The Real MERCY School is a beacon of hope in the midst of the many challenges facing the Okobaba community. Despite the difficult environment and limited resources, the school is providing quality education to the children in the area, and making a positive impact on their families and the wider community. The dedication and hard work of the school’s founders and staff are truly remarkable, and the impact they are making on the lives of the children in their care will be felt for generations to come. However, the challenges facing the school and the community cannot be ignored. From the environmental and medical challenges to the economic struggles and limited space, there are many obstacles that must be overcome in order to provide the best education possible for the students. Life in Okobaba is hard. Okobaba is a water-logged slum area, home of drug addicts, cultists, prostitutes, thieves and the like. This is definitely not the best area for a school to be situated, but it serves a great purpose and we are maximizing this opportunity to educate these children. Unfortunately, the environment around the school leaves such a negative impression on the growing minds of these little kids. As highlighted earlier, “any experience that has a formative effect on how one thinks, acts or feels is considered educational.”
- Today, we have 12 teachers and a total staff of 21!!
- Each child receives a nutritious meal in school every day!
- A well was drilled at the school, provided drinking water and water for cleaning
- The school has been moved to a new location, where there are eight classrooms
To make matters worse, Haiti never fully recovered from the earthquake that is estimated to have killed over 200,000 Haitians and crippled the infrastructure and support services. Sadly, Haiti was hit again with another deadly earthquake in 2015. Haiti’s future appears bleak. Jean-Bonard worked for the UN after the devastating earthquake in 2010 and Loverlie Colin has a degree in accounting and both have big hearts for those less fortunate. They both decided to take matters in their own hands and opened a local school for 12 children between ages 3 and 6, including their three younger children. Some of the kids are so poor they come to school without breakfast. Jean-Bonard and Loverlie initially taught the classes and they would feed the children. Loverlie did then and continues to do so today, hand sews the uniforms, so all the children comes to school neatly dressed. They were doing all this out of their own pocket. In 2015, MERCYworldwide began partnering with Jean-Bonard and Loverlie to deepen and expand the educational opportunities for these children. With generous donations from The Wong Foundation, classrooms were expanded, teachers were hired and student enrollment has now increased to 70 students. Although the pandemic has hindered the growth and expansion of The MERCY International School in Jacmel over the last three years, children and their parents are returning to school. The children have a bright future.