Break the Cycle of Poverty with Education

Over the last three years your generous donations have enabled us to provide a life-changing education for some of Port au Prince’s most vulnerable children.

School in Haiti isn’t free and these kids, whose parents’ can’t afford to pay school fees, would have been denied an education if it wasn’t for donors like you.

All the kids have worked hard, attended class regularly and done well in their exams because they’ve been extremely grateful for the opportunity your donations have given them.

So, it is with real sadness that we now have to inform you of issues that have developed with the host school over the summer. In negotiating our program plans for the next school year the school principal has proposed what we feel are unjustifiable price increases for school fees and materials, such as books, for the coming year.

This price increase brings the cost of school far above the average for a quality education in Port au Prince.

Despite comprehensive discussions the principal is refusing to move from his position. This means that we do not feel we can proceed at the current school while also safeguarding the donations you have so generously chosen to give.

As a result we are now seeking a new school to work with for the coming school year, but this presents us with other challenges.

Parents can be reluctant to send their children to school in other neighborhoods, and others may not want to separate kids from their friends.

So, while we had always planned to support the same kids year after year, it may not be possible to move all the kids currently in our scholarship program to the new school.

We understand that many of you have donated to support particular kids and we are truly sorry for any disappointment this causes. We take our commitments very seriously and so we wanted to send this report as soon as it became clear that we would not be able to proceed as planned.

At this point, we have sufficient funding in the bank to pay for an additional year of school for all the children in our programme. For the time being, we’ll close this project down on GlobalGiving as we explore options for continuing the programme.

Our plan is to use the funds already received for another year of school for as many of the children you’ve supported as possible next year. If we then feel that the project will continue in the long-term, we’ll re-post this project here on GlobalGiving, and you’ll be able to continue supporting education in Haiti.

If we do not feel confident that we can continue our scholarship programme the following year without hitting these same problems again, then we will permanently close the programme.

We understand that this may be upsetting news for many of you. If you have any concerns at all please don’t hesitate to email Emma@IDVolunteers.org so we can discuss them.

Once again, we would like to extend our sincerest apologies for any disappointment or inconvenience.

First of all, we’d like to thank everyone who gave during GlobalGiving’s most recent matching day! Your gifts are life changing for kids like Stevenson.

Stevenson is one of the newest additions to our scholarship programme. As a teenager who had been out of school for years, his prospects for getting an education appeared slender. His parents couldn’t pay his school fees, and most schools can’t accommodate older children who are several yeas behind their peers.

Luckily for Stevenson, you’ve stepped up to pay his school fees, and the teachers in our scholarship programme hold special classes for older children who have missed school. Stevenson loves school – and he knows how important it is.

Up until last month, he hadn’t missed a single day of school all year. Last month, he missed a single day with a stomach illness - and even then he wanted to come to class. For Stevenson, the idea of missing school is unthinkable. After all, he’s fantastically lucky to have you supporting his dream of getting an education.

As the school year draws to a close we are, once again, looking to next year and asking how many kids we’ll be able to welcome next year.

But this year is a bit different, because this year Microsoft is going to make it easier for us to enrol more children like Stevenson.

On June 25th, Microsoft will double your donations. That means that while you would normally need to donate $500 to send a child like Stevenson to school for a year, on June 25th you can give a child a year of education for just $250.

That makes June 25th a great day to give.

As always, if you ever have any queries about how we’re using your generous gifts, please don’t hesitate to email Emma@IDVolunteers.org. I would be delighted to hear from you!

Thanks again for your support and very kind regards from our team here at IDV.

With exams looming, your support is even more important than ever! Several of our kids are a bit behind – but with your support we’re helping them catch up.

One student who needs a little extra help is Avena. She’s finding math especially difficult, so we’re funding an hour of extra help for her after school every day.

Her teacher reports that since beginning tutoring last month she’s improving rapidly. The tutoring that is helping Avena succeed wouldn’t be possible without you.

Your support is changing 12 children’s lives in Port au Prince – and today your gifts to keep them in school will be matched by 50%!

That means that while you would normally need to give $500 to fund a child’s education for a year, today you can fund a year of school for just $333.

We hope you’ll give what you can so we can keep Avena and her classmates learning.

Thanks so much, and – as always – if you have any questions about how we’re using your donations please don’t hesitate to email Emma@IDVolunteers.org.

First and foremost – thanks so much to everyone who gave on GlobalGiving’s most recent matching day! Your gifts on February 12th went 30% further to change the lives of children like Bertrand. 

With March comes spring, and that means that exams are on the horizon. A few of the kids you support are a little behind, so over the next few weeks we’ll invest in extra help to ensure all the kids you’ve supported will succeed and move on to the next grade in the 2014 – 2015 school year.

This extra support is only possible because of your fantastic generosity – thanks so much!

If you ever have any questions about how we’re using your donation, please don’t hesitate to email me directly at Emma@IDVolunteers.org. I would be delighted to answer any questions you might have.

Thanks again, and we wish you all the best!

The kids you support continue are thriving in 2014.

A few of our students, like Zach, are a bit behind – but thanks to you we have the funds we need to offer him extra help outside of school hours. That extra support will help him stay on track.

Another one of our students – Nathaelle – also got a comment from her teacher, but this comment made us smile. “She only wants to learn English!,” said her teacher. “In math class, she asks when is Enligsh. In writing, same question. With Nathaelle, all is English English English!”

Nathanelle is excited to go to school and learn English every day because she wants to build a bright future and she knows that language skills will help her get there.

Thanks to you, we have the funds in hand to keep Zach, Nathaelle, and their classmates in school through the rest of the 2014 school year. That means that we’re already putting funds away for 2015 and considering whether or not we’ll be able to add new kids to the programme next year.

This Valentines Day, we’re hoping that you’ll help our programme grow in 2015 by giving on February 12th. Why February 12th and not 14th? Because on February 12th, GlobalGiving will match your donation by 30%!

That means that if you give just $10, GlobalGiving will add $3 to your gift, and we’ll have the funding we need to buy a school book for a child. Please give what you can on the 12th.

Thanks so much for all you’ve given, and if you have any questions about our work please don’t hesitate to email Emma@IDVolunteers.org.