Haiti Projects
Haiti Trauma Project (December 2019)
In Haiti, over 50% of primary school aged children are not enrolled in school. At the primary level, less than 10% of schools are public, which severely limits the opportunity to receive an education. Because 30% of children able to attend primary school will not make it to 3rd grade and because 60% will abandon school before the 6th grade, the population’s illiteracy rate is almost 60%, one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere.
The development of universal education in Haiti is key to the economic recovery of the country. In fact, The Director General of UNESCO once stated that ‘education is at the core of Haiti’s recovery and is the key to Haiti’s development.” Unfortunately, one of the biggest challenges to this development is the shortage of qualified teachers in Haiti. Prior to the 2010 earthquake, the World Bank stated that Haiti required 2,000 new teachers each year to reach the goal of universal education. After the earthquake, the only public teacher-training institute of Haiti was destroyed.
For that reason, the Haitian American Caucus (HAC)-Haiti (a non-profit organization), runs Ecole Shalom, a school for children grades K-12. HAC charges a small fee for students to attend, however no child is refused an education. Families who cannot pay continue to reap the benefits of a quality education and the resources the school has to offer. In addition, HAC facilitates an annual teacher summer institute training for over 100 teachers in the Croix-Des-Bouquets and Port-au-Prince, Haiti area, which happens to be the most populated regions in the country.
The Haiti Trauma Project, founded by Florence Saint-Jean, is a trauma intervention program in Haiti that supports Ecole Shalom at the HAC compound. Faculty members, students, and professionals from the United States travel to Haiti to conduct one week of activities for the children, which include:
- Sexual Abuse Workshop
- Trauma Intervention Workshop
- Field Day activities
- Holiday Party for over 350 children
Furthermore, The Haiti Trauma Project also provides trauma assessment and intervention training for professionals in Haiti. The project is coordinated with university faculty and students, community leaders, and agencies in the U.S., in a collaborative international trauma research and clinical training program; providing mental health training focusing on the pathways to care, barriers to treatment, and engagement strategies that influence service usage.
Since 2014, SALTworld is has helped raise money to support the Haiti Trauma project. In addition they helped raise fund when Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti. This year funds for The Haiti Trauma Project at Ecole Shalom will go towards:
- Food to feed the children for the week
- Staffing the teachers for the week
- Purchase of supplies and resources to run the activities such as: academic supplies, toys, utensils, plates, etc.
