I want to let you know about an experiment I have been involved in for the last 8 months, since January 2018. I directly funded 2 students college education in Haiti.

My reason for doing this was because I believe that increase in dissemination of knowledge is what will ultimately improve the world.

Education in a foreign country, especially Haiti, is an order of magnitude cheaper than in the USA ($800-$1500 per semester).

I was introduced to the first student, Wathson, via a mutual friend, who lives in the United States, who had been supporting him via another organization as he grew up. Once he reached college age, the support through that organization terminated.

She had structured to have him come to the USA for college at the University of Northern Iowa but that fell through during an interview for a visa at the US embassy in Haiti. An unfortunate setback. Luckily, he was able to enroll at L’Université Notre Dame d’Haïti located in Port au Prince, which you can find more about in the link. Please note that this is not related to Notre Dame in the USA in any way.

The other student was a friend of Wathson’s. His name is Jhon. He is going to a different school, Universite GOC which is also in Port au Prince, Haiti. He is studying Engineering, which is important to me, being a mechanical engineer myself.

One semester for Wathson was $1,300 while one for Jhon was $840 due to being at different schools.

I am in frequent Facebook contact with both of these students and have contacted both colleges directly at various times. You can also via their websites if you are interested or I can relay information between you and them for you. You can also contact Jhon and Wathson via Facebook if you want, you can find them via my friends list.

Both students have invited me to Haiti, but unfortunately time and money say I can’t make the trip quite yet, although I would love to in the future.

I believe the constant contact allowed via Facebook and other forms of communication with people in distant countries should be a force for good in the world. I believe it should help us grow closer in community with other people as well as realize the difficulties they are facing.

I am asking anyone who has interest in helping educate people in other countries to contact me to help fund the next semester of college for these guys as well as Wathon’s sister who is hoping to start studying accounting in September 2018.

I have already paid ½ of Jhon’s next semester so between Wathson and Jhon I have $420+$1300 to pay, $1,720 total.

I transfer this money directly to them via Western Union and then they pay the colleges directly. I understand this is a leap of faith for some and it is fine if you feel that way.

If you feel there might be some value in this and I would be happy to accept donations and take responsibility to transfer the money to these guys..

At the moment, this transaction will have no economic benefit for you. There is no tax write off as this is not happening through a 501 c3 or anything. This is just people directly helping other people. I am trying to champion help for helps sake, reaching out to people in need and making a difference, for the long term, as I can.

There is a potential for an organization to appear in the future if there is sufficient interest in this endeavor. There are many other massive challenges in helping Haiti develop as a country, some of which are caused by our own actions, crop dumping.

You can contact me at hooglandaxel@gmail.com to discuss further if you are interested in helping or learning more about this activity.

Thank you for your consideration and interest. I have asked Jhon and Wathson to provide me some feedback about their first semesters in college so I will hope to share that soon.