Educate Haitian Children.

The core aim of this initiative is to assist novice teachers to teach basic literacy and numeracy to children under 12 years of age in the developing world. It is hoped that this can be achieved in ten schools around the Gros Morne region in Haiti. The desired outcome is that all the children can read and write to an adequate level and do basic arithmetic (addition, subtraction and multiplication). The target audience are illiterate children under 12 years of age living in the hills and small villages outside the town of Gonaives, Haiti. The children are highly motivated to learn, but are severely constrained by the lack of resources. The are some make-shift classrooms, parents must pay the teachers meager wages, but are only able to do so if the children are given some food during the school day. Currently the charity Food For The Poor are the lynchpin this keeping this fragile system operating. Donations from other charities periodically provide copybooks and pencils for the students. There is little or no infrastructure, poor sanitation, no running water, electricity is very limited in the region, as is access to teaching materials. Education is currently only available to those who can afford to pay for it, which is only a small minority of the population. This must change in order to meet the commitment enshrined in the Millennium Development Goals, of the right to all children to an education. An opportunity has emerged by the recent investment by DigiCel in the regions mobile phone sector, which could be leveraged to assist with this educational challenge.