Haiti Earthquake Anniversary: Keeping Schools Open

International Support Helps Keep Haiti’s Schools Open

Port-au-Prince, HAITI – In Haiti’s capital city, Bel-Air is one of its poorest neighborhoods.

Like so many of the area’s young people, 24-year-old Kitcher Letang doesn’t work, doesn’t go to school and became involved in gangs at a young age.

“Imagine living here with no schools, no security,” Letang told theGrio’s Jeff Johnson recently.

But one of the community’s only schools, KOREBEL, is helping to restore hope.

“We put together our money to build the school,” said Lyron Smith, a Bel-Air resident and teacher. “And we [bought] materials and [gave] our time to teach the children.”

Nearly half of Haiti’s children don’t attend school. And to make matters worse, some of the country’s teachers are working for next-to-nothing.

“Some of our teachers are earning less than 40 U.S. dollars a month,” said Edzaire Paul, Director of Methodist Schools in Haiti. “How could you ask people to work in education and they cannot feed their [own] children? It’s paradoxical.”