Being a young adult in Haiti is fraught with challenges that most of us can’t imagine. As youth, many young adults were abandoned by their families, denied access to education and faced a life void of hope or promise for the future. But because of the generosity of Overture supporters, the young men and women in the communities we serve are discovering new-found opportunities through our Young Adult Empowerment Program (YAEP).
This program, part of our proven Social Support Model, provides a broad range of services to prepare and guide the next generation of Haitians, with the ultimate goal of helping them achieve financial independence, emotional balance and meaningful social connections.
Meet Medgine, a 20-year old recent graduate of our Young Adult Empowerment Program.
She’s now participating in university prep classes and plans to continue her studies next year. But Medgine’s life was not always so promising.
As a child, her family experienced extreme poverty and were forced to place Medgine in an orphanage at nine years of age. She spent TEN years in the orphanage where she lost all hope.
She says, “it was impossible for me to imagine a life outside of the orphanage.”
At 19 she was reunited with her family in Les Cayes, where she was quickly exposed to the Young Adult Empowerment Program. She was skeptical at first, but explained that after a few weeks, she realized that this program could change her whole life. We’ll let Medgine share the rest of the story in her own words:
“Before this program I was living with a lot of stress. I didn’t know what life would look like because my family couldn’t take care of me. But through this program, I learned how to manage my stress and how to use my potential in order to have a better future than my parents have today. Now I see life in a positive way. I know if I stay focused on my dreams and work hard, they will become a reality.”
Your donations are making stories like Medgine a reality! THIS is the impact of your support!
With your help, many more youth can and will experience the hope and promise that comes from access to support, training and education designed to build up young adults, ultimately building HAITI STRONGER!
Learn More about the Young Adult Empowerment Program