Help for Haiti 2022 - 2023: Partnership Update
Help for Haiti class room
CanEducate will financially support the Help for Haiti Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for another academic year with a $20,000 USD donation. For the past three years, CanEducate’s support has contributed to Help for Haiti’s efforts to keep children facing economic disadvantage in school. During the 2021-2022 academic year, 459 students received assistance: 239 students at the Institution Mixte Martin Luther (IMML) in rural Marmelade, with a 40% reduction in tuition fees; and 220 students at the Institution Nouvelle Etoile de Bethléhem (INEB), Cap-Haïtien, with a 50% reduction in tuition payment.
Help for Haiti welcomes all students, regardless of their gender, yet is mindful of the significant gap between female and male students in Haiti. The country has no laws restricting girls and young women from getting an education. However, some cultural norms and expectations make female students more likely to drop out. With this context, Help for Haiti leadership provides training for administrators and teachers at program schools. The Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) incentivizes parents to keep girls in school. In both schools, female students outnumbered male students.
2021- 2022 partnership accomplishments
Haiti’s insecurity and political turmoil have significantly increased during the past 12 months. Nonetheless, both of Help for Haiti’s schools had a successful academic year, with 98% of students attending school during school days.
With the support Help for Haiti received from CanEducate, the program increased tuition assistance from 30% to 50% for all students at INEB school. This means 220 students received a 50% reduction, which significantly alleviated their parents’ expenses.
The emphasis on enrolling more girls has allowed Help for Haiti to increase its tuition assistance program by about 30% compared to the prior year. As a result, in Help for Haiti’s youth entrepreneurship program – One Hen Kids (YPP) – had more female students who took on the roles of directors or managers of their school businesses. This is a tremendous accomplishment. These students are acquiring business confidence and are on their way to breaking the cycle of poverty.
CanEducate Ambassadors
CanEducate had three ambassadors in Haiti through its partnership with Help for Haiti: Enia Bien-Aime, Lovena Renard, and Jean-Ronel Morency. All students were enrolled at IMML. Because of the extreme situation in rural Haiti, Lovena Renard is the only remaining ambassador in school. She is going to 11th grade for the 2022-2023 school year. Enia has moved to the Dominican Republic with her parents, and Jean-Ronel Morency left school to enter the workforce. With Help for Haiti leadership and the schools’ administrators, CanEducate ambassadors will be present at both schools and with more students involved.
