Research done by the World Bank shows that there are certain trades and occupations where there are needs for skilled workers throughout the different regions of Haiti. Haitians who have training for these jobs have higher wages and employment rates than most of their countrymen. Two of these occupations are fields that COCINA and Hugues Bastien have been researching and discussing for several years: Auto/Vehicle Mechanics and Industrial/Commercial Sewing.

For each of these fields, there are few trained workers in the Northeast Department near Ouanaminthe. And there are very few places in Haiti to obtain such formal training. Technicians from the Dominican Republic are often imported to work on car and truck repairs. And even though there is a Levis clothing plant in Ouanaminthe, Haitians often lack the skills to be hired for the higher paying supervisory positions at this local major employer.

Generous donations from several philanthropic foundations and an international aid organization are funding UTEC to construct a vocational education building (construction started in July, 2010), install necessary equipment for the two programs and hire three specialized staff begin programs in auto mechanics and industrial sewing in 2011.

These two new programs will be housed in a new two story building on the campus of Institution Univers (grade K through 13 schoo)l. The new building is 2-stories, having outside dimensions of 60 ft. by 60 ft. The costs for jump-starting these two new programs are $150,000 for building construction, $150,000 for equipment and a net of about $15,000 for a program administrator and two instructors for the first year of operation (student tuition and fees will pay the rest of the salaries of these three staff). Sufficient grants have been committed or received by COCINA and UTEC to jump-start these two new vocational education programs. COCINA and Hugues Bastien (Director of UTEC) extend grateful thanks to the following financial supporters of the two new vocational education programs:

• Aide et Action (a French international aid agency)
• John F. and Mary A. Geisse Foundation (Ohio)
• H.C.S. Foundation (Ohio) (a.k.a. Harold C. Schott Foundation)
• Hudson Community Chapel (Ohio) and a former parishioner who wishes to remain anonymous

A volunteer team of people in Ohio from the automotive service industry is working diligently to finalize the auto mechanics equipment and tools list and to purchase equipment for the program. These equipment and tools will be shipped in a container to Ouanaminthe late in 2010. Hugues Bastien plans to purchase the equipment and supplies for the sewing program in the Dominican Republic.

Future Vocational Education Programs

Hugues Bastien and COCINA are envisioning further expansion of program offerings over the next five years to include

Construction trades---building design, masonry, carpentry, plumbing, electricity, welding

Medical professions---nursing, nurse-aid, dental assistants