Gnu Foundation’s partner in Haiti – Ecole Evangelique de la Nouvelle Vie du Jacob/Palma (New Life School of Jacob/Palma), is a Haitian NGO (non-governmental organization) created to provide local community-based schooling and educational opportunities to the rural children of Haiti.

Located in the very rural area of the Central Plateau (a 5+ hour drive inland from the capital city of Port-Au-Prince), our Gnu Partner is under the direction of Lucson Dervilous, a local Haitian, who studied for 2 years in the U.S. Lucson is an orphan himself, who wanted to come back to his home village in Hinche and surrounding small poor villages in Palma and Jacob to start a school for children who would never have a chance to be educated. In 2010 a school was built which has now grown to three classes, 50% of the children are orphans ranging from Kindergarten to 2nd grade with around 200 students in all. Immediate endeavors include school expansion for the next graduating class, a daily feeding program in school, and a Gnu Foundation funded micro-credit program for guardians to provide better support for the children. Entrepreneurial microloans include such things as goat, pig, chicken, and banana farms all with the goal of becoming more self-sustaining.

The reality of extreme poverty and lack of resources is overwhelming throughout all of Haiti — from the still quake ravaged capital city of Port au Prince to the subsistence agriculture villages of the central plateau where adequate water, sanitation, health care, education and a market economy are far from the norm. However, the strength, energy and will of local families and leadership of our local Gnu partners to overcome these limits is adding a new sense of hope and optimism that is working its way into the fabric of a rebuilding Haiti.

The school was built under the direction of  the Gnu Foundation’s global partner “When I Grow Up” — a group of people dedicated to empowering children in extreme poverty. A thoughtful description of this initiative can be found at: Haiti Beginnings .

READ MORE: History of relationship with establishing the school and support in Jacob & Palma, Haiti as recorded by our global partner When I Grow Up.