The Congregation of Holy Cross and theDigicel Foundationagreed earlier this month to partner in building a primary school and support facilities in the neighborhood of Tabarre in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Prior to the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010, building a school in this poor, growing neighborhood of the Haitian capital had been the top priority for the Congregation’sOur Lady of Perpetual Help Provincein Haiti. Now, through the generosity of the Digicel Foundation and the support of the University of Notre Dame’sAlliance for Catholic Education, this dream is becoming a reality.
The project will create a new school in an area where few children have access to quality education. The demand for quality schools increased dramatically after 80 percent of schools in Port-au-Prince were destroyed in the 2010 earthquake.
“This investment will make a life-changing difference for hundreds of children and enable a top education provider, the Congregation of Holy Cross, to serve this community for decades to come,” said Rev. Timothy Scully, C.S.C., founder of ACE and director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives. “No longer are we only rebuilding (better and stronger) what was lost in the devastating earthquake of 2010, but we are now building anew!”
“We are deeply grateful to the Digicel Foundation for its dedication to Haiti’s children and their future,” Fr. Scully continued. “We are absolutely committed to the long-term success of this new school and the children it will serve. We look forward to deepening our partnership with the Digicel Foundation to make more transformative changes in Haiti in the years to come.”
The Digicel Foundation is the charitable arm of the Digicel Corp., a major provider of mobile telecommunications services in the Caribbean, Latin America and the South Pacific. The foundation has already helped in building more than 100 schools and training many teachers in Haiti.
In confirming this partnership with the Congregation, Sophia Stransky, CEO of the Digicel Foundation in Haiti, said: “Digicel is committed to providing high-quality school facilities and instruction for students and we are delighted to partner with the Congregation of Holy Cross, an educational leader with a proven record of providing Haitian students with an education that prepares them to be the citizens and scholars Haiti desperately needs.”
Construction is expected to begin soon on the new school, with completion expected in September 2014.
Since the 2010 earthquake, ACE has been working with Holy Cross in Haiti to assist the Congregation in not only rebuilding, but also expanding, its educational mission in the country. On Jan. 17, 2013, the Congregation celebrated theinauguration of the Institut Superieur Marcel Bedardin Cap-Haitien, Haiti. A product of the partnership between the Congregation and ACE, the Institute seeks to bring international best practices in teacher education to Haiti, where 70 percent of teachers lack appropriate training. It uses an innovative blend of coursework, school-based coaching and distance education to deliver a two-year sequence of study in high-quality instructional methods.
