Programs

HEC COVID Vaccine Mobilization – Haitian Voices Can Save Lives

Many Black people including those from Haitian decent are reluctant to take a coronavirus vaccine. In a mean to safe lives, Haiti Education Center (HEC) has teamed up with health care facility including Fort Myers Rehabilitation and Nursing Center of Lee County to host a series of education center to educate the participants about the vaccine. Dr. Jean E. Jean Baptiste, MD who is a Pediatrics Pulmonary Specialist in Lee and Collier Counties in collaboration with Dr. Claude Villiers, Engineering Professor at Florida Gulf Coast University and President of HEC took on the challenge to respond to skepticism by explaining how the vaccines were developed and emphasizing that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine studies included Black and Latinx participants. The program includes the following:

• Establish your credentials and brief life story
• Identify biases/myths that are typical to Haitian in relationship to vaccines/medical interventions. 
• Discuss in some detail the process to produce an approved vaccine (including that with Pfizer, 44,000 clinical trial participants, with Moderna, 30,000 participants).
• Ask “What are your concerns/reasons not to take the vaccine?”  Record responses on the White Board and discuss. Write questions in a white board.
• Ask question “What would it take for you to agree/choose to receive the vaccine?”  Record the responses in a white board.
• Summarize the highlights and leave them with encouragement (not a command) to be open to receiving the vaccine:
  • For yourselves
  • For your families and friends
  • For your patients and co-workers
  • For the larger Haiti community

US Election system.  

During the 2020 presidential election and the down-ballot state and local elections, HEC staff created “How To” messages and sent them via text and emails to a number of native Haitian voters across the country.  Emphasis was placed on Early Voting, both in person and Vote by Mail, due to concerns related to the CORNA 19 Virus. As a result, these voters were able to participate in the 2020 election at multiple levels and with confidence and an understanding of the required steps in the election process.  

Computer Program in United States of America

Computers have become an electronic device of almost every day use for individuals of every age. Today, everything related to your everyday life can be done using computers. Haiti Education Center host a 4-module basic computer course for anyone who want to build their computer skills. This course includes the following topics:

• Introduction to computer
• Introduction to typing
• Proficiency in Emails
• Effective use of Internet

This class is be taught by University Professor, Dr. Claude Villiers.

Computer School in Haiti

 We opened a Computer Center in the town of St Louis-du-Nord in the northwest of Haiti. The center is equipped with desktops along with monitors/mouse, laptop computers, printers, and projectors to serve at least 10 students per time period. All the computers along with generators were shipped in Haiti. In the future, we hope to power the center by a solar system of 30 to 36 solar panels, which will supply 10 hours of electricity per day to run the center. The backup generators will still be used to supplement electricity in case of heavy rain or other natural events that may cause failure of the solar system. A local staff in Haiti was trained to operate and manage the system.

 

Microsoft Excel Course

Microsoft Excel is a database widely use in almost all professions. Haiti Education Center hosts a 5-week webinar to teach all you need to know about Microsoft Excel. This course designed to:

To teach the syntax, features, and commands of Microsoft Excel in quick and efficient ways. By the end of the course, you will learn how to:

• Set up workbooks
• Enter data 
• Format worksheets professionally 
• Perform mathematical calculations commonly used in a wide range of professions
• Create charts/graphs and tables
• Troubleshoot and correct errors 
• Print worksheets, charts, and tables

 

ASSOCIATION DES MEMBRES ORGANISÉS POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT DE DESGRANGES (AMODD)

Projet d’une école informatique

Objectif: Doter les jeunes et adultes de la communauté des connaissances en informatique 

Disponibilité 

• une sale pouvant l’accueillir 20 étudiants.
• Quelque matériel de bureau

Mode de fonctionnement

• Recrutement des professeurs
• L’école fonctionnera les soirs
• Frais d’inscription $30 et $50 frais mensuel
• Cet agent sera utilisé à l’entretien des appareils, achat de gaz et pour payer les professeurs 
• Nous aurons aussi une petite caisse en vue d’amortir les dépenses antérieures 
• Nous dresserons rapport mensuel pour vous faire part de l’état financier de l’école.
• Vous serez informé de toutes modifications s’il en a

 

Panel Discussions

Whether you are high school students, high school dropouts, high school graduates, or college students, you are invited to a round table discussion that highlights career opportunities and growth. The panelists have different personal and professional backgrounds. They will briefly discuss the professional experiences, successes, and struggles they encountered throughout their careers. The ultimate objective of this event is to generate a set of best practices that will allow the participants to achieve their educational goals and career development. This event is an opportunity for you to explore education advancement and job opportunities in various fields in the US. We anticipate and interactive, lively Questions and Answers (Q&A) session.Click below for more information.Panel Discusion – Flyer_10-07-2013_2pages

HEC and FEF Collaboration

Haiti Education Center (HEC) recently collaborates with Florida Education Fund (FEF) and delivers a 5-week webinar series entitled “Best Practices for Obtaining Faculty Positions: How to understand the comprehensive process related to filling faulty/postdoc vacancies.” This program involves the McKnight Fellows, through the Florida Education Fund (FEF), based in St. Petersburg, FL. Dr. Claude Villiers and Mr. Bob Soter, from the HEC, created and delivered the webinar. This webinar was attended by McKnight Fellows, minority students in higher education selected by the FEF. This group of students includes students from the Caribbean region including Haiti. The webinar was a joint effort, focused on the missions of both organizations and was held October thru December,2020. Webinar evaluations submitted by the McKnight Fellows indicate that the results were significant.

