CA Sister School in Haiti Dedicates new Building
Today, a large crowd of people helped to dedicate the new St. Patrick’s school building in CA’s partner community in rural Haiti. Among them were Colorado Academy Upper School teacher Stuart Mills, CA parent and founder of the nonprofit The Road to Hope, Rich Harris, and community leaders from Nordette. For several years, CA and The Road to Hope have worked with the community there to build a school and an additional structure to house a cafeteria, meeting space, and kitchen.
In the village, there is no electricity and no easily accessible source for water. Villagers make an hour-long hike up and down a steep, rocky trail to collect water for the village. There are approximately 100 students learning inside and outside of a one-room church building no larger than 300 square feet. Families come from far away to attend school, church and other community events. Villagers wanted to bring their water source closer, build a bigger and better school for the young people, and improve the food source for the surrounding families. CA and the Road to Hope have traveled there many times, including groups of students who just last year helped to paint the school building.
This December, students and teachers will return on a service and cultural mission to Nordette to continue working there. CA also has created a trimester-long elective social studies course on Haitian history. The course includes a study of the Spanish occupation of Hispaniola and the French colonization in the Caribbean, as well as a look at the art, culture, and religion of the country.
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