Summary

The Community School of Cite Soleil is an abandoned building with four classrooms, located in the desperately poor neighborhood of the City of Brothers, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The building is a very simple structure, with no additional facilities or no common spaces. The administration of Action Chretiene school, which runs two other schools in Cite Soleil (with a total of 300 students), would like to re-open the school.

Joel, President of Action Chretiene school: "There were a lot of problems in Cite Soleil about five months ago. Bandits in different gangs were killing one another. Now, children 8 or 9 years old have weapons. If they are not going to school, they will be tempted to fight. They become bandits too. The big bandits gives them some food and some money too. There are a lot of good leaders in Cite Soleil. But some of them have visions that are not so great. Willy had a vision about how to help the children escape from the bandits. He presented flyers and held workshops all over Cite Soleil, explaining that violence does not make sense, and that they should go back to school. So we have a lot of kids who are ready to go to school, but can't. We want to start a school in City of Brothers for 120 students. Our big problem is teachers. We don't have any budget for them. There should be a three year agreement for the teachers." .. Willy, Vice-President: "Cite Soleil is a strategic block. It is the center of suffering and struggle in Haiti. If we can have an impact here we can change the whole country. Some of the children don't even have the reduced price of 300 gourdes per year ($8.00 U.S.) we ask for in our scholarship program. And they also don't come to school with any supplies or books." Interview, September 25, 2008

Opening the Community School of Cite Soleil and enrolling 120 students who would not otherwise attend any school is just a part of this partnership program. It also involves the full range of programs in our normal partnership, including: Frequent personal messages and updates (at least two per month); an in-depth interview; research into their health, shelter, and nutrition; drawing activities; a birthday celebration; and more. (Click here for details.) .. The cost is $15 per child per month, with a one year commitment (But since starting up the school is a greater than normal commitment, we might need to have some sense that the arrangement can last for at least three years.) The normal cost of our partnerships with children is $12 per month; that is a subsidized price, and at this level we need to ask for the full amount to cover our costs. .. Each child can have an individual partner; or there could be a number of people partnering with one child. (The latter option would reduce the cost for each participant). In addition to the individual partnerships, group-to-group or classroom -to-classroom partnerships are also possible.

Camp member

Please contact us with questions or your thoughts or proposals. We can provide additional information in the area you request. .. Visits to the school, the slum, and our facilities in Port-au-Prince are welcome, either by the organizers or the participants in the program. In fact, we recommend that you consider sending a delegation to the area at some point during the partnership, to see the slum, school and partners in person, and send a report to other participants. .. Back to Other ways to help