Sassier School Construction Update – February 14, 2012
All the windows and doors are now installed on the first floor of the new building in Sassier. The three pre-school classes moved into the classrooms on that floor last week. These will not be permanent classrooms for them, but it will allow them to be on the same campus as everyone else, not 1/2 kilometer away. Also, in the temporary pre-school location, the roof leaked when it rained heavily. No leaks in the new school. See pictures below!
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- Here’s what the new windows look like.
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- Students are proud of their new school!
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- Preschool students in their new classroom!
Voldrogue School Construction Update – February 14, 2012
Construction work on the new school in Voldrogue continues to move ahead well. The concrete block walls of the Preschool building are complete and the foundation on the Administration building is nearly done. We will begin foundation work on the six classroom primary school building in February. We are awaiting the availability of backhoe to level a portion of a hillside and dig the two cisterns that will supply water for the school. Stay tune for more information!
Sassier School Construction Update – January 26, 2012
Construction on the Sassier School continues to move along fairly well. Although the iron and carpentry work for the pouring of the first half of the roof of the large building was complete before the end of the year, the actual pouring could not be accomplished until January 9 because there was not enough water to make the cement. Both large cisterns in the existing school had run dry, since there had been no rain for 6 weeks. (Remember that last November and December, it rained almost every day, making it impossible to construct the school’s foundations until January.) Rains came on January 3, providing sufficient water to complete the first half of the roof on January 9 and 10. On January 19, the bamboo supports and scaffolding were removed and work began on the last half of the roof. If the weather cooperates, the last portion of the roof should be poured by February 15.
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- View of small building (left) and the completed roof (southern half) of the large building. The doors for the first floor of the large building are completed and most exterior doors have been installed.
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- Doors installed on first floor of the large building.
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- The doors are made on-site by the carpenters.
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- The windows for the first floor have been delivered and will be installed in the next few weeks
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- Architect Jason Krumm with the new windows for the first floor of large building.
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- Electrical work has also proceeded along with the rest of the work. Below are the electrical boxes for the large building.
Voldrogue School Construction Update – January 26, 2012
The construction on the new school in Voldrogue was begun on December 11, 2011. The excavation for the foundations of the Preschool and Administration buildings was completed prior to Christmas.
After a break for the Holiday season, work resumed during the week of January 9. As of January 21, the foundations of the Preschool building were complete and work was proceeding on the columns, deck beam and other components of the main floor of the building.
The Primary School Building was laid out by Architect Jason Krumm, Engineer Patrick Duval and General Foreman Mondy Pamphile on January 20 2012. Work will begin on that building in the next week or so. We will use a front loader with a backhoe to do the necessary excavations, including the cisterns that will be located under that building.
Click each thumbnail below to view the image in full size.
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- Preschool Building Construction Site – January 20, 2012
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- Preschool building construction site with Clinic Building – January 20, 2012
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- Ironworkers fabricating reinforced concrete columns
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- Due to soil conditions, it was necessary to dig the foundations of the Administration Building deeper than anticipated. Stable soil was found at about 1.2 meters. Foundation work is now moving ahead on the Administration building.
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- Architect Jason Krumm, Engineer Patrick Duval and General Foreman Mondy Pamphile using triangulation to ensure the location of the new Primary School building is correct.
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- Truck unloading sand for the construction project.
Voldrogue School Construction Update
On December 11, we broke ground for a new preschool and primary school building in Voldrogue, about 45 minutes’ walk from Sassier, although still in the Sassier Parish. For a number of years, children from Kindergarten to 3rd grade have been attending school in the Chapel of St Ann there. Every day, more than 150 students attend classes.
After finishing 3rd grade, the students now have to walk 45 minutes each way to attend school in Sassier. Thanks to the generosity of the German Government, the Germany Catholic group Kindermisionswerk and the Association for Schools in Hispaniola, children in Voldrogue will soon be able to attend school through 6th grade near their homes.
Construction is expected to be completed in time for the beginning of the 2012-13 school year in September. Check out construction pictures below (from January 2012).
Concrete blocks are made on- site.
