Haitian Youth: Examples of Resiliency

During  2009, I volunteered as an English and computer literacy teacher at Louverture Cleary School in Santo, Haiti, through The Haitian Project. I have continued my involvement with Haitian teachers over the past year by working on the Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (TEA) at IREX. Needless to say, last January’s earthquake came as a shock. I returned to Port-au-Prince last April to help my former school and meet with Haitian teachers who had completed the TEA program. When my plane landed, I didn’t know what to expect in a country that I’d called home just ten months before.

I found resilience and energy. Since long before the earthquake, a motto has been painted on the school walls: “Nou pare pou rebati Ayiti, e ou?” (“We are ready to rebuild Haiti, and you?”). My former high schoolers were not only ready but eager to rebuild. Every afternoon, students finish class and immediately transition to their next roles. Groups of students go to clinics to translate for doctors. Others volunteer at an orphanage in Port-au-Prince.   In a country without effective waste management, students work with members of the community to keep their neighborhood clean. Others pick up a handful of chalk and head to the front of their classrooms at Ti Ekol, or “Little School," helping instruct young children without access to formal education.

The TEA alumni in Haiti have also been working hard to give youth skills and opportunities, as my colleague Sarah Dye recently reported. From training teachers to providing students psychosocial support after January’s disaster, these teachers strive to promote the well-being and productivity of youth.

While post-earthquake news tends to focus on the daunting work still to be done, accounts of Haitian youth contributing to relief and rebuilding efforts still break through. I was blown away recently after reading about a 20-year old woman named Jenna who gained trade skills through IDEJEN and earned credibility as a mason while constructing a girl’s school in Grand Goâve. She is now recognized as a leading “big boss” in construction, rebuilding structures that will reshape communities.

Jenna and my female students may not be able to change entrenched gender roles overnight, but they serve as examples of success and strength in a country that will rely on their energy and talents to rebuild. Students may not have medical supplies to distribute, but they can translate English, French, and Spanish into Kreyol for doctors who can provide care. Haitian youth are leaders. They have a large role to play as their country rebuilds. So when these young men and women say, “Nou pare pou rebati Ayiti, e ou?”, I hope we are ready to work with them.

Kristin Laboe is a Program Associate at IREX.