The Land Story Part 2…….don’t miss Part 1 here

Deed of land = check

Campus design = check

Donor backing = check

Construction crew = check

Safe work environment = absolutely not

Unfortunately as the nation of Haiti continued to devolve into violence and chaos, Lespwa Lavi was left with a decision to make. To build or not to build? With ports and highways controlled by gangs for the past 4 years, there has been no way to get large machinery or highly skilled crews to the Artibonite region. We explored every possible avenue to build our original multi-million dollar plan….we waited for Haiti to stabilize and the gangs to dissipate….but then Haiti’s president was assassinated. All hope of some return to normalcy for the average Haitian was blown to bits.

Lespwa Lavi looked into purchasing or renting existing buildings. We tried to partner with existing schools in Verrettes. But inexplicably those doors were shut. If the academy was going to happen, God had to do it. His way.

This past fall, 2022, the unthinkable happened. Every school in the nation of Haiti failed to open for the semester. The population with the lowest literacy rate in the Western Hemisphere – by over 40 percentage points – plunged deeper into darkness. The economic crisis had reached every corner and precious few families could afford to pay school tuition. The government ordered schools to remain closed until October. However October came and went, no one could afford food, much less education, and teachers feared for their lives if they traveled to work. Verrettes remained closed.

School is more than reading, writing, arithmetic. School is safety. School is solidarity. School is hope. Without it, child rights crumble. Girls are shuffled from household to household to work. Boys are left without options and are pushed to join gangs. There was no time left to debate options. The children could not wait.

All the great stories are like that…..out of time, out of options, innocent lives hang in the balance. And God says, “Now you will see what I will do.”

If you missed our tutoring program story – check it out here. We needed a permanent solution. Our Haitian team and USA team agreed. We had to build it. On the land that was promised to us.

To Build or Not to Build....