Education Initiative
The Education Initiative seeks to provide basic education to the children in Chermaitre, Haiti, as well as educate the wider global community on Haitian culture and history.
In Haiti, 50% of students have access to primary education and only 29% go on to secondary school. Through VHP’s efforts, over 250 Chermaitre students have access to primary school education and between 10-20 students annually are granted scholarships to continue through secondary school.
Original school, built in 2001
Current school, built in 2008
Education Access
The Education Initiative was the Haiti Project’s very first endeavor. We began by supporting the school lunch program at École St. Paul de Chermaitre, which was originally a rudimentary one-room classroom with 175 students from kindergarten to 5th grade. In 2008, we established a robust building complex, which now serves about 250 students, including the 6th grade. We are proud to report that the school won Second Prize in a regional academic competition among 55 schools in 2011.
We were also delighted to hear that École St. Paul’s pass rate for the pre-secondary Certificate exam was 28 out of 30 students in 2014. In our most recent trip to Haiti, students shared with us that some travel over 2 hours to our school every morning, rather than attend a school only a half hour from them. It is the students’ dedication to achieving excellence in their education that pushes the Haiti Project to continue to work with the people of Chermaitre to ensure every child has equal access to education.
To this day, the Haiti Project remains financially committed to the school’s lunch program, the subsidization of teachers’ salaries, secondary school scholarships, school supplies, and textbooks. Projects on the horizon include health and sexual education, a textbook lending library, a storage shed, an anti-trafficking curriculum, a vocational summer program, a children's medical fund, and a breakfast program.
In Haitian Creole, tipa tipa means “little by little.” We hope that with the generosity of our supporters and the driving spirit of Haiti, tipa tipa, we can work together to advance and equalize education for the students of Chermaitre.
Secondary School Program
In addition to our primary school, we have a scholarship program for students to attend the secondary school. For the academic year 2020/21, we have 12 students enrolled in the scholarship program. These scholarships cover the costs of food, books, enrollment, and housing while in school. The secondary school is a four-hour hike, each way, from Chermaitre. Therefore, the housing provided through the program is essential to helping students achieve secondary education.
Our sponsorship program is currently the only way children of Chermaitre have access to secondary education, so your donation contributes directly to the crucial advancement of the people of Chermaitre.
$50 or $80 per month or $1000 per year supports one student which includes tuition, books, room and board.
Current Projects & Goals
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Continued Primary School Funding
Since 2000, the Haiti Project has supported the running of the school. Each year, the school's budget covers administrative and teacher salaries, daily student lunches, school uniforms, and teaching materials.
Annual Budget: $40,000
Status: In progress
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Secondary School Scholarship Program
This program provides students from surrounding villages the opportunity to further their education beyond primary school. Costs for each student include tuition, room and board, and books. Ultimately, we hope to cover the annual cost of attending secondary school over seven years for 50 students ($50,000 annual).
Annual Budget: $1,000 per student
Status: In progress, funding needed
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Adult Education
The Women’s Committee, in collaboration with Femmes de Chermaitre, plans to implement an adult education program in the village as a powerful engine for the women’s self-empowerment through their acquisition of literacy and business skills. The knowledge women gain can in turn be imparted through future generations and engender a sustainable form of educational enrichment and professional development for women, as well as for men in Chermaitre. The Women’s Initiative on campus, in concert with the Women’s Community Board, is planning fundraising initiatives to cover expenses for hiring teachers, and purchasing textbooks to realize math and literacy classes for the village’s adults.
Perspective: The Haiti Project works with a Haitian partner who ensures that programs will be implemented. VHP started its support of the village in 2001 when a one-room bare earthed school was built. In 2006, a multi-classroom concrete school was built and since then, thousands of children have been educated in primary schooling. But the adults of the village also asked for the possibility for them to learn. The women want to gain literacy skills, be able to sign their signatures, as well as learn math so they can start small businesses in order to further support themselves and their families.
Status: In Progress. The target start date for classes is Oct. 1, 2021!
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Breakfast Program
VHP aims to provide a simple breakfast to students once a day, every school day, that would consist of local fruit produced from VHP-planted trees and crackers with peanut butter made from locally grown peanuts. In an attempt to further involve the parents in the student's’ schooling, we plan to ask each student to bring one cup of peanuts each month in order for the school to make the peanut butter and reduce food costs.
Cost: $10,000, annual
Status: In progress
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Haiti and the Vassar curriculum
VHP has been collaborating with Vassar professors to design new courses that examine issues in Haiti. In Spring 2021, a new intensive course “Interactions among Public Health, Political Instability, and Environmental Degradation” taught by Professor Kathleen Susman and Leroy Cooper uses Haiti as a model to explore the relationship between public health and socioeconomic disparities.
Status: In progress
