Student Scholarships

Support Education In Haiti

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Education in Haiti, is not free and many families cannot afford the price of books, food, and uniforms. Practical Compassion helps ease the burden for many families by providing scholarships so Haitian children can have brighter prospects for their futures. 

Our passion as a non-profit organization working in Haiti, quickly zeroed in on partnering with our Haitian friends to provide an education for the many children in the community who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to attend school on their own without receiving a scholarship.

So why is education so important compared to the need for food, clothing, and shelter? Well, it’s not that the other concerns are not important because they very much are, but if you are going to make long-term change in any society it is through an educated people and a society that can begin making educated choices that will create the change from within and allow them to break away from always relying on outside help. Any endeavor needs to look at a long-term solution instead of just a quick fix.

Not Everyone Can Afford an Education

There are many obstacles to receiving an education in Haiti. There is no such thing as a public education in Haiti as we know it in America. Schools are privately funded and the students and/or their families are responsible to pay the tuition. Considering that the average Haitian family lives below the poverty line and 54% live in abject poverty, the average Haitian lacks the means to afford to pay the tuition necessary for their children to attend school. The government mandates how a school needs to operate, but the government in Haiti does not fund education or at least only a few government schools. In Haiti, those few that can afford to pay the tuition to attend school in Haiti are the lucky few to receive an education. Students are required to wear a uniform and purchase their own books and supplies. As a result, many NGOs and churches have stepped up to stand in the gap to provide the much-needed resources. 

Why We Focus on Education

When Practical Compassion first started our mission to Haiti to provide food, medicine, and education, we sought out advice on how to best accomplish our mission. We were fortunate to meet a local, well-known American doctor, who also happens to be Haitian. Because he himself was educated in Haiti, he had first-hand knowledge of why receiving an education in Haiti is so important yet nearly impossible for the average Haitian child to attain. He emphatically said to us that the top three priorities in Haiti are education, education, and education. It was a bit humorous but also very poignant. Today, he operates a very successful school in St. Marc, Haiti, which provides scholarships to the poorest of the poor children. It was clear that our focus was on target with the needs of the population, and therefore, we developed our mission and focus education.

According to the US Department of State, the literacy rate in Haiti is just over 50%. With very few government schools it is difficult for the majority of the population to have access to and receive an education. The 2010 earthquake only exacerbated the problem.

Most of the education burden is shouldered by independent organizations. The cost of having a child attend school is more than the average family can afford. Our goal is to help assist and partner with a few local independent schools so that those children that could not afford an education can receive one. The cost of our scholarships (as of September 2017) is $360 per year. To give a child a scholarship in Haiti, visit our donation page today.