FONDATION BON BERGER & BREBIS DE SAINT MICHEL DE L’ATTALAYE Delmas 105, Rte de Frères, Imp St Louis Jeanty # 13 Port-au-Prince, Haiti, W.I. Tél: (509) 37603915, 29401067 E-mail : [email protected]

TWO WEEKS IN JEREMIE/CASTACHES SATURDAY JULY 10 - SUNDAY JULY 25, 2010

REPORT No human development policy is viable without a backbone of education. Education is an inalienable right and is vital to the health of the people. In certain areas of the Republic of Haiti the residents are geographically isolated. Today, the world having become a global village, a cooperative outlook is required. Economists and the agents of development stress the existing bond between new information technologies and human development. There can be no doubt that a country such as Haiti could draw from the considerable advantages of developed countries to address the disastrous socio-economic situation which it faces. With the support of such nations, an effective plan can be carried out to increase the rate of education among the Haitian people. It is accordingly that the Foundation Bon Berger/BRESMA has sponsored the inauguration of an fundamental school with integrated pre-school in Castaches, an impoverished rural village located has twenty (20) kilometers of Jérémie (Grand' Anse). To oversee the progress of the work already begun and to mobilize the community of Castaches to understand the importance of the project and of the community’s responsibility and ownership of the project, a team from Port-au-Prince stayed in the community for two weeks, from July tenth to July twenty- fifth 2010.

The following action items are addressed in this report: a) Trip Port-au-Prince to Jeremie b) Meeting with the members of the community c) Identification and registration of the pupils d) Meeting with the parents e) Completion of new construction work on the school f) Drainage issues corrected g) Lavatory facilities constructed h) Levelling of the school yard i) Women’s economic empowerment group initialized j) Inventory of repairs needed to existing facility k) Return to Port-au-Prince Trip to Jeremie: The team left Port-au-Prince to Jérémie on July 10th at 6 o’clock am. Members of the team included: Nickelson Saint Fleur (driver), Carmelle Eugene (BREMSA administrative assistant), Richardson St Fleur (director of the fundamental school of Bresma/Castaches) and Margarette Saint Fleur (Director of BREMSA). The journey to Jérémie itself was valuable. The team had the opportunity to admire the landscape and especially to appreciate work which is being carried out on the road connecting Camp Perrin to Jérémie. The necessity of the completion of the current road construction was highly evident! Improved overland access would greatly benefit local residents. The team arrived in Jérémie on the same day at

one thirty (1:30) pm. The team stopped at the home of Yolette Mézile, a critical project participant, to spend the night. The next morning at 9:00 am the team left Jeremie for the village of Castaches in order to arrive there before noon, at which time a community meeting was scheduled. Meeting with the people of the community : During the meeting, Yolette Mézile, a sixteen year career teacher, opened with a discussion of the importance of the collaboration of the people with the school teachers. She then invited the people of the community to come to register their children for school between July 12th to July 15th, 2010. A meeting with the parents of the newly registered students was scheduled for July 15th at one o’clock in the afternoon. Identification and registration of the pupils: A great number of Castaches children age three (3) years old and older cannot attend school because of the distance they would have to walk. The foundation of the fundamental school by BRESMA in Castaches will permit the children to begin attend the school at the normal age for Haiti. Identification and registration: At eight o’clock in the morning on July 12th, registrations began! The children, escorted by their parents, arrived in their best clothing as parents understood that pictures would be taken for their files. Two hundred and nineteen (219) children were registered in the following order: twenty five (25) on July 12th; forty-nine (49) on July 13th; ninety six (96) on July 14th and forty-nine (49) on July 15th. At that point the team was forced to close

registrations for the school as there are only 6 rooms with capacity for 30 children per room thus far. As stated before, many children from the age of 3 cannot attend school for the simple reason of the excessive distance to the nearest school. Parents must wait to send them to the school at the age of 7 or 8. This is why the BRESMA Fundamental School in Castaches was created - so that the children can begin school at the standard age for Haitian pupils. After the evaluation of the pupils and the recording of the data, we came up with the following statistics: Of the two hundred nineteen (219) children registered, one hundred twenty eight had never attended school before. Children who have never attended school: Age 3 years old 5 ‘’ ‘’ 4 ‘’ ‘’ 6 ‘’ ‘’ 7-9 ‘’ 10-18 ‘’ Total

Total 17 26 18 21 22 24 128

Almost half of the 219 children registered have had no previous access to formal education!

