View Larger Map
The Belairien association has been providing help to disadvantaged children in Haiti, and especially in Bel Air, a section of Port au Prince. As a visitor, I can tell you Bel Air is 5 minutes away from the beautiful Haiti Palace. A lot of great men come from from Bel Air. The Lycee Alexandre Petion, the Cathedral of Haiti, the famous Madan Colo Statue, Calvaire, the famous Corps du Genie, a military institution, Guillaume Petion Health Club, one of the first in Haiti, where you can run into an elected official, during an evening workout.
Despite the many successes, Bel Air have had its shares of trouble and brushes with the law, the mass migration of people coming from the country side, the unemployment. Today it is most often referred as "The Slum of Bel Air", extremely different than other areas of Port au Prince. Not far from the glistening Palais Nationale, Bel Air is a poor neighborhood which has been hit hard, plagued with social problems, not different than what the news have portrayed on the Headlines .
Despite it all, some men have never forget where they coming from, they call themselves " Belairien" as being from Bel Air. It takes courage to identify one self as a Belairien, with the misery, the poverty, the violence, the toughness and a heroic past of defiance, bravery and cohesion. People from Bel Air knows how to stick together. Daniel Cesar is one of those tough guys that is not afraid of telling you that he is a native of Bel Air, and after living in the US, he created the Belairien Association, headquartered in Brooklyn, NY.
For the past 7 years, he has made use of his own money to provide free education and free food , paying teachers salaries, and plan to increase the school capacity, and bring access to the internet as well . In our last conversation, he sadly expressed to me that for every one child that benefited from his generosity, there were 5 more that were left at home, no schools to go and without adequate nutrition or left hungry.
He saw so many men lost to violence, or simply grow old ,never work a single day in their lives, not because they did not want to work, but work was unavailable. Daniel Cesar is not by himself, but want to share with you his vision, of helping educate Haiti youngsters, food programs that will ensure that kids do not go to school or to bed hungry. He promised me that giving up is not part of this movement and no matter what it takes, the mission wil go on.
He went on to say that Bel Air has enough sons and daughters that are doing well, living all over the world and it was only a matter of time before every one of them will come together to help him carry that mission. He is building a website, and he is applying for charity status. Meanwhile , he is offering his invitations to those men and women natives of Bel Air , living decent and succesful lives, that knows the changes that are needed , that have lived there to bring some hope and changes in this historical region that is, Bel Air.
Daniel Cesar
Association Belairien
900 East 35th Street Apt B4
Brooklyn NY 11210
Phone: 347-268-2533
www.associationbelairien.org
No comments:
Post a Comment