Ironworkers tying rebars for columns for new school in Voldrogue.
Click here to view some pictures of the excavation work.
Read MoreNew Sassier School Construction Moving Ahead Rapidly
Work on the construction of the new preschool and primary school is now moving ahead very well. The 2nd floor roof on the smaller building was finished in mid-November. Work is now focusing on 2nd floor of the larger building, which should be complete in early January. The doors and windows of the rooms on the 1st floor of the large building have been ordered and will be installed in December. The new building should be ready for occupancy in March 2012. The whole Sassier community is getting very excited about the completion of the new school. Everyone is grateful to the German Government, the Germany Catholic group Kindermisionswerk and the Association for Schools in Hispaniola for providing all the funding for the new school, new school furnishings and a new playground. Sassier is also becoming the talk of the provincial capital, about 10 miles away. In the past month, the local national Parliamentary Delegate (Congressman) and the local national Senator came to Sassier to look at the new school building and the new concrete road, amazed that such things could be happening in such a remote area. In our last new letter we showed you a picture of the workers completing the first floor roof of the larger portion of the new building. Here is a picture of the same building December 14 and a picture of the smaller building, which is now structurally complete.
Large building–note work on roof beams to hold the concrete roof.
Small building–note that the three rooms on the first floor are already being used for classrooms. There is no other place to put all the children!! There are 28 classrooms of students but only 20 classrooms in the existing school building.
Gift Quandary? Adopt a Sassier Student!!
The end of the first trimester of studies is approaching quickly at the Parish School in Sassier. Examinations have begun and students are studying hard to do their best. Taking examinations is a real challenge for all students, but doing well is a great reward. So also is the vacation that begins at the completion of the examination period.
Our challenge is providing enough money to pay the teachers, buy the books, provide hot lunches every day and cover all the other myriad expenses of operating a school with 850 students. Our preschool and primary school students will be moving into a brand new school next Spring (see below) that was funded entirely by the German Government, the Germany Catholic group Kindermisionswerk and the Association for Schools in Hispaniola. However, they do not provide any operating funds for School. We rely solely on donations, large and small, to provide the Gift of Education to all these students.
Our Adopt a Student 2011 project is a great way to support the Sassier School. Sponsoring a preschool or primary school child costs only $100 per year. Imagine, being able to provide an whole year’s education to a child for less than 30 cents per day!
To sponsor one or more students in the primary school, mail a check for $100 per student to: Adopt a Student 2011, 1077 Tower Road, Winnetka, IL 60022. You can donate online by clicking here, or on the Donate Now button to the right and indicate that your donation is for the Adopt a Student Project.
Adopt a Student 2011 is a join project of Sacred Heart’s Haiti Ministry and Zanmi Sasye–Partners with Sassier. All contributions are deductible to the full extent of the law.
Thank you for your generous support of the children of Sassier!
For more information, please contact Gerry Keenan at gkeenan@palmerbellevue.com.
Read MoreSchool Construction Update
The 2nd floor roof on the smaller building of the new St Jean Baptiste Primary School was poured on November 15. Work is now focusing on 2nd floor of the larger building, which should be complete in early January. The doors and windows of the rooms on the 1st floor of the large building have been ordered and will be installed in December. The new building should be ready for occupancy in March 2012.
Jason Krumm, our architect from Schools for the Children of the World (www.schoolsforchildren.org) was in Voldrogue on November 3 to take detailed measurements in order to prepare the construction drawings. We have provided 5 wheel barrows so the community members can collect the large stones that we need for the foundation. The new school building, the first ever in Voldrogue, will have 8 classrooms; an office and teachers’ room; storage facility and a handwashing station. It will be wired for electricity and have a gravity-powered running water system with a large cistern for water storage underneath the building. It will be based upon the standard design that Jason developed for us earlier this year.
We expect to begin construction on the project during the week of December 11 and finish in July 2012. The cost of the construction, fixtures and furnishings, painting and playground equipment is being provided by the German Government Ministry BMZ, the German Catholic charity Kindermissionswerk and the German organization Association for Schools in Hispaniola.
Watch for additional updates on our website and on Facebook and Twitter.
