{"id":43080,"date":"2020-09-17T14:29:47","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T18:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging21.finca.org\/uncategorized-en-ca\/the-value-of-education-a-case-study-from-haiti"},"modified":"2024-11-04T02:06:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T07:06:47","slug":"the-value-of-education-a-case-study-from-haiti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finca.org\/en-ca\/the-value-of-education-a-case-study-from-haiti","title":{"rendered":"The Value of Education: A Case Study from Haiti"},"content":{"rendered":"

COVID-19 is giving Americans a powerful appreciation for what is lost when schools shut down. But in many of the countries in which FINCA operates, the lack of a robust school system is a way of life, and the value of education is taken for granted by few. It\u2019s one of the greatest challenges parents face in building a brighter future for their children, and it\u2019s why FINCA constantly looks to support education and educational institutions.<\/p>\n

In Haiti<\/a>, one of those clients is Kerlande Toussaint. In a country where the average adult has less than five years of schooling, Kerlande and her husband Annesse both graduated from college and had many promising options to live abroad.<\/p>\n

While many people would jump at the chance to leave Haiti and build a comfortable life elsewhere, Kerlande and Annesse chose to stay. And precisely because they knew the value of education, they decided to become teachers in Haiti\u2019s sprawling capital city of Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n

They loved being teachers and Kerlande saw an opportunity for the couple do more. In 2006, she decided they should open their own small elementary school for children too poor to attend other schools. Those first couple of years were hard, but by 2008 their tiny school was up and thriving.<\/p>\n

The First Disaster, Earthquake<\/h2>\n

In 2010, a catastrophic earthquake leveled much of Port-au-Prince, including Kerlande and Annesse\u2019s school. But the earthquake did not shake their determination to give poor kids a chance to go to a good school. Within weeks Kerlande and Annesse had moved to their hometown of Gonaives, the capital of Haiti\u2019s Artibonite department about 100 miles north of Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n

Once in Gonaives they opened a new school on a plot of land in a poor and neglected neighborhood. They started with a single kindergarten class in late 2010. Among that first group of students was their eldest son.<\/p>\n

\"Annesse