A prestigious meeting between EHWLD and the Secretary of State for the Integration of People living with Disabilities

On April 27, an important meeting was held between the Empower Haitian Women Living with Disabilities (EHWLD) association and the Office of the Secretary of State for the Integration of People living with Disabilities (BSEIPH in French). The EHWLD was founded and is currently led by Doudly Elius, first Haitian winner of 2014 Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund and of the Spring 2016 Alumni Impact Award from the US Department of State. Elius is a young social entrepreneur who himself developed a motor handicap during his working life, had to fight to stay active. As such, he decided to support women with reduced mobility in doing the same.

From left to right, Jean Pierre Vinet (EHWLD Legal Assistant Manager),
Gerard Oriol (Secretary of State of BSEIPH), Bellune Clauselle (EHWLD Account Manager
 and Marcelin Alceus (EHWLD Financial Advisor)

During the meeting, representatives of the EHWLD, namely Jean-Pierre Vinet, Legal Assistance Manager, Clauselle Bellune, Project Accountant, and Marcelin Alceus, Financial Advisor, launched right away into the discussion around future joint actions with the Secretary of the State for Office for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities, Mr Gérald Oriol. The session revealed itself to be very fruitful and was held under the sign of cordiality as the two institutions maintain excellent relations. In fact, they have already collaborated for the training of 40 people with reduced mobility following EHWLD’s creation in 2014. This meeting with the BSEIPH focused on key trainings from the action plan of the association around major topics for the integration of disabled women in the market, including leadership skills and techniques to prepare resumes and interviews.

"The training is foreseen for the upcoming month of June," said Marcelin Alceus; therefore, preparations for these training sessions are already well under way. Daworldson Senelus, Head of the Integration and Placement department from the BSEIPH, has confirmed the availability of a large conference room for trainings, meetings, workshops or any other activity to be carried out by EHWLD.

Mr. Senélus even pointed out "the lack of competencies in the field which have delayed many training sessions that should have been carried out by the Office of the Secretary of State for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (BSEIPH)". An additional opportunity to be seized by EHWLD since several of the themes selected by the BSEIPH appear on the 2017 agenda of the association.

A request for equipment was also submitted to BSEIPH and noted by Secretary Oriol. In the near future, the possibility of helping the EHWLD in getting computers could come alive through a joint protocol. A proposal of legal assistance for people with reduced mobility was also suggested to the Secretary, who applauded the initiative and is looking forward to getting the details on such services because this type of support is generally largely lacking.

Encouraged by EHWLD's many proposals, Secretary Oriol, spontaneously turned into an advisor and highlighted the need for the association to start seriously considering economic projects that would act as incubators and drive economic development for people living with disabilities in Haiti. According to the Secretary, it is time to help EHWLD’s past trainees take advantage of what they have learned. He believes experimentation and field practice are the best ways to confirm to what extent the theories delivered in prior training had been assimilated by the trained entrepreneurs.