Charity of the Month: Haiti Scholarships!

I guess I should put a disclaimer on this blog, and note that I am heavily involved with Haiti Scholarships, and hence I have a vested interest in you checking it out, and hopefully supporting it. I guess...legally speaking, I don't have a "vested interest" per se, since I don't really derive any private benefit from this, but I do get enormous personal satisfaction in the work done through Haiti Scholarships :)

So what does HS do? The purpose of Haiti Scholarships is to do what it's name says: to provide educational scholarships to students in Haiti. What this organization does is very important for reasons that I think most of us don't know: public education in Haiti is sorely lacking--indeed, something like 90% of schools in Haiti are private schools, which means that in order to attend the majority of schools, parents have to pay for tuition, books, and uniforms. The other 10% I'd imagine are heavily impacted, and although I have nothing to back me up (yet), I can't imagine the quality of education being provided being all that great. Without scholarships, many kids are unable to go to school. Period.

Haiti has been in and out of the spot light quite a bit in the last year and few months; most coverage during the one-year anniversary focused on the spending, or lack thereof, of money that was raised in the aftermath of the earthquake. I think a lot of people have grown skeptical about where their money is going when they donate to organizations abroad, and I can't blame this. Because of this, HS is making sure that money donated is sent directly to the student's school to cover the cost of tuition. HS has partnered up with the local Rotary Club of Leogane, who has generously offered to help on the ground in Haiti by interviewing applicants and establishing communication with each school, so tuition is paid directly. No funds are dispersed to third parties.

I urge you all to take a look at the website (which will be getting quite a facelift in the next few days...get excited!), check out the facebook page, and follow us on twitter and our blog.

Finally, I don't usually push for monetary donations on my Charity of the Month, but I've made exceptions from the very beginning :) Just think about it: for $25-30 a month, you can help change someones life by giving them the gift of an education: something no one can take away from them, and the basic foundation for the future of Haiti. Think about it.