Schools
Institution Mixed de SOPUDEP
Institution Mixed de SOPUDEP, located in the neighborhood of Morne Lazarre, is the flagship school of the SOPUDEP organization and was started in 2002. Because of the difficulty of educating both adults and children in the same class, SOPUDEP founder and director Réa Dol created an accredited K-12 school that offered free and accessible education to children in the community who would otherwise be unable to afford school.
The Mayor of Petion-Ville at the time, Sully Guerreir, leased SOPUDEP a burned out mansion that had once belonged to an assassin in the infamous Tonton Machute death squad of the Duvalier regime. In 2002, they opened their doors to the poorest children in the neighborhood of Morne Lazarre. Their first year enrollment was 160, but it more than doubled the following year and by late 2009 numbered close to 600 students with more than 40 teachers on staff.
Institution Mixed de SOPUDEP also runs a Hot Lunch program that feeds over 700 people, including students, staff and other members of the community five days a week. For many, this will be their only regular meal as the average family in their neighborhood can only afford to eat two to three times a week.
When the earthquake struck on January 12, 2010, the SOPUDEP building was one of the few left standing in the neighborhood. It was immediately turned into a makeshift clinic and shelter and remained as such for close to four months.
In 2009, SOUDEP purchased property down the hill to build a second Institution Mixed. Construction is underway and being headed up by World Hands Alliance, a group of architects and engineers from New Mexico that do pro bono green design and construction in the Third World and the US.
Six months after the earthquake enrollment was at over 500 students with 48 people on staff.
Institution Mixte de MOJUB and Les Petits Amis du SOPUDEP
For some time now SOPUDEP has been working with two other community schools in much poorer areas of Port-au-Prince: Institution Mixed MOJUB (Youth Movement United for Bobin) with 150 students and 9 teachers, and Les Petits Amis du SOPUDEP (another school set up by SOPUDEP in 1999) in Boucan La Pli with 65 students, 6 teachers and directed by Jores Lafleur. These schools also follow the mandate of providing free and accessible education and now receive funding from the Sawatzky Family Foundation.
The MOJUB-PV (The Movement United for the Welfare of Peguy-Ville) organization was created 15 December, 2004, by decision of a General Assembly in the area of Peguy-Ville in Port-au-Prince. Their mission is one of solidarity, social justice, improved safety standards for the public, and community development. They are providing the public deeper analysis on issues of concern such as socio-economic, environmental, educational and cultural. They want the poor a rational thinking, transformative society that actively participates in various awareness campaigns and is integrally involved in the countries development process. Over the years they have been focusing on sanitary, social and cultural education.
MOJUB has been actively trying to reduce rates of literacy, crime and educate their youth. The area has a population of around 20,000 to 25,000 people and they are servicing more than 500 families in the community.
Their formal education project, Institution Mixte de MOJUB-PV, takes place in a building on the outskirts of a now makeshift camp in the neighborhood of Bristout Bobin. They operate a school with over 150 students, grades 1 to 6, and an adult education program that serves primarily women. The adult education program is a collaboration between MOJUB and SOPUDEP Director Réa Dol. MOJUB is also a participant in Réa Dol's micro-credit program "Fam SOPUDEP an Aksyon" and as of January 2011, MOJUB has 21 of their own women integrated in this program.
Previous to the 2011 school year, children and adults were able to come receive an education for free, but people in the community did have to raise a little gratuity for the teachers. This was very hard on the teachers as it was to sporadic and just not enough to live on. As of October 2011, The Sawatzky Family Foundation has added MOJUB's morning (grade one to six), and afternoon (adult education) teachers and staff to their funding efforts and now receive a regular paycheque. Steady support is what they will need to stabilize the program and eventually improve and expand into the community to affect a greater change.
Les Petits Amis de SOPUDEP's mission is simple one of providing education for all, but in Haiti, this mission is far from easy. Education is a direct link to breaking the cycle of poverty because it provides the basic building blocks to have an empowered society engaged in the countries transformation. And yet, education in Haiti remains a privilege for a small percentage of the country. Most schools, including some of the very few public schools in the country, can charge mandatory tuition fees which most cannot afford.
Les Petits was created October 1999 to ease the difficulty of the poor majorities access to education. Parents who cannot find the means to send their children to school can send them here. It is with the hope that these children will find their place in society and may be better equipped to earn a decent living.
When the school first opened, children in the neighborhood couldn't read or write or do arithmetic, but because of the school, many children and adults are now able. Their future goals are to be able to provide a daily hot meal for these children and a business training centre.
The school serves 100 children, grades 1 to 6 and has 6 teachers and 2 volunteers.
"It is easy for the community to have access to education because it is our commitment to help those people who are unable to do so because of their means. We prioritize the poorest and our door remains open to all levels of society", Jules Lafleur, Founder and Director of Les Petits Amis de SOPUDEP
In July 2010, following the earthquake, Les Petits was on the verge or having to close its doors to the community, but on a chance meeting, SOPUDEP Director Réa Dol was able to introduce school founder and director Jules Lafleur to The Sawatzky Family Foundations President, Ryan Sawatzky. Ryan was so taken aback by their commitment to their community that Ryan made a promise to find funding to pay their teachers. The Sawatzky Family Foundation is currently paying Les Petits from their own pocket to ensure that this essential program can continue to serve the neighborhood of Boucan La Pluie.
SOPUDEP does what it can for these schools because of the extreme poverty in their communities, even though SOPUDEP's own resources are very limited. Now that international support has enabled SOPUDEP to bring these schools under its umbrella, there is more than ever a great opportunity to spread the idea of the right to education. Children in these communities just a short time ago would never have had the opportunity for an education, but because of SOPUDEP and other grassroots organizations like them, there is hope that the right to knowledge and the opportunity it brings, is for all Haitians and not just a prize of the rich.