Starting in 1993, when there were no other choices for secondary education in the area, the Ste. Antoine School has approximately 550 students now and continues to provide education through the 13th grade.  Transportation within Fondwa is almost exclusively by foot or donkey, and some students walk up to 6 hours round trip each day to attend the school. 

The school began receiving financial assistance from Family Health Ministries in 2000 in the form of teacher’s salaries, books, computers and nutritional assistance.  However, at this point not all children can afford to attend school every day or every year.  Sometimes children within one family attend on alternate days.

FHM works with both Partners in Progress on the communities six key priorities:

• Pay the teachers
• Feed the children
• Provide learning aides & school supplies
• Provide electricity for the school
• Provide higher education to the teachers
• Develop programs that will help the school become self-sufficient

School Materials
If you'd like to help provide school materials, review the list below, and send the supplies to FHM at 2344 Operations Drive, Suite 201, Durham, NC 27705. We will take them to Fondwa when we travel to Haiti in on our next trip.

You may also want to get involved in our sponsorship program, contributing $25/month not only for a child's education, but also to improve their health so they are better able to succeed in school.

For Secondary including 6th grade students:
calculator
small English/French dictionary
notebooks (for several subjects)
pens/pencils
compass
gum eraser
small backpack (The best kind are the small bags with two sets of strings called "sack packs," available at Dick's Sporting Goods, for example.)

For Primary students:
pencils
gum erasers
crayons (16 pack)
notebooks
ruler
small packpack (The best kind are the small bags with two sets of strings called "sack packs," available at Dick's Sporting Goods, for example.)

SPONSORSHIP
FHM began a sponsorship program for students and teachers at the Ste. Antoine School to pay the teachers, without whom the school is impossible, and make sure the children are healthy, without which little learning can take place.

Donations to this program provide salaries and food for all the children at the school. Sponsors are assigned a particular teacher or child and are sent pictures and regular reports on the children's progress in school, giving sponsors a personal connection in Fondwa.

In addition to food, the school children receive a multivitamin with iron daily during school, the anti-parasitic albendazole 400 mg three times a year. and a yearly nutritional assessment.

To participate in the program, groups and individuals provide $25 per month or $300 per year for each student, and $85 a month or $1020 per year for each teacher.

FHM hopes to expand its program by finding sponsors for all 550 children in the school by the end of 2008. Nine of the 24 teachers are currently sponsored. Click here to participate in the sponsorship program.

LIBRARY PROGRAM
In 2000, FHM began collecting books and magazines for use in the Sainte Antoine School classroom. Since that time, hundreds of books and magazines have been donated to the Fondwa library, including adult and children’s fiction, reference works, and classical authors.

Mission teams continue to take books to the children in Fondwa. Bring any books (English, French, Kreyol) to be donated, to the Family Health Ministries offices at 1921 North Pointe Drive, Suite 200, Durham, NC 27705. You may also make a monetary contribution for books. Click here for information on how to do that.