Since the establishment has only (6) rooms available, we have decided to proceed as follows: The pupils will be classified by age and level of education. • The youngest will meet under tents arranged for that purpose ; • Pupils of age 7 to 18 who have not attended school before will participate in educational evaluations, to be carried out by experienced teachers. They will then be grouped into classes with their age mates at a similar level of education, enabling them to learn in a positive and supportive environment with their peers; • The remaining students will be classified as follows: a) Second grade : 44 pupils b) Third Grade

: 35 pupils

c) Fourth Grade : 12 pupils

Parents’ meeting: As scheduled, the parents’ meeting following registration took place on Thursday July 15th at one o’clock pm. Almost all parents were present. The following points were discussed and arranged: 1) Scheduled of the operation of the school • 9am – 12pm for the younger children from Monday to Friday • 9am – 1pm for the older students from Monday to Friday 2) Cleanliness and hygiene of the students The parents must all be conscious of the importance of this aspect for the best possible development of the children 3) Explanation of the rules and regulations of the school 4) Establishment of the responsibilities of the school 5) Establishment of the responsibilities of the parents 6) Establishment of the responsibilities of the children The meeting ended up around 3:00 pm with the satisfaction of all participants. The parents were very grateful to the initiators and persons in charge of the project. They promised to provide all the necessary support for the success of the school.

Parents’ meeting

Physical completion of the school: The inauguration of the fundamental school of BRESMA of Castaches took place on October 9, 2009, but the building was unfinished. Completion was necessary prior to the opening of the school. At the end of the month of May, one of our team members (Vigner Saint Fleur), had gone to the site of the project to make sure of the arrival of materials and equipment necessary for work completion on the building of the school. For improved ventilation, eight (8) windows were bored and wrought iron grids were installed for each one. Community residents worked together to build a courtyard play area. To protect the foundation of the building, drainage canals were dug.

Work completion (school)

Community aqueduct :

A project initiated for the benefit of the school will in fact serve the entire community. Castaches will now have year-round access to clean drinking water. An aqueduct requiring one kilometer of pipeline will carry fresh water from a local spring to the school. In Castaches, the rainy season lasts approximately 10 months of the year. However, March and February are dry. Although there was copious rain during the team’s two weeks on site, the aqueduct will be much appreciated in the future. Aquedect pictures (project in process)

Placing pipes on the road

Lavatory facilities for the school: Two excavations were carried out for the construction of dry toilets. The first did not succeed due to a landslide . Excavation on a second was begun during the first week of the team’s visit. Another landslide began, but was stopped thanks to the vigilance of the workers. Unfortunately, strong rains in the region temporarily also stopped the excavations (see pictures below).

Dry Toilets (1 & 2)

Women’s Economic Empowerment Group : Two meetings took place on Wednesday July 21 and on Thursday July 22 with the mothers of the pupils of the Fundamental School of BRESMA of Castaches with the objective of creating solidarity among the mothers of the pupils and identifying their problems then in order to seek solutions for the community. One hundred women participated in the two meetings. Discussions began and projects were identified such as: Embroidery, craft industries, livestock breeding, construction of latrines, micro-loan project, etc... Another meeting was been planned for the following week for the election of a committee.

Women’s Group of Castaches

Bad condition of the road:

We cannot work in Castaches without throwing addressing the issue of accessiblity. At each rainy season, the access to Castaches from Jérémie is impossible for cars and trucks. One of the trucks transporting materials to the site of the project narrowly avoided a terrible accident due to the vigilance and the skill of the driver, but the vehicle remained blocking the road for three days as it was impossible to remove it. Some work has been done on the road in the process of creating the aqueduct. When we consider the deficiencies of the community in regards to basic services, the need for the construction of a reliable access road is an emergency. We are seeking solutions! Return to Port-au-Prince/end of the Trip: The team returned to Port-au-Prince on July 25, fully satisfied with work carried out in Castaches. The success of the operation of the school for the next school year 2010 - 2011 is assured. Parents, pupils and residents of the community have clearly shown their acceptance of and satisfaction with the project.

Today, the inalienable right of all children to education is one step closer to being met in Castaches . Yet, the “Fondation Bon Berger /BRESMA” is far from being able to fulfill all the needs for the community. Let us hope that others will understand and will combine their efforts with ours so that the light of hope kindled in Castaches, a community in urgent need of assistance to meet the basic needs of its citizens, grows steadily brighter. Our thanks go particularly to Mrs. Elisabeth QUILLET, Mr. JEAN HERVE, Mar GRANYER (Familias Sin Frontieras)

and the team of AEH (Association Aide aux enfants d’Haiti en France) for their financial to the realization of a dream come through “Ecole fondamentale Bresma de Castaches”.