Harvey L. White Legacy Group
Lamp for Haiti Student Sponsorship Program
Overview of Lamp for Haiti’s Education Program
Since 2006 Lamp for Haiti has operated a Health Center in a section of the vast shantytown of Cité Soleil called Bwa Nèf. Within that community Lamp strives to respond to needs identified by local residents. Lamp’s school sponsorship program is one outcome of this approach.
Purpose of the Sponsorship Program
Lamp for Haiti’s school sponsorship program is conceived as a support to both schools in the community and to families who are otherwise unable to send their children to school.
Support for Local Schools
Lamp works with small local schools that have succeeded in attaining state accreditation. The steady income they receive from Lamp sponsorships, even though small, is vital for them, allowing them to expand and improve their institutions. In the past, Lamp has provided teacher training opportunities and funded other initiatives such as an expanded tutoring program and a lunchtime snack program. We will continue to offer this type of support as funding allows.
Support for Students and Families
It is children, however, that receive the lasting benefit. Lamp’s community health workers (CHWs) visit each home in the area and identify families that have school-aged children but are not able to afford school costs. All children in our program are selected in this way. CHWs also check in on families to ensure attendance and identify any barriers to academic success. Once accepted into the program, children are supported until at least grade 9. At the end of grade 9 a state exam takes place. If they succeed, the children will have a permanent asset in the form of an official state certificate.
Building Personal Connections
The sponsorship program allows supporters in the US to cultivate a personal bond with individual children. Sponsors receive a bio (with photo) of each child they sponsor. Also, they receive two reports per year showing the child’s academic progress, and any significant life events that may impact their schooling. Children (and occasionally parents) may also send messages to the sponsor and, if willing, a short video clip.
What Sponsorship Provides
For a cost of $450 per year, the program provides entry fees, monthly tuition, uniform (required!), shoes, a school backpack, and all necessary textbooks and materials. During the last three months of the year, tutorial classes are provided that any child can attend.
The Impact of Education
Education gives children the options they need to avoid repeated cycles of poverty, entrapment in gang culture, and low self-esteem. In their place, self-worth, ambition, and hope for their family!
Donate
Please do consider a sponsorship! Education is a gift that lasts a lifetime!