Père Kenol Rock’s voice quickens and his eyes narrow as he paints a picture of his big dream for Les Cayes, Haiti’s third largest city.
“Without education we have no skilled work force,” Père Rock explains. “No incentive for industry, no jobs, no way to compete in the global marketplace. As a result, our people remain poor, without hope to improve. But with a school—from kindergarten through high school, including adult education—we can make a radical difference.”
The dream of Père Rock, rector of St. Sauveur Episcopal Church in Les Cayes, is coming true. With $350,000 from Episcopal Relief and Development, a modern educational complex is under construction in Les Cayes to provide the city’s residents with sorely needed skills and knowledge... and hope for the future. In Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, hope is hard to come by.
Currently, St. Sauveur sponsors a preschool for children ages 3 to 5. More than 200 children attend the school, housed in three overcrowded, mostly open-air classrooms constructed along a wall of the churchyard.
The new complex creates space for a larger kindergarten with adequately sized rooms, a primary school for grades one to six, and a secondary school. The school will also be used for adult education—including courses in business management, vocational training, and computer technology—and teacher training.
In a country where 50 percent of the population is illiterate, and only one child in five attends secondary school, it’s not hard to understand the tears of joy on Père Rock’s face as he envisions a new kind of future for his country. “The primary need of the people of Haiti is education. If the people are educated, I think they can take care of many things,” said The Rt. Rev. Jean Zaché Duracin, Bishop of Haiti.
The new school in Les Cayes will provide room for St. Sauveur’s kindergarten presently housed in three overcrowded classrooms.