The Haiti Economic Education Initiative

Vital Stats

Megan S

Weyers Cave, VA

people helped1000
People Doing It 36

The Problem

The only way to create change for a developing country is achieved first through education, and than through opportunities for economic sustainability. The primary school of Riviere Froide, Haiti, a mountain village 15 miles southwest of Port Au Prince, offered 1300 children the hope for a better future and 23 teachers the opportunity to change the future of Haiti through education. A handicap school and orphanage, also located in Riviere Froide, provided a support system for the most underserved population in Haiti, the intellectually and physically challanged. Both of these schools were destroyed during the earthquake of 2010. Over 200 children and 4 teachers lost their lives that day, and over 800 children lost their path to a brighter future. We have hired local villagers to rebuild a school and orphanage that can withstand high levels of stress, and have taught these workers proper building techniques so that in turn, we can not only give that path back to the children of Riviere Froide through education, but continue to build a stronger safer Haiti.

Plan of Action

Having been in Riviere Froide, Haiti before, during, and after the earthquake in January of 2010, I saw for myself the significance and hope this handicap orphanage and primary school held for the children of Riviere Froide. Through fund raising, presentations and social awareness my team and I raised $22,000, funds that would be used to rebuild the handicap school and orphanage of Riviere Froide. We worked collaboratively to develop a design and build a school and orphanage that will withstand high levels of stress. This school has not only provided the children of this impoverished region of Haiti with education but also provided local villagers with the skills and training to build safer and more stable structures. 12 of the 14 men in our building crew have already been employed on other building projects since the completion of our school in January of 2011, and the handicapped children and orphans of Riviere Froide are now out from under the tarps they had been living under since the earthquake. I want to continue to pay it forward and help the people of Haiti, providing opportunities for education and more economically stable lives.