Hurricane Matthew October 4, 2016

We have had numerous inquires asking about how hurricane Matthew has affected our school in Pignon. As anticipated there was only minor damage in Pignon, which is located nearly 100 miles from the hurricane's path. There was plenty of wind and rain that created damage to homes and property but fortunately no serious injures.

The challenge for rural areas like Pignon is that when family homes are destroyed in more urban areas, like the destruction from Matthew, people migrate to unaffected rural areas to find food and shelter by staying with friends and relatives. We expected that over the next few months many people will move into the Pignon area thus putting increased strain on local services including our school. Student attendance has already increased to nearly 200 students from pre-school to 6th graders. This has been due to the commitment that Director Rimbol and his staff have made to provide an education to any child who asks. This commitment, at times, has meant that the staff forgoes getting paid in order to insure that school supplies and healthy lunches can be consistently provided.

Haiti is still dealing with ongoing challenges from the 2010 earthquake and the affects from Matthew will be felt for years. We are wholeheartedly moving forward to insure that we can continue to provide education, heath classes and school lunches for deserving students.

We know that education is the way to alleviate poverty. Your continued financial support is needed to help us meet this goal. Please go to the "How You Can Help" tab and click on the "Donate" button to set up a onetime contribution or monthly gift. Your donation will change lives in Haiti.