Case Study: Islamic Relief Rebuilds Haitian School
10 January 2012
“I met with the all parents and told them the importance of letting the children attend school so that the children could continue their education,”
For many years, Oxe dreamt of extending his school to accommodate all the children in his area but all these dreams were shattered on the day of the earthquake. He still recalls coming to assess the damage the following day: “my first thought was, there is no more hope, my dream is finished,” he says.
Oxe had been struggling for many years, trying to convince the government to build a school to help accommodate all the children. With 1,100 students and only 9 classrooms, the school was forced to teach the children in shifts; 8 to 12.30pm and 1pm to 5pm.
Oxe realised that the immense destruction caused by the earthquake meant the government would have other priorities. But he was determined to minimise the disruption caused to his students.
“I met with the all parents and told them the importance of letting the children attend school so that the children could continue their education,” he adds.
Oxe’s ‘school’ was now a pile of rubble, but he was determined to continue. Many of the parents we fearful of the ongoing aftershocks and were reluctant to let their children return. But Oxe continued, he set up three tents under a mango tree
Oxe recalls the day he first met the Islamic Relief assessment team. “We were in the tent. When I met and spoke with the IR staff, my hopes and dreams of my school were re-kindled.”
“I would call Islamic relief every 15 days to make sure they didn’t forget the plight of the children. They provided us with some shelter material to make temporary shelters but I wanted them to rebuild our school so that the children would have a good environment to study.”
Islamic Relief later returned to clear up the rubble and rebuild Lysee Dumay School. The school now has 20 classrooms instead of the original 9 - this means it no longer has to operate two shifts.
“It did take some time but my dream is now a reality. I don’t know how to thank you. All I can do is pray God help all those people who helped us to rebuild our school” adds Oxe.
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