They made it from Haiti to Boston. Now, they’re graduates.
Chef Michelene Desormeau corralled her students to line up for a prayer and song ahead of their graduation, a tradition of giving thanks they all established before each class at the New England Culinary Arts Training school.
Derismond Germinal, 30, got in formation with his guitar. He strummed along to the Haitian gospel song as his classmates crooned along, and after the song concluded, one of his peers led a prayer.
“Merci, Seigneur. Merci, Seigneur,” she repeated. “Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.” One student raised her hand, eyes closed, as she listened. Another opened her palms in front of her, welcoming the blessings.
The 17 Haitian migrants on Thursday night received their certificates, just a few short months after they arrived in Boston, a critical step towards securing employment and upward mobility. The graduates, aged 27 to 48, were among the 11,633 migrants who entered Massachusetts in the 2023 fiscal year. The vast majority of those newcomers hailed from Haiti, where violence and political instability has surged.
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For Desormeau, who is also from Haiti, it was an easy choice to help her people. In addition to running her catering business, Breez Gourmet, she began delivering food to shelters in Lowell and Lawrence on her own, and then her church asked for her help to feed more people. She made trips to Logan International Airport, where many migrants slept on the floor for days before being relocated to shelters.
Then, in November, the culinary arts training school stepped in. School leaders wanted to start a fully Haitian-Creole program to teach immigrants the trade.
“If you guys started it, I’d be able to help,” Desormeau said she told organizers when they came together. “Whatever way it is, I’ll be able to help.”
Over nine weeks Desormeau, chef Niurka LeBron, and assistant Anne Voltaire — who are all alum from the culinary school — trained students on the ins-and-outs of the kitchen. This was a fast-track approach compared to the standard 14 weeks of courses.
This is the first time the school offered a program in Haitian Creole, which meant their teaching materials needed to be translated. The school already had offered the courses in English and Spanish.
To teach in Haitian Creole, the school sought and received a grant of nearly $43,500 from MassHire Metro North Workforce Board, in conjunction with the Community Mitigation Fund sponsored by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. It was awarded an additional $68,000 to apply to two more cohorts. The school’s goal is to start the first of the two additional groups in the summer.
“There is a clear need,” said John-David Garcia, executive director of the culinary arts training school. “We’re in high demand.”
“I feel like after the graduation, they have something in their hands to live with,” and a skill to provide for their family, Desormeau said.
While enrolled in the thrice weekly classes, Germinal juggled two other jobs, one in Chelsea and one in Weymouth.
His journey to making his dreams come true, as he called it, hasn’t been easy. Germinal left Haiti in 2018 after his father was shot by a gang member. At the time, he was at the tail-end of finishing a degree in theology, but he and his wife left to French New Guinea before he could finish. He took up school again with aspirations of being a teacher, and enrolled in a university to study modern literature while he worked as a security guard. But after he said he experienced racist encounters, he decided to leave.
And so began the trek through South America to make it to the United States. He, his wife, and their now 2-year-old daughter crossed 10 countries walking, riding buses, and sitting in boats to make it to the border. When they arrived in Boston, they spent eight nights sleeping on the floor at the airport before the Immigrant Family Services Institute found them a shelter in Chelsea. They’re still there, housed with 300 other people.
Despite his circumstances, Germinal said he is full of gratitude and ambition. He wants to attain a kitchen management certification in the future.
“Whenever he has an opportunity to give glory to God, he always sings for people around him,” said Desormeau, providing a loose translation for Germinal of why he plays guitar in the moment of song and prayer before class.
After Germinal accepted his certificate, he stood at the podium and gave a brief speech.
“I always miss the big part, which is the graduation part,” Germinal said as a volunteer interpreted. “I have missed so many opportunities, and I don’t want to miss this one was well.”
