Displaced children are preparing to return to school
Gang related violence interrupts the education of children dans la zone métropolitaine de Port-au-Prince. Ils ont besoin de soutien pour retourner à l’école
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“I thank OCCEDH for what it has done for me. Today, I have a school kit with notebooks, a bag and pencils. I thank them for this gesture.” Mackenson Dessource, a displaced adolescent boy due to gang related violence.
It was amid a festive and fun ambiance that dozens of OCCEDH volunteers supported by UNICEF proceeded in October 2021 in Delmas 32 to the distribution of kits for 400 children and their families as part of the delayed back to school due to the socio-political unrests that have disrupted Haiti over the last two months.
Since August 2020, 19,000 people were displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince. More than 15,000 women and children had to seek refuge in several improvised centers for displaced people in the metropolitan area.
This situation ignited an important humanitarian crisis when these women and children lacked everything, including the bare minimum.
Thanks to funding from the UN's Central Emergency Respond Fund (CERF), UNICEF and its partners, in a particularly difficult context, have taken the lead in responding to this crisis as much as possible.
“Today, I was able to collect backpacks as well as school kits for my children thanks to UNICEF and OCCEDH.” Luma Benaude, a displaced mother.
The needs are important but what was mostly lacking was hope. UNICEF and its partner NGO OCCEDH got down to it.
“As a local organization, we have very few resources. We are aware of the problems because we are close to the people. But for a year, we have benefited from the unfailing support of UNICEF. This allows us to operate effectively within these difficult communities.” Luca Chrislie, Executive Director of the OCCEDH
For Antonio Marro, head of emergencies at UNICEF Haiti, the aid will go beyond the free school kits.
“We are also planning financial support for families to help them with the purchase of uniforms and other expenses for the return to school of the children.”
During these few hours, the children, and their parents, through songs and dances, were able to forget the pangs of everyday life and dream of a soon awaited and deserved return to school.
