Haiti EcoVillage School

 The Long Journey to High School Graduation Begins 

What do our graduates do next? When they pass the national exam, they look for options. Lycee, what Haitians call “classical education” is our equivalent of college prep. Another option is trade school. DIrecteur Ramin has a connection to a trade school in Hinche and has been able to get students enrolled, sometimes with financial help. There are no high schools near the EcoVillages. Attending high school requires students to walk the 5 miles to Hinche. “When children leave home, we are anxious because we do not know if they will return,” says Choudenailove’s father Demane.

Choudenailove Jean wants to become a doctor and the lycee is her path toward university and medical school. Her biggest adjustment is the distance of her high school from home. The EcoVillage School was a short walk; her new school is 90 minutes each way. Whenever she came to class in the EcoVillage School there was always a teacher, but sometimes teachers don’t show up at her new school. This is a common problem since teachers are paid by the Haitian Ministry of Education, which is not functional right now. It is a credit to the teachers who do show up, because they have no prospects of being paid for their work. She knows that her journey will be difficult because her parents are too poor to help her. But what saddens her the most is when she sees children who live near her who are unable to attend school because their parents cannot afford it.