TAMPA - Seven refugees who left Haiti following an earthquake last year recently graduated from a short-term job training program.

More than 230,000 people died in the January 2010 earthquake. Another 300,000 were injured and one million were left homeless. Many residents of Haiti hold citizenship in the United States and fled to this country following the disaster.

Lutheran Services Florida staff and volunteers worked for two weeks as translators at the Orlando Sanford International Airport, where more than 9,500 Haitian refugees entered the U.S. on 100 flights after the earthquake. Another 60 injured Haitians and their accompanying family members flew into Tampa International Airport, where LSF employees coordinated care with area hospitals and helped meet basic needs.

Some of the seven women in the 50-hour training class in housekeeping had been injured during the earthquake. The others had come to Tampa with injured relatives or on their own.

LG Training Programs of Tampa provided the class through the LSF Refugee Employment Program. John Whittenton of LG attended the program graduation ceremony in the Tampa Bay Region office and presented certificates to the students. He described the group as “a phenomenal class.”

Most of the women spoke little or no English going into the class, but through the training they picked up the language while learning the tools and instructions for housekeeping. The students did classroom work in addition to field work at the La Quinta Inn at Waters Avenue and Dale Mabry Highway, said Isabel Chamberlain, Vocational Planner for LSF.

LSF staff will now help the graduates in finding work. LG will serve as a job reference.

The graduates of the class were Martha Decimus, Esperanta Jean, Elisena Joseph, Marie Rosie Joseph, Olencia Jullian, Guerdine Previlon and Celina Valbrum.

LSF’s Refugee Employment Program is open to refugees who have been in the United States less than five years. The program includes short-term training classes, on-the-job training, and help with job search and applications.

Anyone with a housekeeping business who is interested in the training or in hiring one of the graduates may contact Isabel Chamberlain at 813-676-9436 or mchamberlain@lsfnet.org.