Madame Mark is the head cook for UCNH. She worked in the campus kitchen when the school was the Baptist Seminary of Haut Limbe. She is responsible for the seniors’ banquet the day before graduation as well as the day to day food preparation. She has three daughters that have graduated from UCNH, thanks to scholarships they have received. One daughter graduated with a degree in business and works with Agronomist Mike Lawson on campus. The eldest daughter works at a bank in Cap Haitian and the third one is the assistant to the campus registrar, Max Petit-Papa.

Each year the seniors have a dinner that includes their immediate families. This year there were about five hundred people in attendance. That’s a lot of food! Madame Mark and her kitchen ladies worked through the day and all through the night preparing delicious food, including pineapple upside down cakes, roasted goat meat, griot (fried pork), roasted chicken, rice dishes of all kinds, succulent salads and tropical fruits, all presented in beautiful and artistic displays. The overall feeling of festivity on the plaza indicates that this is a very special affair. All the graduates and their guests were resplendent in their formal wear; kelly green tables are set with exotic bamboo floral arrangements made by the Agricultural Department, and families are enjoying the hard earned fruits of their labor- their precious children graduating from one of the best universities in the country.

After watching the ladies labor over food of all kinds in the university kitchen, then seeing them serve the finished products as if it was nothing, I am convinced that they are miracle makers. When they finish making the food they get dressed in their finest outfits, hair perfectly coiffed, and come out to serve the guests effortlessly. If I hadn’t witnessed these same ladies laboring over the food preparation the day and night before I would not have imagined the level of hardship they had so cheerfully endured! These ladies deserve special praise for service over and above the call of duty.