If there’s anything certain about the road to entrepreneurship, it’s that there will be obstacles. For Ilio Durandis, the brain behind Haiti Bioscience, a science and tech venture targeting Haiti’s youth, funding was initially an issue. He sent around several proposals, and though many of them made the final rounds, he never earned a grant from any of them. Undeterred, the Haitian-American scientist moved forward, and Haiti Bioscience was birthed. It was important to its founder that Haiti’s youths be given the scientific foundation he felt is bound to play a key role in the development of Haiti.
Haiti Bioscience in action!
Kreyolicious: How did Haiti Bioscience initially come about?
The Haiti Bioscience was a process. At first, I wanted to do something impactful and meaningful for young Haitians. Back in 2009, I founded Haiti 2015, which was more a concept than an organization. The main goal was to empower Haitians, in order for them, to be proactive in doing for themselves. Over the ensuing years, since my background is mostly science, and from getting advises from my Haiti 2015 co-founder, it was suggested that I think of something scientific to give to Haiti. Eventually, the idea to create the Haiti Bioscience Initiative evolved, and now we have students enrolled in the program through the Universite Notre Dame Haiti, Hinche.
Kreyolicious: You mentioned that there had been funding issues. What steps did you take to overcome them?
To overcome the funding issue, we were lucky to find partners such as the Universite Notre Dame Haiti, which saw the merit of our initiative and accept to include it as one of their offerings. We also got a break, when a group, who was supporting an orphanage in Hinche was looking to finance a vocational training program for their kids heard about our initiative. These two partners came together, and today the bioscience program is training students in Hinche, and this coming June we will have our first graduating class in the two year bioscience program.
Kreyolicious: When you proposed your idea to others, what sort of response did it get?
It’s hard to get Haitians to support a Haitian’s ideas. When I had the epiphany that such a program could take place in Haiti, I reached out to expert in the field to see what they think. I used social media to pitch the idea. The first person I contacted was Phil Gibson, Ph.D, who was running a similar program in Atlanta, Ga. I asked him if he was willing to work with him on developing this idea. To my surprise, hew was more than willing. To this day, he remains a great mentor and partner as we try to scale up the initiative so that more Haitian youths get access to a quality bioscience training.
Kreyolicious: When you were a teen, were you interested at all in bio-sci?
As a teen, my interest in science was always there. I wanted to become a medical doctor. But when I get to college, in my sophomore year, I took genetics, and from that point on, I became very interested in the subject. So I told myself that I want to do more studies in genetics and molecular biology. And today, here I am. Science is all around us.
Kreyolicious: What do you think can be done to interest more youths in that field?
Most young people like tangible things, whether it’s sitting in front of TV set playing video games or in their backyard building things. Science is not an abstract field. It is very real. If the youth are exposed to well equipped laboratory and get permission to experiment, there is no doubt that the interest in science will come naturally to them.
Kreyolicious: When you think of all the milestones that Haiti Bioscience has met, which has been the most significant to you?
The most significant one, obviously is having the program started at Universite Notre Dame Haiti [in] Hinche. Last year, we had 20 students enrolled in the program,and for this coming academic year, we expect more students to enroll. This is very significant, when you consider the economical challenges facing our people.
Kreyolicious: Most entrepreneur ventures are also learning experiences. Do you think that running Haiti Bioscience has contributed to your personal development?
There is o doubt that running the bioscience program has helped me grow. before this initiative, I had the mindset of doing everything big, and I was not very patient. This program has made me realize that with patience and tenacity, impossibility is an illusion. All it takes is strong determination and focus to turn the impossible to concrete possibility.
Above: Haiti Bioscience founder having a discussion with students in Haiti about biotechnology.
Kreyolicious: What book would you recommend to aspiring entrepreneurs and initiative founders?
There are many books that aspiring entrepreneurs could read. For me, the one book that has helped me and kept me motivating is Creating Innovators by Tony Wagner. When I look at my country, I believe that we need to have more innovators, if we are to become a nation that depends less on others.
Kreyolicious: Where do you see this initiative two years from today?
In two years, in collaboration of Universite Notre Dame Haiti-Hinche, we should have a fully equipped laboratory that will be used not only for teaching, but also capable of proving analytical services throughout the country. It is my hope to expand this program to other institutions of higher learning throughout the country so that we can prepare the workers of the future for the coming of a Haitian biotech industry. I have no doubt that if we train enough youths in basic laboratory techniques that one day Haiti could become an attractive player for major biotech/pharmaceutical companies. I look forward to the day when one of these companies could set up shop in our country to create jobs that will pay livable wages. This could be a great example on how a Third World country could develop. We have to train people for the jobs that can help reduce poverty.
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