Grammy-Award winning musician Wyclef Jean made a special appearance at LaGuardia Community College on Tuesday, March 24, to personally thank the students for raising awareness about Haiti.
The school’s chapter of Yéle Haiti, an organization Jean started in 2005, raised more than $2,000 to donate towards the rebuilding of the country, after it was struck with four major hurricanes in 2008.
“I want the kids in the United States to engage in Haiti, because I feel like we can do more about it up here,” Jean said. “It’s very important to get the word out.”
A native of Haiti, Jean created the Yéle Haiti project four years ago, to help bring aid and assistance to those living there.
“I’m from the Dominican Republic; it’s right next to Haiti,” said Reina Vargas, a LaGuardia student. “This kind of stuff relates to a large population on our campus.”
According to Gail Mellow, LaGuardia’s president, Jean is an inspiration and all of the students, “are here to follow along in his footsteps in their own way.”
“All I want the youth to realize is you can have a dream – but you have to make that dream a reality,” Jean said.
Jean moved to Brooklyn as a young child.
“We didn’t have much, but we were living the American Dream,” he said. “Now I feel like I have to use my status for something good,” Jean said.
“We’ve made such progress with the Yéle Haiti program because we’re so involved, physically,” he continued.
But there are still challenges.
“There are no jobs [in Haiti]; people have nothing to do,” Jean said.
Jean encourages anyone who wants to help Haiti to inquire about starting a chapter of Yéle Haiti or to become an ambassador in their neighborhood or school.
“I have to catch a plane,” Jean said, after being presented with the check the students donated to his organization. “But remember the world out there is a serious world, it’s not going to get easier, only harder. So these degrees you’re getting will help you get places.”
To learn more about the cause and to help, visit www.yele.org.
