre feels those challenges are outweighed by many of the positives that Haiti has going for it. The government has expressed strong support for the program, and Pierre and members of his team have already met with Haiti’s president and prime minister. With a median income of $500 a year, the population is eager for opportunities. Former president Bill Clinton’s recent appointment as UN Special Envoy to Haiti may help bring attention to infrastructure issues. And then there’s proximity – the country can be reached by plane from the New York area in just three-and-a-half to four hours.

“Three-and-a-half to four hours from a major city in the most powerful country in the world. We cannot solve all the world’s problems but we can begin to make a difference.”