Haiti (Education)
About The Location & History
Attending school in Haiti is considered a privilege only received by a select few. In addition, life within this country is hard – no jobs, exorbitant food prices, unstable government, lack of security, etc.
Most children, like Rood-Kelly, grow up struggling day-to-day for physical needs like food and clothing. Due to the current civil instability in Haiti, gangs are corrupting the streets of Port-au-Prince. Thankfully, he goes to a school supported by ImpactHope, which is located behind the city’s mountains at 4500 feet above sea level and the raging gang violence below.
The gangs have now moved into the mountain villages, causing fear and hunger through shootings and kidnappings.
Student Sponsorship Program
We have partnered with Vision of Grace Elementary School to identify primary school students who will benefit from long-term resources to cover medical needs, daily meals at school, and tuition costs. All student profiles are uploaded on a partnering portal. Sponsors are free to peruse the profiles and choose to sponsor a child that appeals to their hearts!
Through individual student sponsorship, you can assist students with long-term resources and equip them to become independent.
Vision of Grace Elementary School and Community Project
The founder, Marie Estelle, desires to see the rural community of Fort Jacques develop further. The goal is to provide a Christian education for preschool from grade 1 to grade 6. The goals of the community leaders are threefold: education, spiritual growth and economic development. Along with education, Marie Estelle and her husband, Pastor Clermont, conduct outreach programs within the community that include income-generating activities with meat goats and agriculture. The need for community development has become ever more acute due to the rising cost of living stemming from the economic impacts of the pandemic and Haiti’s government’s inability to build the economy and control the gangs.
The school provides lessons based on the Haitian curriculum with a Christian emphasis through daily devotions, Bible memorization, Biblical teachings and a weekly chapel.
Who Are We Partnering With?
Ann Farquharson is our Canadian representative for this project and works together with our Haitian Project Director, Marie-Estelle. They operate a school with a yearly average attendance of 40 children from very low-income families. This school teaches Kindergarten to Grade 4. The school included Grade 4 this school year (2022-2023). Each year a grade is added until the school reaches grade six.
Our Haiti contacts, Marie-Estelle and her husband, Pastor Clermont, live and work in the community of Fort Jacques. They aim to build a sustainable community by implementing agriculture, education, and spiritual development initiatives.
Marie-Estelle and her husband moved to the area in 2004 and quickly recognized the need for literacy and community development within the community. In Haiti, there is no government assistance for education. They knew God was calling them to step up.
What Is The Initiative?
Mission Statement: We exist to bring Salvation through Jesus to all the community residents and provide spiritual, educational, and economic development.
Over the past few years, ImpactHope has supported the construction of a school – an actual building made of cement with genuine windows and doors!
Financial sustainability is one of our goals, and we are communicating with our partners to find a way forward. The roof was completed two years ago. The school has added extra rooms, including the fourth-grade classroom, a principal’s office and another bathroom in the summer of 2022.
The greatest need for the school is finding enough sponsors to cover the operational costs for the children whose families cannot afford the payment of school fees. We have 32 out of 64 students sponsored so far!
Together, we are bringing hope to Haiti by educating children and providing them with more significant opportunities for the future. Your support is preparing these children for a better and brighter future!
Support us through one-time or recurrent donations:
- Supplies for a Student – Purchase a year’s school supplies for approx $200.
- Sponsor a Student – At $47/month, change a child’s life forever!
- Sponsor a Teacher – Support a teacher at $150/month.
Building Walls of Hope
In August 2017, Marie Estelle wrote the following five goals to be accomplished in five years.
- Financial support to pay the teachers every month (even half of their usual salaries for the months of vacation) and training for them with foreign educational teams.
- Complete the school building.
- Expand school classes from preschool to grade six.
- Provide the kids with lunch, spiritual care through vocational Bible teams, and healthcare through medical teams.
- Sponsorship for the kids to cover their uniforms, books, school bags, etc.
The school opened in September 2017 with six students in kindergarten in the large lean-to church building. Since then, the school has built up to the Grade 4 classroom, provided lunches to students and staff, found half of the needed sponsors, and paid teachers for 12 months of the year.
In 2019, a clean water system was installed for the school and community.
