August marked the 7th anniversary of the launching of our collaborative work with the citizens of Pichon, Haiti. Pierre Balthazar and David Smith, with the able assistance of Pierre's brother, Liné in Port-au-Prince, met with people in Pichon to discuss a possible joint venture to benefit this remote village in southeast Haiti. In a couple hours of discussion the clear consensus emerged that people wanted a school for their children.
According to a recent Internet article (Caribbean360.com) "Less than 15 percent of Haitian children ages 6 to 11 are enrolled in public school--one of the lowest rates, if not the lowest rate in the world, according to the World Bank's Sam Carlson, who is working with the Haitian government and other international bodies to achieve the millennium education goal. Non-public institutions fill some of the gap, but still most Haitian children do not make it to 6th grade."
Those parents and leaders in Pichon that converged on the idea of having a school saw the addition of 6th grade in September. The full cycle of growth will occur at the end of 7th grade, at which time all Haitian students must take a qualifying exam to continue their secondary level education. This growth is thanks to a wide circle of Education for Prosperity supporters who have contributed generously over the years so EfP could wire money to Liné Balthazar's non-profit (FREM) to pay teachers, buy educational materials, provide teacher training, and construct a modest structure to protect students from sun and rain.
Those who follow international news find many stories of civil unrest. EfP board members, Lisa McGiveron and Pierre Balthazar, were scheduled to visit Haiti in August. We were all eager to hear news of progress at Lekol Pa Nou (Creole for "Our School") and see recent photographs of our colleagues in Pichon. Unfortunately, the advice from Port-au Prince was to postpone the trip because things were too unsettled.
Despite the difficulties in communicating with our main contacts in Haiti--Liné and his wife, Nadia--we have learned that sixth grade was, indeed, launched early in September. This completes the slow, steady growth of the school at a pace of one grade each year since it was launched in January 2000.
We also learned that there are 45 children in the pre-school program and 90 in the elementary school. A new teacher was hired for the sixth grade class and two additional teachers were hired to replace departing teachers.
An arrangement with the Barbancourt Foundation to add a permanent structure to the school has been submitted to the European Economic Community, so we hope to hear more about the upgrading of the facilities in the coming year. Our approach at the beginning was to build up the program aspects of the school and let the physical facilities remain modest. Now the time seems right and the program seems firmly rooted and the circle of grassroots support seems strong enough to warrant new construction. We will pass along the news as it develops.