Read MoreCollege Pierre Toussaint Students plan school-wide celebration for Carnival.
College Pierre Toussaint Tenth & Eleventh grade students are bust planning celebration for Carnival on March 4, 2011. The celebration will include music, games, skits, and dancing by different grade level groups. Students from the national school in Sassier will also participate. Carnival is the traditional celebration in the days leading up to Ash Wednesday, which this year, is March 9, 2011.
Read MoreThree College Pierre Toussaint Students to Attend World Youth Day
Three Students from College Pierre Toussaint in Sassier, Haiti will be attending World Youth Day this August in Madrid, Spain as a part of the delegation from the Archdiocese of New York. Scheduled for August 16 to 21, World Youth Day is a gathering of young Catholics from around the world for prayer, community-building, study and celebration. More than 300,000 young Catholics from 130 countries are expected at World Youth Day 2011.
The College Pierre Toussaint students will be Ambassadors representing their 280 fellow students and the entire Sassier community. The three student Ambassadors will be chosen in March from those 10th and 11th grade students who submitted essays about why they wanted to attend World Youth Day and how they would bring their experience back to the College Pierre Toussaint and the Sassier, Haiti community.
Read MoreSchool Foundations are finished! Work begins on the first floor!!
Work on the first floor of the new school building in Sassier is moving ahead. Despite terrible weather in November and December (including Hurricane Tomas) and the Cholera outbreak, work on the foundations for the new 18 room school building in Sassier has been completed. Construction of the first floor walls commenced in the past week.
Although a 20 classroom school building was just completed in 2008 for Institution Pierre Toussaint, St Jean Baptiste parish’s school in Sassier, there is already more students than classroom space. Enrollment increased by 30% in the past year to 851, including more than 110 migrants from the earthquake zone. Students from Preschool to 11thGrade receive the Gift of Education including books and hot lunches daily, thanks to donors to the Adopt a Student program (in cooperation with Sacred Heart Parish in Winnetka, IL) and the Venerable Pierre Toussaint Scholarship Fund of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York.
Read MoreEducation in Haiti
Construction of new classrooms and buildings for Haitian high school, College Pierre Toussaint, is well underway in Sassier, Haiti. Weather now permitting, dump trucks are able to reach the school and deliver concrete so that construction may resume. In these photos, you will see work on the foundation of the new school buildings. Eighteen classrooms are scheduled to be completed for the new school year in September 2011. A special thank you to those working on the road project enabling supplies and equipment to arrive at College Pierre Toussaint and thank you to all who are working to build a bright future for the children of Haiti.
Education in Haiti
Education is the Number One focus of parents in the Sassier community. Even though more than half of them cannot read or write, they are willing to sacrifice much to provide their children with the opportunity to break out of the cycle of poverty by getting a good education.
In most of Haiti, the state of education is deplorable. Reliable studies indicate that only 50% of school aged children are actually in school. Of those children who begin school, only 35% reach 5th Grade and only 4% reach 10th Grade. Most teachers are not well-trained, few students have books and many children have difficulty learning because they come to school hungry. Seven years ago, this was also the situation in Sassier.
In the 2003-2004 school year, the Parish school educated about 200 students from Kindergarten to 4th grade in the Church and an adjacent building. The teachers were dedicated, but poorly trained. Students had no books and no lunches were served.
Beginning in 2004, after a new 8 classroom school was constructed, an additional grade has been added each year. By 2008, the school building had 20 classrooms. In the current school year, the Parish School, now known as Institution Pierre Toussaint, has 851 students from Preschool to 11th grade, all of whom have school books and enjoy a hot lunch every day. An additional 100 children receive early primary education at two remote locations in the area.
Zanmi Sasye has worked closely with the parents and St Jean Baptiste Parish to provide the “Gift of Education” to the young people of the Sassier Community. Working in collaboration with the Office of Black Ministry of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, the Friends of College Pierre Toussaint, Sacred Heart Parish in Winnetka, IL , Kindermissionswerk, and the Association for Schools in Hispaniola (Verein fuer Schulen im Hispaniola), quality education is now available to almost 1000 children in the Sassier area.
