Talk and promises have been far more abundant than visible improvements in the lives of struggling Haitians. After a frustratingly slow start, the commission is finally confronting a range of urgent issues, including housing and debris removal. It is right that this meeting — only its second — is immediately tackling education reform head-on, since the current system’s failures are at the root of the country’s thwarted potential.

Nearly all primary schools in Haiti today are private; parents, eager to give their children a better life, pay dearly. Judging from Haiti’s high illiteracy and dropout rates and dire lack of qualified teachers, the system needs a complete overhaul.

The plan to reinvent the education sector is hugely ambitious but relatively simple. It does not try to build entirely from scratch — many schools will still be privately run. But the government, with international help, will provide generous subsidies to parents who choose to send their children to schools that accept new layers of oversight and accountability, including government accreditation, a modernized national curriculum and teacher retraining. These schools will also have to be certified as structurally sound.

The goal is to provide universal free or nearly-free education for kindergarten through 12th grades in accredited schools, with eventual government financing. The full transformation is expected to take 20 years.

The first, five-year phase is expected to cost $500 million. Half of that would come from the Inter-American Development Bank, which has helped design the program. The rest is expected to come from other donors. The plan is to build at least 625 new primary schools and triple the number of publicly financed schools. It would also retrain 90 percent of the country’s teaching force — 50,000 people — to teach the new curriculum, and it would train 2,500 new teachers a year, many through a program patterned on Teach for America.

Outside experts have helped develop the plan, including Paul Vallas, who brought ambitious school reforms to Chicago and post-Katrina New Orleans. Their expertise is needed and appreciated. But advisers also stress that the plan, which builds on a reform process begun by the government before the quake, has the full endorsement of President René Préval. We are glad to see Mr. Préval finally engaged.

Eight months after the quake, the list of things that need to be fixed in Haiti is dauntingly, disturbingly long. Indeed, there are still more than one million people who are displaced and need homes. This education plan, built with a constructive mix of homegrown initiative and outside help, should be a model for moving other desperately needed projects forward. There is no time to waste.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/opinion/17tue1.html

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J., August 10, 2010 — Honeywell (NYSE: HON) broke ground today on a public school, Ecole Nationale Jacob Martin Henriquez in Jacmel, Haiti. In attendance were Tom Buckmaster, President of Honeywell Hometown Solutions, Richard Walden, President and CEO of Operation USA, Jacmel Mayor Edwin Zenny and Parliament Senator Joseph Lambert. Construction of the school, which will serve approximately 600 local students in grades K through seven, is scheduled to be completed by January 2011.

“Six months ago, Honeywell committed to contributing $1 million in aid to the region, including a 100 percent match of employee donations, to fund rebuilding projects in Haiti and we are on target with that promise,” said Tom Buckmaster, President of Honeywell Hometown Solutions, Honeywell’s Corporate Citizenship initiative. “With the dedicated assistance of Mayor Edwin Zenny along with Operation USA, we’re confident that today’s ground breaking will help support education and overall community resources. Honeywell has also made business jets available to relief agency Operation USA for airlift support to deliver medical supplies and transport medical staff. We are dedicated to helping Haiti rebuild.”

Honeywell’s investment in the rebuilding project is two-fold. The company is supporting the use of both contemporary and sustainable building methods for the school that can withstand future earthquakes. In addition, workshops will be held for local builders to encourage their direct involvement in the construction and the longer-term rebuilding efforts in the region. These workshops will focus on education related to modern building standards and regulations, and environmentally-conscious construction options that can save the region both money and natural resources over time.

Construction of the new school will also help establish a sense of community and normalcy to the region. A new computer lab will be an integral part of the new site as well as a sustainable community garden and regulation-sized athletic field that will host community sports activities.

“Partners such as Honeywell are invaluable in getting meaningful relief work done,” said Richard Walden, President and CEO, Operation USA. “Beyond financial assistance, we are thrilled to have a partner that is involved in every aspect of this rebuilding effort. Honeywell brings an unyielding commitment that ultimately will improve the Jacmel community immeasurably.”

In addition to building the school, a scholarship fund has been developed in partnership between Honeywell and Operation USA to help support expenses the students may incur during the school year, including mandatory school uniforms, books and supplies.

But after the earthquake hit, their U.S. donors redirected money toward first-aid relief efforts, and Trou Caiman residents feared the college students would abandon their earthquake-ravaged town some 45 minutes northeast of the capital, Villard said.

“I’m not going to promise something and not deliver on that,” she said.

