Ultimately, my heart is to serve Jesus wholeheartedly and see his name glorified in Haiti. God has blessed me with a bachelors degree in elementary education and a passion for less fortunate children. I currently work on staff as the Grace Emmanuel School (GES) Liaison with Jesus in Haiti Ministries (JiHM).
GES is government-accredited, has over 300 students from neighboring villages, and has over 30 Haitian staff. It started in 2004 with few staff and about 15 students in a one room, concrete structure. For the past several years, our students have been learning in hot tents and under a pavilion, creating a rough and distracting learning environment. Since 2014, our students are learning in real classrooms in an actual school building thanks to Matthew 25 Ministries.
One goal in being here is to spread the love of Jesus as I continue to be a regular presence in the lives of the students. I am at school 4-5 days a week, and I regularly visit students' homes and families in the villages, getting to know them personally and spiritually. I desire for each student to know they are deeply loved and valued. I also believe that the home life of a student greatly impacts their ability to learn. Therefore, the more we know, the better we can serve them the future.
Another goal is to provide support and seek opportunities to increase teacher and staff effectiveness at GES. Using my degree in education, I hope to come alongside the staff to create the best education possible for our students. I desire to see GES become a place where active learning is a daily occurrence and our teachers are becoming better at what they do.
Lastly, each child in our school receives monthly donations from a sponsor in the states, creating a near free education for those who wouldn't otherwise get one. It is my job to facilitate on the ground support for the student sponsorship program by making sure letters are being written and translated, help get unsponsored students receive a sponsor, and make sure visiting sponsors meet their sponsor child.
◦ 50% of primary school age children are not enrolled in school.
◦ One-third of girls over six never go to school.
◦ More than 50% of children attending school are over aged.
◦ Approximately 30% of children attending primary school will not make it to third grade; 60% will abandon school before sixth grade.
◦ 37.9% of the population is unable to read or write, as compared to only 12% illiteracy in the rest of Latin America.
◦ Throughout Haiti, only 15% of teachers at the primary level have basic teacher qualifications (including university degrees)
◦ Nearly 25% have never attended secondary school.
◦ Approximately 75% of all teachers lack adequate training; many with just a 9th grade or 12th grade education, with no legitimate teacher training.
◦ Half of children under 5 are malnourished.
◦ 78% of Haitians are poor (less than US$2 a day), and 54% live in extreme poverty (less than US$1 a day).
◦ According to the CIA World factbook, the religious views are estimated as follows: Roman Catholic 80%, Christian 16%, none 1%, other 3% (Islam, Judaism, etc).
◦ According to the CIA World factbook, about 50% of the population practices Voodoo
(Statistics taken from the following sites: http://haitipartners.org/who-we-are/haiti-statistics/, CIA World factbook)