By: Trinidad Guardian

Sunday September 12,

UWI St Augustine Campus Principal Prof Clement Sankat says the tertiary institution is hoping to raise US$330,000 to assist the 71 Haitian students who are due to begin studies there. 

After the December 12 earthquake which destroyed its capital Port-au-Prince, about 300,000 Haitians died and 280,000 homes, buildings and schools were destroyed. Sankat said: “We need more financial support for about 71 students. So far, we raised US $120,000. We are looking for another US $330,000. 

We are looking forward to assistance from the corporate sector in bringing the students here.” He said if the corporate sector steps in and sponsors the students’ flights, it would ease some of UWI’s financial strain.

“We are working with Liat and Caribbean Airlines. 

There is a flight that goes from Santo Domingo to Antigua. If we can get the corporate sector to sponsor the flights, then UWI can do its part. It’s such a worthy cause and I am hopeful the private sector would rally around it. 

If they help, UWI will do the rest,” added Sankat. To date, Sankat said the first students would comprise 41 engineering and a dozen agricultural students. 

They are expecting more dental and veterinary students, too. Fully cognisant that the semester has started, he said:”We are looking to bring them in as soon as possible.”

Neighbouring Jamaica has opened the doors of its campus to the students. Sankat said: “Jamaica is closer to them than Trinidad. So it is easier for them to get there. 

I understand they chartered a plane from Jamaica to Haiti.” Sankat thanked those corporate sponsors who have reached out to the Campus and the Caricom students in their time of need. “I am grateful for the help we have gotten thus far.”

Haiti education sector affected

In March, two visiting Haitian rectors Prof Wilson Lalaeu from the Universite d’ Etat de Haiti and Jocelyne Trouillot, Universite Caraibe, shared that Haiti’s tertiary education sector was in a shambles. 

They were in town for a conference Partnering for Sustainability: The Urgency of Haiti. Trouillot said: “300 000 dead. Massive debt. Thousands of houses, churches and hospitals destroyed. 

The universities which were generally located in Port-au-Prince. 90 per cent loss and destruction. Four universities destroyed. Main buildings destroyed. Students buried under the rubble. Hundreds of students not recovered. Sixty to 100 professors not accounted for.”