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As Haiti receives members of an international peacekeeping force hoping to control gang violence, some schools in central Haiti are doing their best to provide a normal life for youngsters.
Cassandre Regnier, the deputy director of Summits Education, which runs 40 primary schools in rural Haiti, said that there are daily threats and deepening insecurity. Although 400 Kenyans have arrived as part of the international peace-keeping force, their presence is not felt or seen, and the security situation remains unchanged, Regnier told Aleteia.
“The situation is still volatile, and tension remains high as retaliation is expected,” Regnier said. “We are uncertain if, for strategic reasons, planned interventions are not shared, but so far, we have heard of only one intervention recently in an area controlled by the gangs called Ganthier; even though they have said it was successful, the troops returned without regaining control of the region.”
Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, is about 30 miles away. Gangs control 80% of the city and are gaining more territory daily, Regnier said. For the Summits students and their families, that impacts their ability to get things for everyday living.
“Haiti relies mainly on imports that go through the capital, and we mostly use the roads for transport. Nowadays, all the strategic roads are occupied by gangs,” Regnier said.
People who work in remote communities can no longer get to the capital so freely, as they have to rely on public transportation, which is not safe.
Last September a gang took over the nearby Saut D’eau area until the local population and national police fought to get back control. But the schools lost an entire month of classes, she said.
She added that some Summits employees were kidnapped but later released. Some had to negotiate for the release of family members.
“Haitians live with constant stress and fear of getting attacked,” she lamented.
Bright spot
The schools provide a bright spot amid the turmoil, however, and for the schools – and the students’ families – an international meals program provides a consistency amid all the other uncertainties.
Summits Education is a partner of Mary’s Meals, which provides school meals to children living in some of the world’s poorest communities.
“Understanding the crucial need for a daily meal, especially at a place of education, given the poverty in the communities served, we started working with MMI in 2018, supporting seven schools and gradually expanded to serve 60,000 kids in 199 schools with the goal to reach 70,000 kids next school year,” Regnier told Aleteia.
“We implement school feeding directly at the schools, meaning that we provide the dry ration every two months for the school to cook the meals daily. Given the current crisis in Haiti, it is becoming even more crucial for schools to provide at least a daily meal to students to keep attendance high, keep them healthy, help them engage in the classroom, and keep them from joining gangs, knowing that in moments of crisis, the most vulnerable suffer more.”
Most families live on less than $2 a day, Regnier said. “Those whom we serve desperately need food assistance and are at high risk for chronic hunger and malnutrition. Many children have communicated that the daily meal received at school is sometimes their only meal during the day.”
So the partnership with Mary’s Meals increases education access to many students who would not be able to attend school due to hunger or the inability of parents to send them, she added. “It also increases attendance since students come to school daily knowing they will eat at school.” And it increases their concentration and engagement at school so that they can learn appropriately.
Locked in poverty
Mary’s Meals points out that malnutrition is widespread in Haiti, owing to chronic food insecurity. A persistent onslaught of natural disasters, such as the 2010 magnitude 7 earthquake, has greatly impacted people’s ability to sustain a livelihood.
Political instability, food shortages, unemployment, tropical storms and hurricanes have kept most Haitians locked in a cycle of poverty for generations.
Mary’s Meals has been serving in Haiti since 2006, working with Caritas Hinche and Bureau de Nutrition et Développement in addition to Summits.
Their support means a lot to Summits Education. Regnier believes education is the only path out of poverty and the only solution to changing Haiti’s trajectory. A simple meal at school is an important part of that process.
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