Appui à la scolarisation des enfants en Haïti
Eating. Learning. Growing up together.
Beraca School
Beraca School was founded in 1963 by the Reverend Nozor Augustin, a man whose stated mission was to help people - especially the most disadvantaged - acquire a good education.
A story of service to children and education in Haiti
The school started with 78 pupils, from kindergarten to CEP (Certificate of Primary Studies). At that time, the school was run by Mr. Nozor Augustin, his wife and other family members. The school operated with difficulty, on scant economic resources and a contribution of thirty gourdes (less than 0.50 euros) per child for the academic year.
In February 1986, the school was ransacked. The elderly principal handed over the management of the school to his eldest son. It proved a success: two years later, thanks to the young man's dedication, Beraca School had 800 pupils!
At the time, the school could provide each child with a hot meal, a uniform, school supplies (books, exercise books, pencils, pens). It was supported in particular by the French NGO "Parole et Action". Unfortunately, three years later, this organisation left the region to support schools in the north of the country. The school found itself in difficulty again.
In June 2008, Mrs. Marie Kendy Augustin and Joson Augustin, the founder's children, took over the management of the school. At that point, the school counted 300 students. Four former students of the school joined the management team. Based on their experience, they set up a support programme to provide children with the books they needed. With the financial support of the school's founder, they set up a computer lab at the school.
BERACA is a word that comes from the Bible and means "The Valley of Benediction".
The 2010 disaster and the revival of Beraca School
On 12 January 2010, the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti caused the entire school to collapse.
However, in October 2010, refusing to give up, Marie Kendy and Joson assembled 78 children in the nearby church and resumed teaching activities - without any state support.
2012 turned out to be, as it were, "a year of grace". The Haiti Plan (international solidarity), in November 2012, enabled the management team to rebuild the classrooms. That same year, their meeting with Claudio Guthmann and Elvira Cerda made it possible to put in place the arrangements for a hot meal to be provided every day to the children.
Thanks to Ti-Sourire’s assistance, the school’s intake has now risen from 78 to almost 400.
Schools in Haiti: a struggling school system
According to the 2016 UNICEF report, more than 350,000 Haitian children between the ages of 6 and 11 do not attend school - and if they are lucky enough to do so, many go without having eaten.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world: 78% of the population live below the absolute poverty line, and 40% of the population suffer from food insecurity. The state is largely absent from the school system, which is therefore overwhelmingly private; non-state and humanitarian organisations, often NGOs or religious institutions, struggle to manage and finance it. Schools are sometimes the outcome of individual initiiatives, set up for all sorts of motives (philanthropic and humanitarian, purely commercial, etc.).
In private education, schools are fee-paying; even if most schools are subsidised by external donations, the cost of education remains very high in relation to median family income (on average, 40% of earned income goes to education.).
Some schools are very expensive, reserved for the children of local elites and/or the children of members of the international community present in the area. But most schools are very poor, as poor as their students.
