News is beginning to trickle in. I received the following email from Le College Notre Dame in Cap-Haitien. Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide graduated from College Notre Dame. (In the colonial tradition a college is the appellation used for a high school.)
Derechef salut
Pour l'instant, il n'y a aucune estimation sur les dégâts à propos des écoles. La question est: est-ce qu'il y a encore d'écoles qui tiennent debout à Port-au-Prince. Certaines sont totalement détruites et d'autres à moitié, d'autres encore sont lézardées, etc.
En parlant des écoles privées dites "congréganistes", à notre connaissance, l'ensemble scolaire Père Basile Moreau, le Canado-Haïtien, Saint-Louis, Saint Jean l'évangéliste sont détruits.
Voilà c'est tout ce nous pouvons vous dire pour l'instant. Espérant qu'une études sérieuse va se faire en ce sens.
My colleague, Laura Lawless, About.com's French Guide, translated this for us:
At the moment, damage to schools has not been assessed. The question is: are there any schools still standing in Port-au-Prince? Some are totally destroyed and others partly, still others are cracked, etc.
Speaking of so-called "congregational" private schools, as far as we know, the schools Père Basile Moreau, le Canado-Haïtien, Saint-Louis, and Saint Jean l'évangéliste have been destroyed.
That's all we can tell you for now. We hope a serious examination of this will be undertaken.
Update: 1/19/10 - College Saint Francois D'assise was destroyed. The sisters were safely evacuated.
Update: 1/16/10 - The Haitian Academy and its staff and students are safe. The school apparently was not damaged.
How can we help these schools? Read How We Can Help Haiti by Tracy Fitzsimmons. My takeaway from Tracy's advice is that we will be most helpful to schools as the third or fourth wave of aid.
If you have news of any private schools in Haiti, please leave a comment below to share with all of us. Or tweet me at PRIVATESCHL.
Comments