Rosarion has questioned social inequalities in Haiti as long as she can remember. Despite parents forbidding her to ask politically infused questions, she would hide and listen to the neighbor’s radio and wonder how she could advocate for change.

Visiting a nearby town without permission, Rosarion faced her first brush with reality at 15 years old. “There were four kids on the ground [of a shanty] and I was flabbergasted,” she said. “I could not believe that this is what they were talking about in books. I thought I was poor and then I saw these kids with the big liver and sunken eyes and the dehydration. Nobody really told you how much poverty there was. That was my first touch with it.” This experience continued to fuel her angst.

While raising money for scholarships is Rosarion’s number one focus right now, a desire to shed light on domestic and sexual violence in Haiti is another dream she hopes to pursue.

As a child, Rosarion heard men beat their wives and saw the marks they left. “I remember walking on Sunday night by my mother’s friend’s house and I could hear her scream,” she said. “She would be bruised all over and people talked about [her husband] as a good man . . . [In Haiti,] sexual violence is not seen as violence.”

Rosarion said she was grateful to move to America where she was able to reach her dream of becoming a doctor, and now she wants to use her knowledge and resources to bring about change. “It’s a big gift for me . . . to not just question all the social injustices that had been bothering me, but to do something about it.”

To learn more about Eye of a Dream and to volunteer or donate to the cause, visit www.eyeofadream.org.