Sainte Antoine's School, Fondwa
Sponsor a school child in Fondwa
Autumn 2009 Update
Christian Community School, Blanchard - Help stock the school library
Support a student nurse
Ste. Antoine School Update - Autumn 2009
Students at the Sainte Antoine School in the southern Haiti mountain community of Fondwa may not be getting their one guaranteed meal a day at school this fall. They may not have teachers or textbooks. Donors from outside Haiti have been cutting their twenty-five dollar per month contributions because of the economy.
Sponsor a child in Fondwa
Many of the 550 children in the Ste. Antoine School have sponsors who pay $300 a year for their education. But some of these donors are people on fixed incomes who find their personal budgets tight. In Haiti, however, the missing checks make the difference between a daily plate of rice and beans and going hungry.
“Money doesn’t stretch as far as it used to in most places in the world,” says Kathy Walmer, Executive Director of Family Health Ministries. “But in Haiti, the need is so much greater. We in the US can cut out restaurant meals or shop around for the best price for school supplies. In Fondwa, there are no such choices.”
Many Haitian schools receive no government funding, including Ste. Antoine’s, the only school in Fondwa that offers preschool through high school. Haitian children there are completely dependent on the generosity of those outside their own country. Food and other critical commodities are also now more expensive in Haiti. The impact of the worldwide economic downturn and the increased suffering is amplified by the decreasing aid.
But after six years of meeting budget, FHM recently decreased their monthly donation to the Ste. Antoine School. Another nonprofit has agreed to provide emergency funds for a few months. After that, the children in Fondwa will have nowhere to turn unless the global economy changes course and new donors are found.
Jamalyn Peigh Williamson, FHM’s school sponsorship coordinator, points out that in Haiti, school also brings hope to the children and their families. The students at the school where Peigh Williamson worked for two years view school as a luxury. Unlike students in the U.S., Haitian children are not guaranteed the privilege of attending elementary or high school. Many children will be the first to attend in their families. Peigh Williamson comments, “Education is the best tool to stop the cycle of poverty."
“Maybe people can get a group at work or church to sponsor a child,” suggests Peigh Williamson. She thinks donors could assemble the $25 per month sponsorship cost together with friends or family, and then as a group enjoy the children’s annual pictures and school reports.
Read more about FHM's child sponsorship programs.
