Les Bours School

Providing education to children who could only dream of such a luxury

 An educated child is the hope and future of a family. In Haiti, education is not taken for granted.  In 2007, while Mallery Neptune was visiting Cite Soleil, a notorious slum the United Nations have labeled “the most dangerous place on earth”. Gang leaders in the area summoned a meeting to express their desire for children to receive an education. They wanted their children to live a different life than one consumed of violence and poverty. They agreed that if a school was available for their children to attend, they would promote peace in their area.  They ended their plea by asking Mallery, “What will you do?” She responded she would pray and ask God’s direction for a school for their children.

Soon after, HFAP purchased a piece of property on the outskirts of the slum Mallery had visited.  It was being used as a trash dump. Many spaghetti dinners, garage sales, and bake sales later, the Lord provided the funding necessary to build a security wall, six classrooms, and an office.  In the Fall of 2008 Les Bours School of Hope opened its first year of teaching, enrolling 120 students in classes ranging from preschool to third grade. In the years since, Les Bours School of Hope has grown to a full primary school offering grades preschool through sixth grade.  Students who pass the sixth grade government exam are able to enter our scholarship program to continue on to secondary school. As long as the student keeps their grades up, sponsors are able to continue sponsoring their child’s education until they have graduated from secondary school!

It is very important to us that our students are not only receiving a great education, but also good Biblical training. Through daily Bible lessons, vacation Bible schools, and summer day camps, our children are learning about the unfathomable love and unending grace our Father has for us!

Our students are among the poorest of the poor in Haiti. Most of their families are unable to eat a good meal each day, and do not live in an adequate shelter. Education is a luxury they simply cannot afford.  In order to provide our students with a quality education at no cost to them, we match each student with a sponsor. Our students consider their sponsors to be their godparents. They are so proud to be students in our school!  To learn more about our sponsorship program or to sponsor a student at Les Bours School of Hope, visit our Sponsor A Child page. haitipoverty.org/projects/sponsor-a-child

Within our school’s first year, our students were so ill it was essential we open a small school clinic to care for their health and medical needs. Worms in their stomachs, itchy skin fungi, and ear infections kept them from focusing and learning in class. Our clinic now provides testing for diseases such as; malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV. We staff a full time nurse to care for skin infections, wounds, and sick students. Every student also receives two physicals a year from HFAP’s medical missions teams.

Since the earthquake, food prices have risen and many of our students were only finding something to eat every two or three days. They were starving and struggling to pay attention and retain information due to their intense hunger pains. In 2011 we opened a lunch program providing every student with a nutritious meal of rice, beans, and vegetables each day before they go home. Within just weeks we saw marked improvement in our students grades and health!

For only $6 a month you can provide a hungry student with a meal each school day. (That’s right, for the cost of a latte or less than a movie ticket you could feed a hungry child five days a week, for an entire month!)