History of Hope House
The EarthquakeOn January 12, 2010, Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake, with a death toll estimated at 220,000. The capital city, Port-au-Prince, was effectively levelled. Around 1.5 million Haitians were left homeless, cholera and other diseases thrived and many people lived in make shift camps, struggling to find enough food and clean water
Moving On |
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A decade on and things are improving but progress is still slow. Through the work of the Haitian government, charities and NGOs, there has been investment in rebuilding homes and businesses, and attempts to build a better infrastructure for the country. However international donations have been reducing over the last few years as Haiti fades from the public eye and the perceived urgency declines. Haiti is still one of the poorest countries in the world, with around 60% of the population living below the national (US) poverty line, and half of them below the extreme poverty line. Although many of those living in shelters in the capital have been re-homed, many still live in extreme circumstances, particularly in the rural areas, and in desperate poverty.
Hope House - The start
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In the aftermath of the earthquake, with so many displaced people, Yvrose, a Haitian born teacher, and her husband Pierre Richard felt strongly that God was calling them to work amongst the poor and needy in their home land. They set about trying to reunite displaced and orphaned children with members of their families. When all avenues were exhausted, they looked after the remaining children themselves and set up a Home which currently offers a safe and loving family environment for around 38 children aged from a few months up to young adults in their twenties. They live by Faith, trusting God to provide their most basic needs of food, shelter, clean water, and medicines.
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Initially they lived in a tent but this was destroyed by the hurricane later in 2010. This was a new low. Pierre Richard captured the magnitude of this time in this photo. Later they lived in a one roomed house with no water, sanitation or electricity. In 2013 the organisation ‘Victory Compassion’ provided three small metal prefab buildings and in 2014 a house next to the site was purchased through a private donation. Later their own home was built and an indoor kitchen, where the school meals are cooked.
Yvrose and Pierre Richard continue to live by faith, and have no regular financial support of their own. In 2013 the UK charity Hope House Haiti (UK) was set up with the aim of providing some regular support for them, from fundraising and donations, as well as sourcing professional advice where needed. |
The School
In addition to Hope House, Yvrose and Pierre Richard have established a school in their remote region of Haiti, which is aimed at the poorest children in the community. It offers a free education and a meal for each child – often the only meal the children get that day. Yvrose is a qualified teacher with twenty years teaching experience in USA. Yvrose and Pierre Richard are passionate about education, believing that this provides a basis to alleviate poverty and impact the nation for future generations. Yvrose has adopted a policy that no child should be left behind in terms of education; all of the children who attend Hope House Christian Academy are likely to be the first in their family to have received an education.
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The school initially met in tents, but these quickly deteriorated in the sun and hurricanes left them no longer usable. Thanks to donations from the USA, England, Spain and Ireland, the children are now taught in purpose built timber framed or block built school classrooms. Donations were used to purchase wood, and in 2013 Pierre Richard taught the older boys to make wooden benches as previously the children sat on rocks and concrete blocks! Then September 2014 saw the opening of a Secondary School on the same site, providing education for a further 200 students in 4 classes.
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A purpose built Kindergarten block was opened in 2015 and in September 2017 two new classrooms were built to accommodate students in the final two years of formal education. As the school community grew, so did our need for more classrooms, teachers and school materials. The Irish charity Haven have faithfully supported us providing funding to build new classrooms. We also want to acknowledge and thank the Cuckfield and Lindfield Rotary Club and Hurst College for all the material donated. In 2018, the Cuckfield and Lindfield Rotary Club organised and paid for a pallet of goods weighing approx. 140kg to be shipped out which included a much needed projector, pens, pencils, exercise books for school, shoes, clothes, a laminator and 6,000 laminating pouches, watercolours, brushes, oil pastels, and other stationary and art supplies. Hurst College provided a large stock of children’s reading books – both fiction and non-fiction – as well as English and Science workbooks for primary and secondary school children and sports kit (over 70 rugby style shirts and polo sports shirts).
The school is now able to accommodate up to 1000 children from Kindergarten through to Secondary, and employs more than 30 teachers, a director, administrators, as well as cooks and a caretaker.
The school is now able to accommodate up to 1000 children from Kindergarten through to Secondary, and employs more than 30 teachers, a director, administrators, as well as cooks and a caretaker.
