Help wanted for Haitian school

Nineteen years ago, Issalem Calixte, a pastor in the commune of Lascahobas, Haiti, converted his church in the rural depressed area of the Quimpe VI locality into a school to serve the unprivileged children in the district.

For almost two decades, the school, comprising the church building which was divided into six classrooms and two other small rooms for kindergarten classes, was the only educational institution in the area.

It consisted of a population of 228 students – 115 girls and 113 boys aged three to 20 years – and a staff complement of nine teachers instructing students in mathematics, social sciences, French, experimental sciences, and Creole.

Calixte, who spoke with The Gleaner through a translator, said the school, named the Ecole Vision Mondiale (Global Vision School), presented an opportunity to give the children “an education that will allow them to improve their lives”.

His noble intention was however thwarted in January when the school was forced to close because of its inability to pay teachers, depriving its students of the fundamental human right to an education.

Lascahobas is located close to the border with Dominican Republic, and its residents mainly engage in informal vending in Dominican border cities to make a living. However, in September last year, the Dominican Republic announced its closure as a result of a dispute over construction of a canal on Haitian soil that taps into a shared river.

That nation’s president, Luis Abinader, instituted a ban on issuing visas to Haitian citizens and closed its border to all migrants, regardless of whether they were seeking entry for work, tourism, health or education purposes.

Even though a month later, it partially reopened to limited commercial activity, Calixte said the impact on the community was detrimental.

“Most of the children living in this area no longer attend school because their parents are unemployed due to the closure of the Dominican border. They are therefore faced with the high cost of living which afflicts the entire community,” he said.

UNABLE TO PAY SCHOOL FEES

This loss of income for many parents resulted in them being unable to contribute towards school fees. Coupled with that, the Ministry of Education in Haiti had stopped paying the salaries of teachers, who in response went on strike.

It was a development that left the pastor and principal of the school discouraged as the haven he sought to create in a country that has for so long been plagued with violence and social unrest tumbled down, leaving the children further exposed to the crisis.

“There is only one school in the entire community, which is why it is imperative that the school survive,” he stressed.

Of note is the fact that school attendance was, for many students, the only guarantee that they would receive a meal on a given day.

Last year, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that nearly three million children in Haiti, the highest number on record, are in need of humanitarian support.

According to the organisation, children often find themselves in the crossfire or are directly targeted as armed groups terrorise the population in their fight for territory and control. These children are subjected to extreme poverty, and are at risk of contracting diseases. Alarmingly, it noted that the violence, poverty and despair are driving children into the armed groups.

And, with the recent escalation of violence in Haiti, the danger of this occurrence may be on the increase.

The Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), a research centre of The University of the West Indies, Mona, is attempting to save the co-ed Vision Mondiale institution.

In November 2022, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the school and the Haiti Jamaica Society to spearhead outreach for the institution.

“We’re trying to see if we can raise enough funds to put them back on their feet and then put them in touch with institutions, foundations in Haiti,” Dr Patricia Northover, senior fellow at SALISES, told The Gleaner. “We’re trying to get some money that would finance the restarting of the school, and then from there our goals would be a school feeding programme to enable the students to learn.”

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Northover also outlined that SALISES has been engaging with other foundations to provide additional resources for the school.

“We have a very ambitious goal of trying to earn US$50,000 for them this year. Right now we’re just trying to get a minimum of $7,000 to cover teachers’ salaries, and would allow the school to reopen, but that is almost like you’re paying back salaries but you don’t know how you’re going to pay the salaries for the rest of the year,” she said.

Ideally, Northover said SALISES wants to create a fund for the school so that they would pay the teachers as a temporary measure until the unrest in the country has stabilised.

Meanwhile, Calixte stated that the immediate needs of the school include uniforms for 95 students who are unable to attend school due to lack of uniforms; teaching materials for 228 students such as books, notebooks, pens, pencils, geometry sets, schoolbags; funds for the compensation owed to the nine teachers who were on and staff; and a desperately needed bathroom facility.

Myrtha Désulmé, president of the Haiti-Jamaica Society, expressed eagerness for any assistance for the school.

“The school is undergoing many intrinsic problems within the context of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis on the national level, which has resulted in the government totally abandoning these rural schools. Any help would therefore be most welcome,” she told The Gleaner.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com

To assist this Haitian school, contact Dr Northover at patricia.northover@uwimona.edu.jm.