Three students from Haiti have been chosen to take part in a special program giving them free accommodation, books and tuition at Olds College next school year.
The students will make the more than 5,100-km trip from Haiti to Olds College in late August to start taking the office administration program.
Around $18,000 has been pledged towards the project, with Olds College launching its Buy a Mile fundraiser to raise the remaining $15,000 to $20,000 needed to cover the costs of the students’ trip to Alberta, school supplies and winter clothes.
“One of the things that Olds College can offer is the training in office administration and, as you know, a lot of their businesses were destroyed, along with their records, and they will need that infrastructure in order to help rebuild the country,” said Carmel Maloney, co-ordinator for the office administration program at Olds College.
“Now we realize this is a small contribution. However, it is huge for the three people.”
Much of the country of Haiti was leveled as the result of a large earthquake and aftershocks in January.
Two young men and a woman will be coming, with the female student staying with Maloney and the two men staying with Gord Gilchrist, an instructor at Olds College.
It was Gilchrist who first mentioned the idea and interviewed the students while volunteering with Lacombe-based A Better World in the country after the earthquake’s onslaught.
Maloney said besides helping the Haiti students, it will also be a cultural exchange, with the Haiti students being able to share their culture with other Olds College students.
She expects the biggest challenge for the Caribbean students will be the cold weather. But some of them have friends in Canada and have been warned about how cold the winters are.
Maloney encourages community members and all those who have had office administration training to donate to the project.
Phone 1-403-556-8232 to Buy a Mile for $5 using a credit card and help support the students. Cheques can be made payable to Olds College and sent to Olds College, c/o Buy a Mile Campaign, 4500 50th St., Olds, Alta., T4H 1R6. Receipts will be issued for donations of $10 or more.
The students will return home to Haiti in April 2011 to start working in their field.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com