HPI CLUB 20 Program
For over 20 years HPI has had a child sponsorship program providing children in its villages the opportunity to attend school. The current program has only benefitted 150 children annually. There are over 1100 children ages 5-14 in our nine villages that want to go to school. Parents living on less than $2 USD a day have no money for school tuition. Schools in Haiti must charge tuition to exist. One of the reasons Haiti is spiraling towards failure is that its population has an illiteracy rate of 61%, the highest in the Western Hemisphere. The rate in the mountains, where 70% of the population lives, is much higher. The people farm small gardens which feed their families, but the current drought, with no rain since September of 2023, has scorched the earth and even the roots of plants are dried up and inedible. HPI is providing emergency food relief to get through the food crisis, and the Club 20 program is being initiated to address the education problem.
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Club 20 has the potential to send 500 children to school in 2024-2025. Essentially the plan invites donors to sponsor 2-3 children on a payment plan. Our goal is to get as many children as possible in one of their six village schools. Education is the long-term solution to Haiti's problems, and we believe this is how we can have the greatest impact. Haitian children are exceptionally smart and love school. Your participation in Club 20 will empower children to be the country's next generation of teachers, engineers, doctors, farmers, artists, musicians, police, etc. Please consider joining the Club.
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Getting an education in Haiti
More than 600 children attend primary schools in the villages we serve. Children must walk two to three miles each way to attend school. Since most children eat only once a day, this is a difficult task, but people in the area are committed to having their children in school if they can afford the luxury.
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Students' families are asked to contribute $5.00 US monthly for tuition. This is a considerable sacrifice for a family that makes less than $450 US annually. The average family in Haiti is eight people. Sending more than two children at a time to school is impossible, so parents typically have their children alternate school years. It takes many years in this system to educate children. Your donation helps to defray costs for families and enables the children to get an education.
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Going to secondary school is even more daunting. Because there is no secondary school in the mountains, students walk six to eight miles to the city of Cabaret, which is twice as expensive for tuition. They must rent a room and pay for food.
Less than 50% of children in the mountains attend school, and less than 25% of the primary students from our villages go on to attend a secondary school–but Haiti Plunge can help change that with your help.
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