1996 marked the beginning of our schools in Haiti. Members of the Movement wanted to care for the education of the children who were unable to attend school in the village of Lacouève and started to give free lessons in writing and reading. Two years later the same experience was done in Mont-Organisé.

In 2008, AMU (Azione per un Mondo Unito – Action for a United World) Luxembourg, an NGO connected to the Focolare Movement, provided the funds for building two classrooms with cement blocks, for sewing machines, and material for the two classes of the trade school for girls in Zilma.

These capital funds provided an adequate infrastructure for these three schools. However, we still rely on donations from the friends of Haiti to cover the operating costs of the schools; the government does not subsidise them although they have been recognised and accredited. Approximately 2/3 of the operating expenses are covered by the parents of the students and 1/3 by donations. Our goal is that, one day, the school expenses will be covered wholly by the contribution of the parents. This depends largely on the economic situation of the region.

Children that are catholic are taught catechism according to the programs of their local parishes and diocese. It prepares them to receive the sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist.

Since the founding of these schools, several classes have finished the 9-year cycle of elementary school and some of these students were able to attend high school. With the help of a grant, a few of the more gifted students were able to attend university. In the meantime, two other schools have begun in Comba and in Lacroix, always with the goal of giving poor children a chance to learn how to read and to write.

In 2010 AMU Luxembourg financed an even bigger project: construction of classrooms, meeting rooms, storage rooms, kitchen, toilets, enclosure, classroom furniture and equipment for the schools at Zilma and Mont-Organisé and for a Kindergarten at Mont-Organisé.

A couple of years later, a Volunteer of the Focolare Movement in Toronto, ML, was visiting our small community there and spoke about this initiative on her return to the members of the Movement in Canada. They raised some funds and sent them to Haiti. With this aid, the people in Haiti built some makeshift classrooms.

This project was also embraced by parish priests and schools in British Columbia, in Alberta and in the Toronto area. Adults and youth of the Movement in Canada organized fund raising activities. With this ongoing help, the school could welcome more children and each year the number increased.