Hello,
We are sad to report that the situation in Corail has become more volatile. Students were back in school for a short period of time before violence flared and the entire area came under gang control. Schools in Corail have closed, the community is afraid, and many families want to leave the area.
Heartline’s student sponsorship program exists with the goal of helping young people in Haiti access education. This is more difficult than ever AND more important than ever.
Heartline is committed to helping students continue their education despite the mounting challenges. Things in Haiti have changed drastically, so the way we run the sponsorship program also needs to change.
The most significant change in the program will be school choice. Previously, Heartline selected one or two schools in the neighborhood to be our partner schools and sponsored students attended these schools. This will no longer be the case. Since schools in Corail are closed and the community is now under gang control, many families are considering relocating and/or sending their children to school in a different community.
Here’s how we plan to get kids back in school:
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Families choose a school for their child. Families need to be free to choose where they live and send their kids to school. Some zones/neighborhoods are very violent right now while others are relatively safe. Parents and their children will decide on a school that makes sense for them and then provide Heartline with the school’s information. Our staff will contact and research the school to determine if it's a good fit.
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Heartline pays the school directly. Once we confirm that the school is open and has a spot for the student, we will contact the school to make initial enrollment and registration payments. Heartline will only fund schools electronically (it's too dangerous to give cash to parents or to have Heartline staff traveling with cash payments to the schools). Moving forward, we will pay each student’s tuition and fees by direct transfer to the school’s bank account.
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Students and their families provide report cards after each grading period. The students will be spread across a larger geographic area and in more schools than before. Heartline staff will continue to visit schools to do in-person checks as possible. We will require that parents and students provide proof each semester of their attendance and grades. We will not make additional payments to the school until this documentation is received.
Question: If there’s a gap between now and when my students start school, how will my donation dollars be used in the meantime?
Answer: You can rest assured that your sponsorship donations are only used to support students in the sponsorship program. While schools have been closed, we have made emergency assistance cash disbursements directly to families. When we are not making monthly tuition payments to the schools, we hold the money for future educational expenses, like the upfront costs (enrollment, registration, uniform, etc.) to get each student started in their school of choice. We also continue to pay our Haitian staff for all of the work they do with the sponsorship program.
We will give the families a grace period of several months (as some of them may need this time to arrange relocation). By this summer, if the family has not provided us with any information on the school of their choice, we will let you know of their exit from the program.
Thank you for your patience. In the midst of chaos and darkness, you continue to be a steadfast friend to these children and their families.
Ashley Leonard
Heartline Haiti
Sponsorship Coordinator
