Kidnappings in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, have increased lately with political turmoil surrounding disagreement over the end of the presidential term of President Jovenel Moise. Despite the fact that Haiti is closer to many parts of the US, such as Florida, than Florida is to states on the West coast, this situation doesn’t often make it into North American news. Perhaps the general public thinks that the situation is “hopeless”, remembering that UN troops have occupied the country various times previously to try to create order and peace. What else could the international community do to help create change?

We’ve been thinking and talking seriously amongst our team about just that.

The idea we’d like to move forward with is a large scale effort to get funds and materials into the hands of educators in Haiti, specifically what is known as the biggest slum in the Western Hemisphere: Cite Soleil. We aren’t expecting it to go completely smoothly, but we are expecting efforts to improve gradually over time as has been our experience. If this is not done on a large scale, it may be made impossible and put people in danger, as kidnapping is rampant and anyone receiving funds could become a target. However, we believe that if this is done on a large scale, it will create a new reward, new hope, and new opportunity for everyone.

If you already work in Cite Soleil or are from Cite Soleil, we would love to hear from you! Tens of millions of dollars were raised for the family of George Floyd because the majority of Americans believe that black lives matter. Or is it Black lives matter? Does this include non-Americans?

You may doubt that this game plan is viable. We would love to hear from you too. Let’s talk. Write to grassrootsschools@gmail.com.