Hérault Beauvais

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Hérault Beauvais, a native of Fondwa, serves as the APF’s Fondwa-Port-au-Prince liaison. He was born 33 years ago in his family’s humble dirt floor home, the youngest of three children. After completing his primary school in Fondwa, Hérault went to Port-au-Prince for secondary school, beginning a long voyage of education, training, and work that continues to this day.

During his secondary studies he sought to augment his education with practical training through two-year courses of study in auto mechanics and men’s apparel. After receiving his high school degree, he undertook two years of study in accounting. He then had the chance to participate in an exchange program in Roanne, France, where he studied accounting and management for one year. After returning to Fondwa in 1997, Hérault started working with Radio Zetwal, the local radio station. By 1999, he was the director of the station. He began his current work as APF liaison in 2001, and has also been active in managing the APF’s small businesses, especially the bakery. While working full time, he continues to seek to improve his education; he recently began the second year of a four-year program at Port-au-Prince’s Superior Institute for Administration and Management.

Hérault has been involved with the University of Fondwa since its formative stages, and now sits on its Administrative Counsel. He thinks that “the work we are doing here in Fondwa can’t be limited to our community. The University holds the key to the dreams of the APF for all of Haiti.” Though he acknowledges that UNIF faces many challenges, he accentuates the many positive aspects of the project. The academic level is of very high quality, and the students have the distinct advantage of learning about rural problems in a rural setting. He also notes that the University has a solid team of professors and administrators, and believes that “UNIF will be a tool for much-needed decentralization in Haiti, so that people can organize and develop their own communities.”