March 2008

First Lady Laura Bush to Visit EDC Haiti Project this Week

When First Lady Laura Bush travels to Haiti this week to highlight U.S. efforts to promote education and health, she will visit an EDC project on Thursday, March 13th. Mrs. Bush is scheduled to visit with EDC staff and others involved in the EQUIP3/Haitian Out-of-School Youth Livelihood Initiative, or IDEJEN as the project is known locally. IDEJEN is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Speaking Saturday at a USAID celebration of International Women's Day in Washington, Mrs. Bush discussed her upcoming visit to Haiti: “I'll have a chance to see a great educational initiative at work,” said Mrs. Bush. “It's a USAID-funded program called IDEJEN, and it combines instruction in reading, writing, and math with vocational training. Right now IDEJEN reaches 2,200 children -- and more than half of them are girls. But they have plans to reach more than 13,000 children by 2010,” she said.

The IDEJEN project addresses the educational and employment needs of illiterate young people ages 15-24, and has partnered with Haitian nongovernmental agencies and others to provide these young people with new opportunities for economic and social participation. The project operates 44 youth centers throughout the country, each providing students with an education in basic reading, writing, and mathematics. Students also receive lessons in health, nutrition, conflict-resolution, and other life-skills. In addition, they learn a marketable trade such as sewing, woodworking, auto mechanics, handcrafts, hotel services, or agricultural businesses.

While in Haiti, Mrs. Bush is also scheduled to visit an HIV/AIDS clinic before travelling on to Mexico.

Learn more about IDEJEN through an article and audiovisual slideshow in EDC's Annual Report: http://main.edc.org/annualreport/haiti/portrait/

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