Haitian Educational Initiatives

Helping Destitute Children Thrive With Food and Education

Location: Jacmel, Haiti

Haitian Educational Initiatives (HEI):  A first-time grantee in 2013. 

HEI was founded by Susan Whitcomb, a retired United States educator, after a volunteer stint on the island following the devastating 2010 earthquake. Witnessing firsthand the abject poverty and dysfunctional public education system that put schooling out of reach for many children, Whitcomb started HEI  in the town of Jacmel with a mission to ensure disadvantaged children would have access to education and support for their studies.  Recognizing the importance of local engagement as a critical success factor, HEI works with existing, on-the-ground organizations to reach and retain the neediest children. 

In a country suffering an adult illiteracy rate of 55%, enhancing educational programs for young children will hopefully break the persistent poverty cycle so many residents endure. HEI funds school tuition and offers after-school tutoring, summer enrichment, and nutrition programs. Once children are enrolled, HEI works to keep them in school – providing a facility for its programs as well as ongoing support, supervision and training for community members who assume a leadership role in implementing the many educational programs.  Programs consistently show strong results.

In tandem with the improvements in educating the Jacmel students, HEI added efforts to increase fundraising in order to steadily expand its reach and tapped Project Redwood non-financial resources to help develop and refine a model. 

For more information, see: www.haitied.org.

GRANT SUMMARY AND PURPOSE

  • 2013:   $25,000 to fund full-year tuition and education-related expenses for 35 students as well as provide after-school tutoring and summer camp activity for 85 children.  Funding also used to pay rent and utilities for the administrative facility.
  • 2014: $20,000 to continue existing tuition, tutoring, and summer programs and to contribute to facility rent and utilities 
  • 2015: $25,000 to continue tuition, tutoring, and summer programs and to contribute to facility rent and utilities
  • 2016:  $25,000 as part 1 of a two-part granting effort.  These monies fund two projects that extend the capacity of the Jacmel Academic Program.  Monies cover full year tuition and education expenses for 30 elementary school children, five secondary school age students, and after-school tutoring and summer programs for 95 students.  The grant also dedicates resources for community leadership development to gain more traction and scale programs.   
  • 2016:  $22,000 as a second grant to cover costs of a part-time fundraising officer.  Using the Benevon system, the goal is to continually increase the donor base.
  • 2018:  $25,000 upon return after another hiatus. This grant is multi-purpose; it provides staffing and equipment for training students in cooking, crafts, dressmaking, and computers.  The skills enable them to support their families while in school and beyond.  Monies also pay for equipping a new bakery business, computers and a television for classroom use and a solar generating system to bypass the dysfunctional Haitian electrical grid.  Some funds also are directed to scholarships (50 secondary school, 25 vocational school).

IMPACT

Improved literacy and educational attainment for Jacmel children that raises prospects for improved quality of life.