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The Hastings-to-Haiti Partnership (HHP) is an annual
delegation in which Hastings law students visit a sister law school the
Ecole Superieure Catholique du Droit de Jeremie (ESCDROJ) in Jeremie
Haiti. In Spring 2007, our annual Delegation spent three days in Port
au Prince visiting various grassroots organizations and learning about
the country's history. On the fourth day we traveled to Jeremie where
we began our academic exchange with the students from ESCDROJ, which
lasted five days.
The purpose of the annual Delegation is to
help strengthen the Rule of Law in Haiti through supporting legal
education. The ESCDROJ is the only law school of its kind in Haiti. It
promotes public service in the student's immediate community and for
Haiti at-large, through rigorous and wide-ranging legal education,
while welcoming students from all walks of life and differing political
positions. By being politically neutral, the students are encouraged to
work with each other for the common good.
Who are the Haitian students? They are from
various segments of the community. For example, full-time nurses,
teachers, police officers, even local politicians, attend the law
school. The classes are held at night, using the facilities of the
local nursing school.
What do we do in Haiti? We give
presentations on various legal topics to the Haitians students, who in
turn present lectures to us on topics like gender equality, prisoners'
issues, right to life, treatment of minors, and applicability of
international human rights in Haiti. As a whole, through this
conference, we exchange legal perspectives and ideas through discussion
and question and answer sessions following the presentations.
This year, among other things, we hope to bring 15 laptop
computers (made possible by generous donations from individuals) to the
school to add to the computer lab we established there in 2005. The
computer lab has allowed students to have better access to information
and aided in their studies.
For more information also see HHP founder Professor
Richard Boswell's webpage
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