Oxfam America’s Coco McCabe reports on the efforts of Haiti’s government to reopen its schools and meets one student who’s determined to be top of the class.
For kids not affected by the devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti in January, schools reopened on the first of February. But so far only a few students in the north-west and south of the country have shown up for class – not a promising start for a government aiming to open the rest of the country’s schools by 1 March.
Around Port-au-Prince, the tremor reduced many school buildings to rubble, making it hard for the children to shake off the nightmarish thought of what might have happened to them had the quake hit earlier in the afternoon while they were still seated at their desks.
Instead, it struck at 5.00pm, just after the kids had left for the day. Thankfully.
Countless lives saved by chance
I heard that whisper of relief voiced over and over again on the dusty streets of the capital as we drove past schools with pancaked floors and collapsed walls. Countless lives saved by chance. Thankfully.
But what’s been interrupted now is the certainty, order and sense of opportunity the school day brought to the lives of those Haitian kids who had been lucky enough to secure themselves a place in the classroom – even if that classroom lacked amenities and discipline.
Many in Haiti don’t get the chance to have much schooling. According to one report, only two-thirds of Haitian children complete primary school. And the learning they get is hardly consistent, given that almost 80% of primary teachers are not certified. The report, compiled for the Partnership for Educational Revitalisation in the Americas, pointed out that most students in Haiti – about 80% of those enrolled – attend private schools. However, three-quarters of these have neither certification nor a license from the education ministry.
The government wants to see all schools reopened in less than three weeks. But where? With what resources? A recent story in the New York Times described an orphanage that promised to educate the children within its walls, but a reporter who visited saw no signs of books, paper or pencils anywhere.
Last week, three experts testified before a subcommittee of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on how to help Haiti recover from the incredible destruction left by the quake and each one of them emphasised the importance a sound educational system will play in rebuilding the country.
And perhaps no one wants that as much as those kids who’ve lost every semblance of comfort and security they ever knew – including their schools.
Katty’s Story
In a spontaneous camp at Delmas 62, made of tarps and bed sheets, Katty Rebecca Matin, 13, sits bouncing a neighbour’s baby on her lap. She’s good with children but her heart really lies with her collection of books. It was that love that prompted her to drag her school books – a pillowcase stuffed with them – from her family’s damaged home to the camp where they now sit, carefully stacked and easily accessible, with a few other salvaged household belongings.
“I love school,” says Katty, digging into the pillowcase and pulling out a workbook. Side by Side, it is called, a language book for children studying English. She flips it open to chapter six – a section on families – and with hordes of relatives teeming around her, she ticks off the words for sister and brother, aunt and uncle, mother and father in near perfect English.
“I like doing homework,” Katty adds. That’s a challenge in a camp where there are hardly any quiet corners to be found or even any comfortable places to sit. But Katty has found a way to carve out some mental space for herself all the same. Together with two friends, she has formed a study group and for two or three hours a day they focus on their school work. To give the sessions some structure, Katty’s mother asked an older student in the camp to help tutor the younger ones as they plow through lessons in maths, social science, English and Spanish.
The informal sessions help pass the time at Delmas 62. But what Katty says she would really like is for school to start again so that her dream of attending university and studying science can one day come true.
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