(AllHipHop News) Wylcef Jean’s Yele Haiti Foundation continues to help rebuild the country of Haiti, after a devastating earthquake leveled the nation in January of 201X.
The Yele Haiti Foundation hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday (September 28th) when they opened the doors to their new vocational training program in Jacmel.
The program, which is supported by the Ministry of tourism and funded entirely by Yele Haiti, is named HEAT, short for Hospitality, Education and Training.
The pilot program will train 120 students in the hospitality and tourism trades, in hopes of accelerating job readiness in the poverty-stricken country.
The nonprofit has teamed with HVS, a leading global hospitality consulting and services firm.
The two companies will work together for the next six months to develop a curriculum that will focus on customer service, housekeeping, front desk and food and beverages.
“Yéle’s mission in Haiti has always been to help Haitians help themselves. A year ago that meant providing basic survival necessities for the people of Haiti – food, water, clothing and tents; we’ve now narrowed our focus to help rebuild lives by providing programs that offer job and career training,” said Derek Johnson, CEO of Yéle Haiti. “HEAT will do just that, by providing job training and assistance for Haitians ready, willing and able to work, but lacking the necessary skills or opportunity to do so.”
According to Johnson, over 75% of the students will land jobs in local hotels, restaurants and bars, at establishments that have already been identified as being in need of employees,
HEAT is the newest program offered by Yele Haiti, according to Johnson.
The organization, which was founded in 2004 by Wyclef and partner Jerry ‘Wonder’ Duplessis, already offers vocational training courses in carpentry, masonry and plumbing.
Over 111 students have already graduated from a similar program in Port-au-Prince earlier this year.
