“Sponsor a Child”, the fund for education in Haiti, turned 5 years old in August 2016. It was created in August 2011 as a response to the June, 2011 trip by Rev. Tom Hughes Emily Smith, Carey Chirico and Kevin Fisher. This was the first trip of many to Haiti by a group from St. George’s.
They worked mostly with students in middle school, attended church and met with the Vestry. They learned of the Church needs, both short and long range through those interactions. The school had an expanding population with 47 students in 1st grade and 150 total. The team found the students eat beans and rice every day and meat if available. There are no fruits and vegetables. It is the only meal for some of the children and it was not balanced
The Haiti team encouraged the creation of a fundraising effort to provide the necessities of education. A single donation of $365 would pay for books, uniform, tuition, two meals a day and a teacher for one child. The situation was dire Only half of the students at the time paid part of the tuition. The teachers had not been paid for 5 months.
By September, 2012, a year into the program, the school has tripled in size since our involvement began last year. We have agreed to guarantee 30 scholarships.
Since 2011, there have been 200 donations (as of 9/30/2016) for a total of $73,789 from over 60 people, schools and other churches. This amount paid for 40 students, each for a full year over the 5 year period. The school has been able to double in size with this kind of support.