Tap Tap Van has raised $106 out of their goal of $6,000
Nerva "Vava" SainVilus, Bouzy Berthony and Jacob Phillipe are on a mission to complete their secondary education and graduate with high school diplomas. They are part of the Friends of Haiti community in Bois Tombe. They are also a part of a generation of older students whose education has been continually interrupted by natural disasters (earthquakes, droughts, floods), political upheaval, deaths in the family and pressure to contribute financially to their homes.
Friends of Haiti in NY first met Bouzy, now 23 years old and in the 11th grade, when he was a 12 year old second grader in a makeshift classroom in Bois Tombe. He stood out as smart and quick thinking, a trait that established him last year as 3rd in a class of 75.
Vava, 22 years old, lived in one of the villages of Terre-Froide surrounding Bois Tombe and attended school through the 9th grade, when he left to help support his family. He intends on returning part-time to get his diploma.
Jacob, now 22 years old and in the 10th grade, became a refugee on the city streets after the orphanage in which he lived was evacuated during the 2010 earthquake. President and co-founder Michelle Kalil found him on the streets and brought him to Bois Tombe to lodge him with a family and he attended Le Centre de Educative de Bois Tombe until the 9th grade, because there is no high school in the region. Therefore, these three young men have all migrated to Port Au Prince, where they are roommates, to finish their secondary education.
As adults they are seeking ways in which to earn a living. As it is difficult to find employment in Haiti, particularly in the cities, they have come up with a plan:
Buy a "Tap Tap" (public shared ride mini bus) and work for themselves transporting people. That way they can work around their studies and earn enough money to pay for rent, tuition, food, textbooks, uniforms and help their families.
Vava, Bouzy, and Jacob need $4,000.00 to buy the Tap Tap, $500 to buy insurance, and $500 for each professional license.
FOHNY asks for your support in helping them become self-sufficient entrepreneurs because we believe in them and know them to be highly motivated and hard workers.
Please donate and invest in their futures!
How To Help
The license needed to become a professional Tap Tap driver is a $500.
The license needed to become a professional Tap Tap driver is a $500.
diana fiorentino donated $105.62