HAITI SCHOOLS INITIATIVES
When the 2010 earthquake hit, Ben launched the “Haiti Schools Initiative” in partnership Students Rebuild and theBezos Family Foundation to support Architecture for Humanity in rebuilding damaged schools in Haiti. The first school, École La Dignité in Jacmel, was completed in November 2011. The second school, École Baptiste Bon Berger in Port-au-Prince, was completed in September 2013. The third school under the partnership, Collège Mixte Le Bon Berger in Montrouis, was completed in October 2013.
École
La Dignité
Collège Mixte Le Bon Berge
Cayes de Jacmel
Montrouis
École Baptiste
Bon Berger
Simon Pele, Port-au-Prince
The area of Jacmel on Haiti’s southern coast was badly damaged by the earthquake; over three-quarters of the homes in Jacmel's downtown were damaged or destroyed. The École La Dignité is the only free private school in the Jacmel area and serves 227 students. Two new classrooms were built and opened in November 2011 to accommodate a secondary school program for an additional 90 students.
The Collège Mixte Le Bon Berger is located in Montrouis on the coast Northwest of Port-au-Prince. The school serves 300 students in 12 grades, and also represents a major component of the social structure in the community. The old classroom block was badly damaged and unsafe, and it has been replaced with a new block of eight classrooms that officially opened on February 29, 2012. Two additional classrooms, a toilet block and associated drainage, as well as additional site works were completed in October 2013.
The École Baptiste Bon Berger was critically damaged during the earthquake. The school serves 1,100 children from in and around the area of Cité Soleil, an impoverished and densely populated slum in Port-au-Prince. The Stiller Foundation funded the construction of four new classrooms and additional improvements, which were completed in September 2013.