In Grand Savaan, Haiti, families cram into one to two room houses or simple temporary structures. Many people still suffer from illnesses and other issues caused by the 2010 earthquake. Children do not have adequate access to nutrition or education, causing them to become malnourished and fall behind developmentally. Due to severe poverty, many children even succumb to child labor. They work as house servants in order to survive.

In 2011, VisionTrust began partnering with local pastor Benito Joseph to minister to the Haitian children. Through this ministry, the poorest children in the community (preschool through 5th grade) can attend Grand Savaan Christian School. Here they receive an education as well as food, vitamins, medical care and the love of the Gospel.

Locals meeting needs

It’s estimated that 1.6 million Haitians were left homeless after the earthquake in 2010. Five-year-old Samuel and his family were three of those million.

It took over a year for them to be provided with temporary shelter and while this shelter is a blessing, the family also sought to find a school for Samuel. Nearly 4,000 schools were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake, causing 2.5 million children to put their education on hold (UNICEF).

Seeing this need lived out in his own village, Pastor Benito, VisionTrust’s Haiti director, opened a school at his church for the kids. Samuel is now in Kindergarten, and along with his education is receiving one hot meal a day. This meal is a step in the right direction, but for the little boy who came to our program malnourished, it’s not enough.

The country of Haiti has a long way to go before they come to a place of stability. Our school has helped forty-five children this year and will more than double to a hundred students for the next school year.