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School Repair Holds Promise for Social and Economic Growth
FrontLines - July 2009
Gonaives, Haiti—At the Ecole Nationale Belfond Pierre, a school in Gonaives, 600 exuberant
students, aged 6 to 16, rushed outside in all directions as classes ended. They split into groups; the boys jostled one another and the girls giggled in animated chatter, never far from the watchful eye of their matronly monitor.
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Students at the Ecole Nationale Belfond Pierre in Gonaives. In the background are classrooms being constructed by USAID.
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When the students return to school in September, their lessons
in math, Creole, French, social science, and experimental sciences will be taught in eight new classrooms built by USAID through a partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Haiti’s adult literacy rate is 52 percent. Less that 65 percent of children attend school. Therefore, USAID views education and professionalizing teaching careers as the key to a better life through social and economic progress.
To rebuild and expand the Ecole Nationale Belfond Pierre, IOM employs local talent, providing
people from Gonaives with jobs and the chance to develop their community.
Charles Minoon, 24, is a mason and one of the people working on school reconstruction sites around Gonaives. Skilled laborers such as Minoon keep jobs for long periods, but unskilled workers rotate frequently, giving others a chance to earn something.
Teams of up to 50 work for a two-week period before a new team is on the job.
Since the 2008 hurricanes struck Gonaives, 5,000 people have been hired to repair and expand schools or other public works. Each person worked an average of 25 days.
Fixing schools in Gonaives provides a better environment for students to learn, improves health and hygiene, and provides safety—roofs and walls still display major structural damage from the hurricanes of 2008. In one school, the recreation area is still flooded by stagnant water.
USAID funding for school construction for the Artibonite region, including St. Marc, Ennery, Marmelade, L’Estere, as well as Gonaives, totals close to $3.5 million.
As children walked to school in Gonaives, they emerged from cinder-block homes and searched for their footing as they walked on top of mud-clogged streets still left from last year’s hurricanes. Schoolgirls were impeccably dressed in uniforms—pleated skirts with white shirts and ties. Their hair was elaborately braided and held in place by colored beads. One girl broke into a run until she reached flat, dry ground.
USAID is also funding 40,000 scholarships, which include school fees, subsidies for uniforms, and other supplies that help students to attend school.
Asked what they want to be when they grow up, the overwhelming
response that was shouted was “doctor,” “teacher,” and “nurse.”
Emmanual, 10, tracked down a visitor and announced with a beaming smile that he wanted to be a journalist.
★ —J.W.
FrontLines is published
by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
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by mail to Editor, FrontLines, USAID,
RRB, Suite 6.10, Washington, DC 20523-6100;
by FAX to 202-216-3035; or by e-mail to frontlines@usaid.gov
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