Ketura Pierre Louis was a little girl attending elementary school when we first met her and began supporting her educational journey.
After graduating high school, Practical Compassion then helped Ketura attend dental school in the Dominican Republic. While there she met a young man who was studying to be a doctor. They plan to marry and desire to serve in their community.
This is her story.
“Since I was in Haiti, my dream was to become a dentist,” Ketura says. “I moved to the Dominican Republic to see if this dream could come true. In September 2014, I started a 4-year dental program.”
“It was not easy for me to leave my family and friends to adapt to another culture and language…and I had to study very hard to pass my tests.” “The most di ffi cult part was that my school does not provide patients for the practical portion of our training―I had to find my own patients, and sometimes I had to use my own money to buy the materials I needed to treat them, instead of using it to buy food.” “Out of the 70 students that started the dental program, there were only 7 of us who graduated [from the program].” Ketura says that without God, her family or Practical Compassion, she would have never been able to become a dentist.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere―and most family units are led by women who live in abject poverty with no easy way out of their circumstances. Practical Compassion has a long-standing record of giving women opportunities and tools to lift them out of poverty so that they can reach their God-given potential and provide for their families. Through your donations and their hard work, we have seen women graduating from higher education with degrees in dental and nursing. We have seen women step up as business leaders, to run schools and orphanages with great skill and compassion. And we have seen women become teachers who are raising up the next generation of leaders.In Haiti, these achievements are rare and not to be underestimated.
- Haiti has the lowest rate for education in the western hemisphere.
- Only half of the children in Haiti ever attend school, and attendance for secondary school is a grim 20 percent.
- Less than 1 percent of Haitians earn a college degree!
The ripple effect of these women will be felt not only in their families but also in their communities as they positively affect those around them with their skills and education. With Practical Compassion’s “hand-up” these women have overcome great obstacles and have pushed beyond cultural and economic limitations to rise above the norm of poverty and dependence.
Your donations give women dignity.
Your donations lift families out of poverty.
Your donations positively affect whole communities.
Over the past 21 years of this ministry/mission, YOUR support continues to have life-changing effects that will ripple through generations. We have seen our previous elementary-aged students work through school, and join the less than 1 percent of Haitians who graduate from a university.
Your generous support of Practical Compassion is helping women, like Ketura, overcome the odds.
This Christmas, will you help us continue to support more students like Ketura? We are looking for $20,000 to continue the work of Practical Compassion in 2020, and beyond.
