{"id":42113,"date":"2020-08-13T03:44:07","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T07:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging21.finca.org\/uncategorized-en-ca\/tenacity-and-courage"},"modified":"2023-12-12T05:15:22","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T10:15:22","slug":"tenacity-and-courage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finca.org\/en-ca\/tenacity-and-courage","title":{"rendered":"Tenacity and Courage Ensure that Kids Get an Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kerlande Toussaint and her husband Annesse Aristild are profiles of tenacity and courage. They are natives of Gonaives, Haiti<\/a>. Smart and studious, they both were able to earn college degrees, Kerlande in psychology and Annesse in pharmacy. Like many educated Haitians they had the option to leave the country and seek a better life. But Kerlande and Annesse wanted to stay and give back. In the early 2000s, shortly after getting married and welcoming their first child, the young couple moved to Haiti\u2019s sprawling capital city of Port-au-Prince, a day-long bus journey from Gonaives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their First School<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During those early years, Kerlande and Annesse worked as teachers and found their passion. In 2006 they opened a small elementary school to educate children too poor to attend school elsewhere. The first few years were difficult, but by 2008 the school was becoming viable. Then disaster hit. On the afternoon of January 12, 2010 a magnitude 7.0 earthquake leveled their school, their home and much of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it was difficult to say goodbye, Kerlande and Annesse realized that it would take months if not years before Port-au-Prince would be functional again. Thankful to have survived, they returned to Gonaives and started over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting Over After the Earthquake<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kerlande and Annesse found a large plot of land in a poor and neglected neighborhood on the western edge of town, built a small house and founded their new school, Institution Les Freres Aristild. It opened with a single kindergarten class in late 2010. Among that first crop of students was their eldest son. Each year since Kerlande and Annesse have added one grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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