HEC and FGCU Collaboration

For the past six (6) years, Haiti Education Center (HEC) has been working closely with FGCU’s Office of Community Outreach and Collier County NAACP. Dr. Claude Villiers, President and Founder of HEC has developed and delivered a residential camp for high school students in Lee and Collier counties. Since 2014, over 271 high school students from Lee and Collier counties have attended. The main objective is to expose these students to the STEM fields. Eighty-two percent (82%) of the students are from underrepresented (Black or Hispanic) groups.

HEC and FGCU Collaboration

In last three (3) years, Dr. Villiers started a National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) summer camp for high school students in Southwest Florida. Twenty-two students (majority of them are from Haitian decent) attended the NSTI camp. This is a STEM program designed to introduce and exposed the camp participants to the Civil Engineering field. 

FGCU seized the opportunity offered by these summer camps and recruited students, especially underrepresented minority students, to increase diversity in the university. On average, 35% of these students select FGCU as the university in which they will pursue their bachelor’s degrees. Dr. Villiers have published four (4) peer-reviewed proceeding articles that highlighted the success of these programs over time.

HEC and FGCU Collaboration

For the past 8 years, Dr. Villiers has overseen the Florida Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP) program at FGCU. This is a multi-million dollar grant funded by the National Science foundation. Fifty-two (52) students participated in the FGLSAMP program since 2012. A number of these students including Jabari, Natalie, Magdonald, Jean, Amos, China, and many more were either born in Haiti or have parents who are from Haiti. One hundred percent (100%) of the 52 students are expected to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in their perspective STEM fields. Thirty-five (67%) of them have already completed their Bachelor’s degree including two (2) Ph.D. s or terminal degrees and six (6) students with a Master’s degree. Last year, one of the students in the Bioengineering program was accepted to a Post-baccalaureate (postbac) Research program with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). An exciting event that recently occurred is the resubmission of this grant for another 5-year period with other universities in Florida and Georgia (see appendix for confirmation).’

HEC and Immokalee Foundation Collaboration

Last of 2020, Dr. Claude Villiers and Mr. Bob Soter from Haiti Education Center (HEC) provided the content for five Thursdays in this five -week virtual Summer Camp for the Immokalee Foundation Construction and Engineering program. The Immokalee Foundation program manager specifically requested engineering content and although this course was held virtually, the Immokalee high school students participated in several hands-on projects. This group of students included students from Haitian families in Immokalee. The necessary materials for each project were distributed to them and they followed careful, sequential instructions to complete each project. These completed projects were retrieved by Immokalee staff and given to Dr. Villiers, who then tested each project in the engineering laboratory at Florida Gulf Coast University. Thus, this distance learning Summer Camp became interactive.

Health Fair

The objective of this program is to educate the community, especially those in underrepresented groups to their personal health care. Past health fairs have held in the Christ Community Church in Fort Myers and has been supported by the Haitian Church of Plantation Alliance Ministry Mission. During the Fair participants had the opportunity to check their vital signs, including blood pressure, temperature, and pulse. There have been physicians and nurses on site who conducted preliminary check-ups. Professional staff also provided presentations to educate participants with basic information related to health. For example, Dr. Jean E. Jean Baptiste, MD who is a Pediatrics Pulmonary Specialist spoke on recognizing symptoms and prevention of asthma. Dr. Jean-Baptiste graduated from the Universite Detat Dhaiti Faculte De Medecine Et De Pharmacie in 1982. Additional presentations were given in other topics including Stroke Awareness and how to deal with the stigma of mental illness. The HEC partnered with the Caribbean Association Social Club of Lehigh Acres (CASCOLA) to hold this Health Fair.

Annual Banquet Celebration

Haiti Education Center hosts an annual Banquet on on the last Saturday in December. The purpose of this event is to celebrate both the end of the calendar year, as well as, Haitian Independence Day, January 1st. In addition to being a celebration this event is designed to be a fundraiser to benefit the HEC various programs. Another goal of this celebration is to identify and elevate the accomplishments of HEC over the past year. This joyful event includes Haitian music, food and dancing. To promote this annual event Dr. Villiers spoke on several times on a local radio stations including Radio Tete Ensemble and Radio Caribbean.

HEC and Haiti Online University Collaboration

Dr. Bathemly Bolivar, President of Haiti Online University University and Dr. Claude Villiers, President of Haiti Education Center (HEC) have teamed together. Dr. Villiers has taught several classes including Auto CAD and Excel for students who attend the Haiti Online University. In addition, HEC donated computer equipment and books to the University.