Access to quality education in Haiti is available only to a tiny fraction of the school-age children. The majority of existing schools charge for tuition, books, uniforms, and meals. They are more a "business" than a place for children to learn and grow. The poorest of the poor cannot send their children to school.
For Hands Together, fighting poverty means investing in human capacity. We enable people - children, women and men - to be the people that God wishes them to be. The first step is to make quality education accessible to the very poor. Education & literacy is the key to helping people cultivate their creativity and God given potential.
Hands Together runs the largest network of elementary schools in Cite Soleil, Haiti's largest and poorest slum, where 80% of the children are unable to attend public school. Here, 3,300 children receive free education and proper nutrition at one of our many campuses. Parents and other adults participate in daily literacy programs and help with the operations and maintenance at each neighborhood campus. Our long- term goal is to provide quality elementary education for every child in this slum. We are meeting this goal through a combination of Hands Together run schools and collaborative projects with "partners" whose philosophy and approach mirrors our own.
Our support to very poor schools extends into the rural areas of Haiti where we provide assistance to dozens of Catholic elementary schools.
| Project | Campus - Location | Children & Adults Served | Description |
| Becky DeWine School | St. Francoise Soleil 24 | 1190 children, 200 adults | Main campus - w/ offices for School director & auditorium. Pre-school, Primary grades and fundamental. Total of 20 classes. Central kitchen prepares food for all Cite Soleil campuses. |
| Becky DeWine School | St. Jane Chantal - Belecourt | 715 children, 125 adults | 3 pre-school classes and 9 fundamental classes. |
| Becky DeWine School | St. Mary Margaret - Fort Dimanche | 490 children, 98 adults | 3 pre-school classes and 6 fundamental classes. Added feeding stations for the elderly and satellite medical clinic to receive people from Cite Soleil during violent gang unrest. |
| Becky DeWine School | St. Joseph - Soleil 4 | 315 children, 50 adults | Mainly preschool and primary school. 3 Pre-school & 3 fundamental spaces. Expanded playground in 2004. |
| Becky DeWine School | St. Anne - Soleil 19 | 835 children, 210 adults | Middle school campus, 14 classrooms, all fundamental for our older students. Recreation facilities and soccer field for entire school. |
| Becky DeWine School | Brae - Neuf | Undecided | New campus location for Brae Nuef section of Cite Soleil. |
| Becky DeWine School | Soleil 17 | Undecided | New Campus location in Soleil 17 - renovate abandoned 11 room school building. |
| Menilas School | Menilas - P-au-P | Undecided | Potential K-8 school site where HT enclosed large plot of community land. |
| Guimby-Brunette Schools | Rural villages outside Gonaives | 450 children | K-6 Diocesan school in the poorest area of Gonaives. Completely funded (all materials, tuition, salaries, food) by HT. |
| Ti Riviere School | Petite Riviere | 275 children | Gonaives Diocese School completely funded (all materials, tuition, salaries, food) by HT. |
| Saint Famille School | Trou Sable Slum, Gonaives | 900 children, 75 -100 adults | K-8 Catholic school run by the Daughters of Mercy. HT provides significant construction & operational funds. |
| Gonaives Diocese Education Office | Gonaives | More than 25,000 | General help to Catholic Schools in the Gonaives Dioc. More than 147 schools serve thousands of poor children. HT provided all blackboards and benches for these schools. |
| Lakay Mwen School | Carrefour- Marine (outside P-au-P) | 450 students, 26 elderly in hospice | Free school provides meals and books with HT funds. HT also funded land purchase and 6 classroom expansion. |
| Christ the King School - SaPaterre | Hinche | 670 children | Hinche Dioceses Catholic k-8 school - HT funds teacher's salaries, food, and construction of additional classrooms. |
Schools run or supported by Hands Together must welcome those families completely unable to send their children to school. We embrace, with a special love, anyone living in squalor. Students learn that they are loved infinitely and absolutely by God.
We adhere to a few simple principles to help us fulfill our mission of providing a quality, spiritually enriching education:
- Rely on the power of a loving God. Schools are clearly and identifiably Catholic. We teach the values & spirituality contained in the Gospel.
- The learning environment is live-giving. Schools must be safe, violence free, disciplined, clean and provide spiritual, physical and emotional care and healing.
- Minimize problems of money. Target the poorest children first. The school must demonstrate the preferential option for the poor, providing tuition-free schooling with no money flowing in or out of the school.
- Provide dignity and community stability through service and participation. Students and parents help in the operations and upkeep of schools. Parents attend literacy classes.
- Integrated educational, emergency, health and development projects flow from the schools making them true "community centers".
- Insist on excellence. Offer solid curriculum and extra-curricular activities designed to develop the whole person.
For more specific information on our school projects visit the Projects List page.