Growing up as an Army brat was an enlightening experience in culture, geography, and privilege. This lifestyle allowed me to see and experience parts of the world that, once my father retired and we settled in Kentucky, many of the kids I attended high school with had only experienced through text books. While it was difficult moving every three or four years, my time living throughout the South in the U.S., and exploring Europe while living in Germany, gave me a great understanding of people from all walks of life and filled me with compassion for those that I know experience a life which is void of any privilege.

You should know that my privilege wasn’t one of opulence and glamor, nor was it a cinematic story of traveling the world in luxury. It was a normal lower-middle class family that relied upon one another heavily, as no other family members were close by. However, we were always afforded luxuries that most of us consider just a way of life: food, clean water, education, a roof over our head, clothes, travel, and the occasional entertainment. It wasn’t until I was much older did I realize and understand that I was given so much in life and it had helped me grow into the person I am today.

If I’d not been raised the way I had and my life revolved around a small town in Kentucky, Indiana, or any other place in the U.S., I’d still be privileged. I’d still have access to the luxuries of infrastructure: electricity, clean water, education, roads, and most importantly, education. You see, those kids I went to high school with might not have experienced the world in the same respect as me, but they were able to experience and learn through those textbooks and be surrounded by teachers and their peers who would guide and challenge them to be the best they could be. My fellow classmates had the opportunity to make their mark in the world, and bring about positive change for the future.

For us at Lumiere de Education Foundation, Inc., we see and understand the struggles of the children we serve in Haiti. Far removed from the privilege we share, they lack the basic infrastructure systems that we often take for granted. Corruption, rampant poverty, lack of healthcare, and much more has made everyday life for the children of Haiti difficult in ways that you and I cannot fathom. So how do we change things? Most of you’ve heard the saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” That is how we change things . . . through education.

Your support and the support from others allows us to fund L’ecole Dinaus Mixed school in La Plain, Haiti and give those children the opportunity to grow, be challenged, and change their world in ways that are unlimited. Through becoming doctors, scientists, engineers, teachers, they will have the power through education to build there community and Haiti for the future.
We ask you to help us continue to plant the seeds of change through this school, the teachers, and the needed education programming. These things impact the children we serve so greatly. Give, as you and I have been given so much, and help our children in Haiti be the seeds of change in their world.

Where your feet can’t take you, your mind surely can.

Zac Heronemus
Lumiere De Education Foundation
Director of Development
HeronemusLDE@gmail.com