“L’ecole?” I don’t know very much Creole, but I was able to maneuver enough French around to ask some kids if they went to school. I happened to know that they probably didn’t, since school was in session while we were interacting with the kids. But I discovered that in order to get answers, you have to ask tough questions sometimes.
Since I aspire to be an English teacher, I am passionate about children going to school. Having done much research about education around the world, I know that many countries make students pay for their education. I had to hear from the Haitian people, the Haitian children, why they were not in school.
The answers they gave me made me shake my head in amazement.
“I don’t have enough money for a notebook.” “My family cannot afford my uniform.” “I am waiting for someone to donate school supplies to me.”
In the United States, a notebook costs 50 cents. I’m sure the schools in Haiti use special notebooks, but still, they couldn’t cost that much money!
From what I gathered, the financial roadblocks to education in Haiti are: tuition, school supplies, and uniforms. I was going to put the exact amount, but all I can confidently say is that uniforms cost about $40-50, and the orphanage where we stayed had to pay $30,000 altogether for all the children’s tuition combined.
Education is costly, but it pays off.
I mentioned on Saturday that child sponsorship typically helps children get to school. I am sponsoring a girl who needs help going to school. By giving a certain amount of money a month, I am helping her pay for tuition, a meal given at school, her uniform, and school supplies. I am confident that this little girl is going to make a difference in the world someday.
Little children in Haiti are so proud of the opportunity to go to school. They would run up to me in their uniforms and show off what they learned in school that day. Their parents parade them around the village, showing that they are financially stable enough to give their kids an education. Having the chance to go to school in Haiti is a big deal.
A lot of the kids who went to school helped the members of our team who were doing construction. They counted and sorted nails and helped cut wood. These are the people who are going to make Haiti a better place. These are the people who are going to make the world a better place.
We need more people like them. And all it takes is a chance for them to go to school.
Elisabeth Warner 