Empowering through education

Haiti, located just 90 minutes from Florida, is the first independent black republic in the world and the second independent nation in the Americas after the United States. Haiti is the only nation ever to have been formed from a successful slave revolt. However, despite this impressive history, the poverty makes it very difficult for even the most determined to overcome.

Haiti is considered one of the poorest countries in the world, even before the earthquake of January 12, 2010 that killed nearly 300,000 people and left millions more homeless. Most Haitians do not have access to safe drinking water, healthcare, or education. Poverty is not the exception; it is a way of life for most Haitians. Over 75% of the population lives in poverty and struggles to merely exist. Over 40% of the 1.3 million school age children suffer from malnutrition. These conditions, which have been exacerbated by the recent earthquake, are worst in the rural communities, which are often neglected. One such is the island of La Gonave, 50 miles west of Port-au-Prince with a population of about 100,000. La Gonave is one of the most impoverished and underdeveloped regions in Haiti.

HERO strategically focuses its resources in small villages and towns where it could make a bigger impact and help transform lives in a sustainable way. Therefore, we decided to focus on the villages of La Gonave.

One village at a time, we can make an impact:

We understand that the problems of Haiti are enormous and short-term relief efforts are still desperate needed. We also understand that Haiti has the capacity to rise from its catastrophes and be transformed into a developed country. To achieve this, our central focus should be on the immediate and long-term needs of Haiti’s future, its children. HERO, a 501(c) (3) community development organization, believes that the only way to can help the Haitian people out of destitute poverty is through education.

Why focus on educating Haitian Children?

The state of education in Haiti calls for serious concerns. Half of Haitian school-aged children did not attend school prior to the earthquake. More than half of those who did attend school dropped out before completing 6^th grade. More than 90% of all the schools in Haiti are privately owned and financed, meaning they often charge high monthly fees which most families cannot afford. It is impossible for any country to get out of poverty if the majority of its people do not have access to basic education.

We believe that education is a fundamental human right and essential to achieving economic security and sustaining a healthy environment. Education is vital in order to improve lives, break the cycle of poverty and ensure that one has control over her destiny.

Vision statement

HERO’s mission is to empower the rural communities of Haiti to become self-sufficient and improve their quality of life through education. Goals of HERO are to provide:

• Improved education to all children
• Support and trainings to communities to them develop a system of economic sufficiency

Our philosophy

We believe that while many Haitians are poor and in great need, they seek not hand-outs, but rather dignity and self-sufficiency. They are most effectively helped when they are empowered to help themselves. While we have direct supervision over all of our projects, we encourage the leaders of the targeted communities to take ownership of all projects.

Our community development projects are divided into two phases. Phase 1 is always to establish or improve the education structure of our selected communities. Phase 2 is an innovative approach, combining entrepreneurship and vocational training through school-based businesses that would provide both a training ground for students and a means of finance for the school. Because these are ongoing sustainable projects, it is difficult to determine a specific time-frame. However, our goal is for each project to become self-sufficient within 3 years.