The school has already outgrown the 20 classroom school built over the past 7 years. Thanks to the generosity of the Association for Schools in Hispaniola and the German Government, an additional school building is under construction in Sassier and should be ready for the September 2011 opening of the next school year. Funds have already been committed for a new primary school in the village of Voldrogue, about 45 minutes walk from Sassier.
Read MoreThe Possibilities of Education
Our students are highly motivated. They come to school every day, even when it rains. Even though the trails and roads are wet, muddy and slippery, the students make the extra effort to reach school on time. Sometimes, they remove their shoes while traveling, so that they will have clean shoes to wear at school. Since we are the only secondary school in a 40 square mile area, some of our children walk 4 or more miles each way in order to receive “the bread of instruction.” We also provide a hot meal to all students on every school day. For many students, it will be their best meal of the day.
Read MoreCollege Pierre Toussaint
Once 6th grade became a reality in 2006, a group of parents and faculty approached the School’s President, Fr Edner Mars, with the request that the school be expanded to include 7th grade in 2006-7, and one additional grade level in each subsequent year.
This was an ambitious and daring proposal, since Sassier is in a remote rural location. After much prayer and discussion, College Pierre Toussaint opened its doors to 55 7th grade students in September 2006. The College has grown rapidly, with 280 students attending Grades 7 to 11 in the current school year.
The school is named after Pierre Toussaint, a Haitian-born slave who was taken to New York City as a young boy. He gained an education and his freedom there, becoming a wealthy businessman. Pierre Toussaint is credited with starting the first school for African-American children in New York City; founding a predecessor to Catholic Charities in New York; and playing a leading role in the Catholic African-American community in first half of the 1800s.
Since its inception, College Pierre Toussaint has been supported generously by the Pierre Toussaint Scholarship Fund of the Archdiocese of New York. In the words of Br Tyrone Davis, CSC, the director of the Fund, “We are returning to Haiti a small portion of the gift they shared with us more than 200 years ago—the spirit, dedication and passion of Venerable Pierre Toussaint.”
The required curriculum includes Mathematics, French, Creole, Spanish, English, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences and Physical Education. In addition to these required courses, Religion, Computer Science, Agronomy and Music are also taught. Extra-curricular activities include Chorale Pierre Toussaint, a 45 voice mixed choir, sports and local clubs that promote culture, social activities and community development.
The College’s Computer Lab is the largest of any secondary school in the Grand Anse Province, with more than 25 laptops, a full time instructor, and access to the Internet through a satellite internet system. The entire Lab is powered by solar electricity.
The students are highly motivated. They come to school every day, even when it rains. Even though the trails and roads are wet, muddy and slippery, the students make the extra effort to reach school on time. Sometimes, they remove their shoes while travelling, so that they will have clean shoes to wear at school. Since it are the only secondary school in a 40 square mile area, some of our children walk more than an hour each way to receive the “the bread of instruction.” Students are provide a hot meal to all students on every school day. For many students, it will be their best meal of the day.
In its short history, College Pierre Toussaint has developed a reputation for quality education, caring and motivated teachers, and good discipline. Already, the students are playing leadership roles in their villages and the Sassier community.
Families pay almost $70 per year for tuition, book rental and uniforms—an enormous investment in these young people’s future. For some families, this is as much as 1/5th of their entire year’s income. Even so, this amounts less than 20% of the operating cost per student. The ability of College Pierre Toussaint to continue to provide a quality education to its students depends on contributions from donors in the United States and other countries.
Read MoreThe Gift of Education
We are returning to Haiti a small portion of the gift they shared with us more than 200 years ago—the spirit, dedication and passion of Venerable Pierre Toussaint.
The parish of St Jean Baptiste, founded in 1996, serves about 10,000 people over about 25 square miles in a rural area in southwestern Haiti. Sassier has no paved roads, sewers, electricity or other public services. Most inhabitants engage in subsistence farming and a variety of small businesses. Most of the area has no access to motorized transportation.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with average per capita income of $400 per year and average life expectancy of 48 years.
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