Recently finished with his secondary school diploma, twenty-year-old Sainthilaire Maccen is working to improve his community by working with IDEJEN as a youth mapper and mentor to youth in one of IDEJEN’s newest communities.

Originally born in Marigot near Jacmel, Sainthilaire’s family came to Port-au-Prince when he was a young child to see what the city was like and search for work; they never left. Since his mother died two years ago his only surviving family member is a younger sister. Although he knows his father, his father has never helped either him or his sister, and they are otherwise on their own. With a bit of help from an aunt, Sainthilaire has been able to go to school and now he hopes to continue his professional studies as an auto diesel mechanic. Occasionally Sainthilaire does odd jobs for people to earn a bit of money and his work as a youth mapper for IDEJEN has helped him to continue his studies.

In his life, Sainthilaire hopes to graduate college, become more devout in his faith and eventually marry. He has gained tremendous confidence through his participation in IDEJEN as a youth mapper and has been connected with the project since the first mapping exercise. He believes the skills that he has developed and the people that he has met through the youth mapping exercise are valuable for all the work that he wants to do in life.

Some quotes from Sainthilaire:

“Tout experyans nan pozitif�- All the experiences [with IDEJEN] have been positive.

“Mwen vini yon lot moun e mwen gen yon nouvel konesans�- I have become a new person with new knowledge.

“Mwen senti’m  fyè  pou tout sa mwen te fe nan pwoje IDEJENâ€?- I am proud of what I have done with the IDEJEN project