Head Start for 230 Pre-School Children in Haiti

School year 2016-2017 for the 200 Pre-School students   of Our Lady of Perpetual Help School (OLPHS) in Petite-Riviere de l’ Artibonite started on September 5. The seven teachers and 200 students of the Pre-School greeted the new school year with much excitement and great expectations.

Four weeks into the new school year, the deadly Hurricane Matthew decimated the southern part of Haiti and left about a million of its people in desperate need of food, clean water and health care. The school, located in the Artibonite Department, far from the devastated south, suffered no significant damage in its infrastructure.

But for many of the children’s families, the high winds and heavy rainfall brought by Matthew’s passage significantly damaged crops, livestock and roads. About 20% of the children’s parents have informed the school principal that due to the loss of their livelihood, they will not be able to pay the yearly pre-school school fees per student in the amount of US$70 for this year.

Against this backdrop, it is noteworthy that generous support from the Head Start Project financed the training of pre-School teachers and provision of educational materials for the  school year 2016-2017. Another noteworthy initiative is the launching of a small library of children’s literature for the use of the children and their teachers.

We are most grateful to all those donors who have so generously helped PHC provide high-quality education to disadvantaged Haitian children.

Please help us sustain and expand quality pre-school education for poor Haitian children and give them a solid basis for further education and the opportunity to transform their lives.