Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Aristide was born in a poor family and was only three months old when his father died. His mother took him to Port-au-Prince the capital city of Haiti, so that he and his sister could have a better future.

He went to the Salesians of Don Bosco, a Roman Catholic Institute in 1958, where he was taught by priests.

He attended the College Notre Dame in Cap-Ha�tien, from where he graduated with honors in 1974.

After his graduation, he studied philosophy at the Grand Seminaire Notre Dame and also attended the State University of Haiti to study psychology. In 1979, the State University of Haiti bestowed him a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

The same year he travelled to many countries including Israel, Egypt, Britain, and Canada. Here, he undertook biblical studies and learnt some foreign languages such as, French, Spanish, English, Hebrew, Italian, German, and Portuguese.

Saddened and deeply affected by the poverty and harassment which Haiti faced under the dictatorship of Presidents, Fran�ois and Jean-Claude Duvalier, Aristide decided to act against them.

He began condemning the Duvaliers openly which instigated resentment among the people against the regime. In retaliation, the regime exiled for three years in Montreal. By the time he came back in 1985, the popular opposition to the regime had grown manifolds.

A while later, he headed a movement called the "ti legliz movement” and in September 1985 he was ordained in the St. Jean Bosco church in a poor locality of Port-au-Prince.

Here, he preached sermons pertaining to the dictatorship of the Duvaliers and also organized several youth masses to encourage the young men and women of Haiti to fight for justice.

Four attempts to assassinate him were carried out, the most popular one being the St Jean Bosco massacre undertaken on 11 September 1988. As the young priest prepared to address the Sunday mass, nearly 100 men from the Haitian paramilitary stormed into the church and killed 13 people and wounded 77.

During his presidency, he introduced many reforms, especially in the health and education sectors. He increased the health facilities for the public and also worked towards increasing the literacy rate.

Human trafficking was prohibited and the Haitian army was also disbanded under his leadership. The minimum wage was increased and agricultural sector was paid special attention.

He built 195 new primary schools and 104 secondary schools and between 2001 and 2004 during his tenure, there was a significant rise in the number of children going to schools. The adult literacy program introduced by him was also influential in increasing the overall literacy rate of the country.