Using their own money, Villard, a biology major who lives in Kendall, and Valbuena, a psychology major from Key Biscayne, are flying to Trou Caiman on Monday to draft school construction plans and deliver supplies to 100 children.

Within a week, they hope to visit with Haitian donors, recruit Trou Caiman locals to build the estimated $200,000 project and host a picnic to spread the word.

They hope to finish the school by August 2011, and will monitor the 130,680-square-foot building’s construction with the help of Villard’s father Max Villard, 47, an electrical engineer who lives in Port-au-Prince and lost the sewing factory he owned in the earthquake.

The school, Secours D’en Haut, exists, but the earthquake and several hurricanes before it eviscerated the building and classes are being held in the outdoor heat.

In 2008, they learned of the school’s problems when Villard and his daughter met the school director, Pastor Apolleon Jean Volcy, on a hunting trip. Volcy begged them for help. “What I saw was heartbreaking,” Max Villard said. “We’re talking about blackboards hanging under the trees and two kids sitting on a seat, taking turns standing.”

Ashley-Jo Villard wanted to help. She shared her project with Valbuena, and together, they drafted a grant proposal this winter and in April attended the Clinton Global Initiative University, a community-service conference hosted by former President Bill Clinton at the University of Miami.

The earthquake only spurred them on more, they said. “I have a lot of friends who lost their businesses and everything,” Villard said. Her father lost his job, and she feels fortunate to be continuing her U.S. education. “It’s important I take it back home and use it for the benefit of the people.”

Valbuena wants to use the project to convince her classmates to care about international issues, she said. But first, they both have to convince the people of Trou Caiman that two college students can deliver on a promise.

“Once they see our faces, they’ll know we’re serious,” Valbuena said.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/09/1767292/miami-dade-college-students-pledge.html

read original post at http://www.theirc.org/blog/going-school-haiti

“I think that old saying from those to whom much is given much is expected … and this is our opportunity to fulfill that promise,” says Jack Parker of Reed and Reed in Woolwich, one of the 40 members of the coalition which calls itself Maineline.

“We work with the supply chain in Maine,” says Parker. “We have vendors we have subcontractors, we have designers who work with us on a regular basis and we’re gonna reach out to them and ask for help whether its monetary services or goods we can make this thing happen.”

Darcy Pierce is an international disaster consultant from Scarborough who works with Maineline and has helped coordinate aid in many parts of the world, like Indonesia after the Tsunami. He says he’s never encountered many of the hurdles that are slowing down the rebuilding effort in Haiti. For example, most people in Haiti rent their homes.

“When it comes to rebuilding those buildings you don’t have the ability to rebuild for the intended beneficiaries because they don’t own the land,” says Pierce. “You’ve got an environment where the landowner owns the beneficiaries building and they can take it away from them and lease it to someone else.”

So in order to build the Cabaret school, Maineline teamed up with a non-governmental organization called Samaritan’s Purse that hopes to build 300 schools in Haiti. Maine businesses will donate all the necessary materials, technical and support services and hire Haitians to do the contstruction. They hope the school facilty, which will also house a social services area and a soccer field, will be up and running by next Spring.

source: wlbz2

On January 12, 2010, an earthquake in Haiti destroyed the lives of students, staff, faculty, facilities, and infrastructure in most of its universities, nearly all of which were located in Port-au-Prince. Much like the selfless outreach in other extreme times of need, I am most proud and grateful for the many ways that the Virginia Tech community has responded to this tragedy, especially through the generous donations and outpouring of support to the various agencies working on relief and recovery efforts in Haiti. Thank you.

As you know, we were honored earlier this month to host the Haitian Ambassador on our campus. While he was here, we were able to discuss our commitment to the long-term recovery of Haiti. He was grateful and encouraging. Because of Virginia Tech’s existing relationships with Haitian universities [for example, L’École Supérieure d'Infotronique d’Haïti (ESIH), Faculté d'Agronomie et de Medicine Vétérinaire of the state university of Haiti (UEH)], and major non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Haiti [such as Partners in Health/Zanmi Lasante and Zanmi Agrikol], our university is well positioned to provide an innovative and effective program of assistance to the higher education system of Haiti, while at the same time expanding the global perspective and knowledge of VT students in a manner consistent with our strategic goals (Virginia Tech Strategic Plan 2006-2012) and core values of Ut Prosim.

