The return to classes in the Haitian refugee camps, three months after the earthquake, is gradually taking shape. Classes are combined with non-formal education activities such as fine arts and sports, organized to help the little ones overcome the trauma of the experience. Entreculturas and its local partners on the ground work tirelessly to rebuild the educational fabric of the country.
Entreculturas-. The earthquake of January 12 destroyed or severely damaged half of the 15, 000 primary schools and 1, 500 secondary schools in Haiti. A few days after the catastrophe, Entreculturas and its local partners, Fe y Alegr a Haiti and the Jesuit Refugee and Migrant Service, collaborate in the organization of seven camps of refugees, located in the metropolitan area, where activities such as fine arts, sports or various forms of entertainment for children are offered as a way to overcome the trauma experienced by the tragedy.
After the emergency phase, the reopening of classes, on April 5, has gradually begun to formative normality. To do this, Fe y Alegr a Haiti organized a seminar for a week for teachers who will teach the children of the camps. After this training session, teachers will be able to attend with greater capacity to children affected by the earthquake and thus better understand some of the situations that influence in his behavior.
Entreculturas works with our partners in three lines of work:
Education in the emergency. Since last April 1, emergency education has been offered in seven camps for displaced persons whose objective is to normalize the school life of children and support them in overcoming trauma. We are serving between 5, 000 and 6, 000 children.
Education for reconstruction. Technical education for employment in reconstruction are training modules of short duration (between 3 and 6 months) in different specialties necessary for reconstruction n (masons, electricians, plumbers, welders, etc). There are 1, 200 young people enrolled in this program.
Recovery of the Haitian educational fabric. From Entreculturas, with our local partners, we want to expand the quality educational offer with a network of schools. This action consists in improving and adapting the educational infrastructures of the 12 centers that are in the process of integrating Fe y Alegr a Haiti, while integrating the accompanying work education, teacher training and improvement of infrastructure with other religious congregations.
In Entreculturas we believe that education has a fundamental role, since it allows the process of socialization of children, developing in them physical and intellectual abilities. Fe y Alegría Haiti summarizes this idea with the motto: "Yon timoun san lekòl se pwoblèm tout moun", which means, "A child without a school is everyone's business". That is why we believe that we should all participate in the reconstruction of the education system in order to have women and men capable of raising Haiti in the future.
Architects for the diagnosis of schools
Last March a team of architects from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, through Entreculturas, traveled to Port-au-Prince to identify the state of the infrastructure of 79 public schools. This action was commissioned by the Ministry of Education, who asked our local partner Fe y Alegría Haiti for recognition of the state of 230 schools. For two weeks, the architects typified the 79 schools they diagnosed in four degrees of habitability. This action is part of the commitment to public education that Entreculturas promotes. Before the earthquake, 80 percent of schools in Haiti were private.
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