St. James Haiti Outreach

What have we learned about Haiti?

After returning from a trip to Haiti in November 2008, Ruth Anne Olson and Louise Robinson wrote a series of essays to share their observations with us.  This is the second of eight essays. See complete list here.

2. The School of Bonne Nouvelle

This installment written by Louise

For our second day in Haiti, Père (Father) Kerwin Delicat drove us once again to the village of Bigonet, serving as host and interpreter for our visit to the school of Bonne Nouvelle.

The school serves approximately 200 students who range in age from preschool through 6th grade. It is housed in two cement block buildings which are well-kept but are very bare compared to our notions of a well-stocked classroom. Each classroom has a chalkboard and each student has a backpack with paper textbooks and notebooks. The students share rows of hand-hewn wooden desks. Beyond that, we saw very little evidence of any “educational enrichment.” In fact, the only things we saw were a few puzzles used by the preschoolers.

But energy, smiles and a genuine sense of welcome were in rich supply. Père Delicat introduced us to Louis Noucent, who has been the School Director for five years. After we exchanged greetings (via  Père Delicat’s interpretation) Louis gave us a tour of the seven classrooms.

Ruth Anne and Louise with the school director and his wife
who teaches 5th grade. They live on the outskirts of Lèogâne
and walk two hours to and from school each day. 

We met the teachers, were welcomed with song by the students, and had a brief opportunity for questions. We brought our gifts of school supplies, including colored pencils, crayons, pens and a soccer ball! We weren’t able to be long at the school because of a variety of time constraints, but it provided us with a lovely introduction to the school, ideas for partnership, and questions to pursue as our dialog continues.

We’re told that public funding for education in Haiti is limited to a few schools in large cities. All other schools are supported by private or non-profit entities, including many churches. Most are funded with tuition fees of approximately $10 per month per student. This is hard for many families to afford. Last spring Bonne Nouvelle teachers went without pay for several months because students were unable to pay tuition. When they are paid, teachers make $50 to $80 a month.

This fall things went from bad to worse when Haiti was stuck with four hurricanes in four weeks. The start of school was postponed, and many families lost  their source of income. St. James was able to send $2,175 in emergency assistance (raised from within St. James and from other friends) to help get the school opened and operating. We estimate that these funds will help pay teachers’ salaries for approximately one-third of the school year.

Preschoolers

Second grade. Students are in school from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.,
walking as much as two hours to and from school. 
Many go all day without a meal.

Sixth grade. After 6th grade students must go to
Lèogâne to continue their schooling.  We don’t know
what percentage is able to do that.

Recess. These are the two school buildings. Above is the original building which houses the lower grades.
Below is a newer building which houses the older grades and the director’s small office.

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