Haiti one year on - offering hope to children through education

My last post looked at UNICEF's role in taking healthcare to remote Haitian villages. This post is a continuation and looks at UNICEF's commitment to establishing education facilities in these regions, offering hope to the most vulnerable children affected by last year's earthquake.

At the nearby Communal School also operated by Sister Benedicte and her religious order, the Fraternite Notre Dame Mission, and also supported by UNICEF, 17-year-old Darline remembers the earthquake.

“We lost our home here in Jaquot on the day of the earthquake, but nobody was killed or injured in my family,” she says. “In Port-au-Prince it was horrible, just horrible.”

Her school was destroyed and has been rebuilt. But Darline was affected by the earthquake in less visible ways. “I don’t work as well as I should at school since the earthquake, I can’t concentrate and I’m scared all the time,” she confides.

Sister Benedicte says the school, which was rebuilt with UNICEF support, is an important means for helping children like Darline overcome the psychological trauma caused by the earthquake.

“Here they can play with their friends and share their feelings even though they saw the original structure of the school collapse on January 12,” she says.

UNICEF is supporting schools like Darline’s to give children living in rural areas affected by the earthquake a head start on their education. As one of the school’s 307 students, Darline hopes to become a nurse when she completes her studies. “We lost our home here in Jaquot in the earthquake, but nobody was killed or injured in my family as everyone was outside working on their plots. “In Port au Prince it was horrible, just horrible.”

All the homes in Jaquot were destroyed by the earthquake, unfortunately being located in a very remote area far from the capital their suffering did not get equal attention in comparison to the destruction in the urban areas.

Darline attends the only communal school run by the Fraternite Notre Dame Mission supported by UNICEF. According to Sister Marie Benedicte, who oversees the running of the school “the only solace these children have had since the earthquake is that they can go to school to have some sort of normalcy back into their lives. Here they can play with their friends, sharing their feelings even though they saw the original structure of the school collapse on 12 January.”

“Many of the children who came back to Jaquot after the earthquake were haunted by what they saw. This is something that will be in their memories for the rest of their lives,” Sister Benedicte says.

One year on, UNICEF is supporting schools like this one to give children in rural areas affected by the earthquake a head start on their education. Immediately after the earthquake there were 270 students. The school today has a total of 307 students from preschool to secondary school students. Darline is one of the 307 pupils, who hopes to study to become a nurse when she completes her schooling.

“Our colleagues are doing a remarkable job, working around the clock to provide assistance in a very difficult operating environment,” said UNICEF Deputy Representative Zaid Jurji and will continue to do so in reaching the most vulnerable.

Source: UNICEF

Comments

[Antonella]

Thanks for posting these, Rosie. It's important to be reminded that the earthquake effects are not over just because a year has gone by. These children and all the people of Haiti still need a lot of help and support. All the best. Ciao. A.

[single dad]

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