In support of our outreach and engagement programs, at an institutional level, Virginia Tech is creating a partnership with the Haitian Education and Leadership Program (H.E.L.P.) and up to five Haitian universities to form the VT Haiti Intern Program. Additionally, on a more personal level, this program represents an opportunity and commitment of individual students, faculty, university administrators, and community members to make a positive difference in shaping Haiti’s future.

The VT Haiti Intern Program will bring 20 Haitian undergraduates who are at the senior thesis-stage to Virginia Tech for one semester during the 2010-2011 academic year utilizing our existing J-1 “intern” visa program. Working under the guidance of Virginia Tech faculty (and possibly junior-faculty from the home universities), these interns will complete their undergraduate thesis projects in the context of our on-going or planned research and/or service projects in Haiti. To have the greatest impact on Haiti’s rebuilding efforts; this program will focus primarily on academic areas and projects that can generate solutions to Haiti’s immediate problems, such as agriculture, computer science, engineering, entrepreneurship, and forestry. Upon returning to Haiti, the interns will receive diplomas from their home universities. In addition, up to five junior faculty members of these universities will also participate in this program for the purpose of enhancing their research and teaching skills, thereby strengthening the instructional capacity of our Haitian university partners.

Faculty and community support is critical to the success of this program. Faculty volunteers are needed to mentor and supervise Haitian interns and junior-faculty members. In the ideal situation, involving these individuals in Haiti-related research and/or service projects will contribute to the overall success and impact of these projects, thereby enhancing the faculty member’s productivity. Financial support from the community is needed to pay the direct cost of this program, which is estimated at $100,000. The Community Foundation of the New River Valley and the YMCA of Virginia Tech are serving as the fiduciary agents to support this effort.

Please contact Dr. Bryan Cloyd (bcloyd@vt.edu) or Dr. Patrick Guilbaud (Guilbaud@vt.edu) if you are interested in participating in this special demonstration of the university’s global commitment to Ut Prosim.

At the planned site of her Barefoot Haiti school, she met about 100 children, some of whom danced to her songs. She then toured a camp housing nearly 50,000 people on a golf course. There, she met US actor Sean Penn, whose own charity is also helping victims. “We’ve come to make all the preparations to be able to start the building of a Barefoot school here in Haiti,” Shakira said in a brief interview.

She explained that the school would be modeled on similar establishments created by her Pies Descalzos (Barefoot) Foundation, a charity that provides education, nutrition and psychological support to more than 6,000 Colombian children displaced by violence.

“We think we can employ what we’ve learned [in Colombia] here, apply it in this country which needs it so much at the moment,” Shakira added.

The Haitian school would be built and run with other non-governmental organizations.

The Haiti quake, described by some experts as the deadliest natural disaster in modern history, may have killed more than 300,000 people, the Haitian government says. It also left more than a million people homeless, many of them young orphans.

Shakira said providing education to Haitian children would be a key part of the reconstruction of the quake-shattered country, which even before the disaster was already the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere.

“We need to think about the future of this country and of how Haiti’s children can be useful to their societies tomorrow … Education is one of the fundamental tools with which to develop and rebuild Haiti,” she said.

- Reuters

Only a few hundred schools are expected to open this week. UNICEF education official Mohamed Fall said the goal is to have 700,000 children back in school by the middle of next month. Educators said Monday they will focus on providing emotional support for traumatized children before picking up the regular curriculum.

At the meeting, it was announced that Haiti will be launching a new national effort to increase access to high-quality publicly funded education for all of the nation’s children. This work will build on the success of post-Katrina education in Louisiana with the assistance of Paul Vallas and Congressman Chaka Fattah. Vallas, who has been praised for his work in rebuilding New Orleans schools from the ground up in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, will work with the people of Haiti and Congressman Fattah to rebuild Haiti’s educational system.

Fattah, the creator of several successful educational programs, including America’s largest pre-college awareness and readiness program, is one of America’s leading voices on education. He is eager to join the effort.

The literary rate in Haiti is around 50 percent and the overwhelming majority of Haitian families must pay for their children’s education, in spite of living in extreme poverty. “The education system in Haiti was struggling before the earthquake hit,” Fattah said. “This is a chance to extend a basic American right – free elementary and secondary education for all children – to this impoverished country. We know how critical universal education has been to building the American middle class and we look forward to the power of education to help Haiti rebuild.”

The Congressman, who worked with Paul Vallas during his tenure in Philadelphia, spoke of his breadth of experience and skills, “Paul Vallas is eminently qualified to work on this effort, and I’m looking forward to assisting him and the government of Haiti to build a better, stronger, sustainable education system.”

SOURCE Office of Congressman Chaka Fattah