Haiti: SOS Education

February 12, 2008

Haiti: SOS Education

If you have twenty extra dollars or more, you could help 31 children in Haiti’s second city, Cap Haitian, finish their school year. Let me explain. I recently completed my third trip to Haiti as an independent journalist investigating the ongoing impact of the US-France-Canada coup d’état of 2004. It is no exaggeration to say that this event and the policies which followed have left 8 million people in a desperate state. When I was introduced to Madame Bwa, a key community activist in the poorest community of Haiti’s second city, Cap Haitian, I was faced with a startling sight: 26 young people, aged 4 to 18 who had all been sent home from school in the previous 2 weeks because their families couldn’t afford their children’s basic school fees. Madame Bwa informed me that there were five more, bringing the total to 31, but that they were not present that day.

I have maintained close contact with Madame Bwa since returning to Canada. She has done the math, and says that she needs $650 to pay the school fees for all of these children so they can finish the year. This is the current reality in Haiti. The state has been crippled by the last two coup d’états and is unable to subsidize anyone’s education. People are left to themselves in a society where unemployment sits at 70%. 96% of Haitian children never finish high school because of poverty. Your donation will not solved Haiti’s economic crisis. It will however ensure that 31 young people finish the 2008 school year. If you have some extra money, please contribute.

To make this happen, we’ll be working with ecologist and human rights advocate Sasha Kramer’s organization SOIL, an impressive environmental NGO in Cap that works intimately with the community of Shada (Cap Haitian’s slum). Sasha’s organization will provide you with a tax receipt. SOIL's website will tell you where to send your check or you can use the site to pay directly with Paypal. All you have to remember is to indicate “Shada school fund” in the check memo or as a note in Paypal. If you have any questions, contact Sasha at sashakramer@gmail.com, or me, Darren Ell, at elldarren@gmail.com