Jimmy Kervens Jean-Felix, a member of our staff in Christ the King neighborhood of Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince, was able to attend school and graduate from University thanks to the Education Sponsorship Program Outreach has had for many years.
Jimmy recently shared the trials and tribulations that are all part of the everyday experience of the young men and women who attend school thanks to the Outreach Program.
Being a child in Haiti means many things including getting up early in the morning to go and buy a bucket of water to take a bath. It means keeping your uniform in proper shape because it must be ready for class each day because despite extreme poverty, cleanliness is a priority for attending school. It also means probably having nothing to eat for breakfast before you start your long walk to school, alone and on very steep and over crowed streets. Your parents do not accompany you because they left home even earlier than you to sell things in the streets to be able to put a roof over your head and something to eat on the table for dinner, if you are lucky.
Once you reach school, you know you have the opportunity to learn and grow. You begin to appreciate that school is your most valuable option if you want to rise up from poverty. If you are lucky your school provides a meal at ten in the morning. If you are not lucky you walk home in the afternoon with an empty stomach and hope one of your parents will by home by 4:00 pm with something for you to eat. Each day you begin anew.
Each year, the Diocese of Norwich Outreach to Haiti works hard to secure sponsors and Foundations so we can provide scholarships to more than 200 young people to attend primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools (universities) in Haiti. In addition to giving scholarships, we also provide medical check-ups, support, and food, especially when Haitians are facing food shortages. Our staff in Haiti work together to help our young people to do well in school and to successfully make it to the next grade level or move onto secondary school and then post-secondary school. In addition, they are always developing special workshops and programs that include self-development, the English language, and entrepreneurship
Please know how very grateful our young people and their parents are to have this wonderful opportunity. Education provides a strong foundation for their lives and will allow them to develop their God given gifts and become who they were meant to become in this life.
We ask you to keep our Haitian young people in your prayers and to consider helping us to ensure their education and the education of those yet to come. God bless you!
By Jimmy Kervens Jean-Felix, Education Liaison and Workshop Coordinator
and Susan Wallace, Executive Director