Haitians Supporting Themselves

Gabrielle Aurel

Gabrielle Aurel is director and founder of Sonje Ayiti Organization (SAO) a nonprofit organisation founded in 2004 in Atlanta, Georgia with the mission of Helping Haitians Help Themselves, through education, economic development, and health promotion. SAO began working in the North and Northeast of Haiti in 2007. 

Scholars believe that access to education is a critical pathway out of poverty, with schools as strategic locations for the development of ties to the community. It is with this philosophy that SAO implements its vision of a transformed and improved Haiti. To do this, we focus on the most vulnerable. The journey began in 2010 when 12 orphans from earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince made their way to relatives in the remote community of Cima on the outskirts of Limonade. The families welcomed the children; however, there was no school in Cima, and they could not afford to send them (or their own children) to school in Limonade which is several kilometers away.


SAO recruited local leaders and began the daunting task of bringing hope to the children in despair. In the quest to create hope for these children, we were compelled to reengineer our education program. We realized that it was not sufficient to solely sponsor youth from rural families pursuing university and technical degrees. SAO decided to start from the bottom up and began working to create access to education by providing a quality curriculum to children in the village of Cima. The dream that began with thirty children 10 years ago has grown to 325 students in preschool through to 9th grade.



Political disturbances and the Covid pandemic caused difficulties and upheaval, but did not keep us from teaching and learning. Classroom teaching was reduced, and motorcycles were used to make trips to the students to deliver and pick up homework packets weekly until the students were able to return to the building. 

During the past year, SAO implemented several new projects including Positive Periods that taught girls how to make reusable sanitary protection and learn about sexual health, enabling them to regularly attend school. The program took place over the summer and trained over 200 girls, across 15 schools and communities who have been busy cascading this training to their peers. There was also Business Training to better prepare students to set goals, manage funds, and improve livelihoods in an uncertain future job market and limited opportunities. 


Despite the recent challenges in Haiti at the moment we have been able to progress with our Positive Periods workshops, thanks to a truly amazing team there, undaunted by the current events.


Stelandie Jean-François, started the session introducing the materials they will be using and the patterns that they will use to create their own reusable pads. Her students have no experience sewing so they will be learning this skill also. They are very excited to be getting hands on experience making period pads that will help them live a fuller life, and come to school every day.


The school nurses delivered the training modules covering sexual health educational sessions. This ensures that girls and young women know more about menstruation and female sexual health. This supports them to better manage and understand their menstrual health and wellbeing.


In the initial workshops, staff are trained how to deliver the program in their respective schools. This way the knowledge is cascaded through to the wider community.


We would like to offer our heartfelt appreciation and thanks to the team in Haiti who have been able to go ahead with the workshop, despite the current challenges.


Most schools in Haiti are privately run and tuition fees constitute a barrier for many families. SAO has managed, through sponsorships, to waive tuition fees, provide one hot meal daily, health insurance, teaching supplies, books, extracurricular activities, and on-going training to staff. We strive to create an environment conducive to learning to ensure that rural Cima School of Hope students have the same opportunities as students in urban and/or metropolitan areas.


Education in Haiti should be standardized so that students from all walks of life can benefit from the educational system. Cima School of Hope’s enrollment rates have significantly increased over the years, and many parents feel a sense of pride and security, knowing that education is key to success. They value that their children will not be left behind because they were born in a rural area where education is a luxury. Cima School of Hope is a ray of hope for the future generations of its community. 



First published in Engage 23.

BY GABRIELLE AUREL • May 4, 2022

What happens when creativity, young people, education and community come together?

By Ann Beatty • August 25, 2026
Seeds of Hope are everywhere! “I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I arrived at Stage at the Lake…” But it was special to meet all of the Calderdale team in person, who had brought this four-day event together so successfully. Sometimes an event stays with you long after the final performance has finished. My visit to Stage at the Lake at the beautiful Shibden Hall in Calderdale was one of those occasions. As UNESCO ASPnet UK Coordinator, I was delighted to be invited as a guest, but what I experienced was much more than simply attending an event. Here, in the grounds of a house steeped in history, the past, present and future seemed to meet. The English Chamber Orchestra filled the setting with music, Northern Ballet brought movement and storytelling to life, and throughout there was a wonderful sense of creativity, community and possibility. And then there were the parklets; a unique gardening festival at Shibden Park celebrating community, creativity and the power of nature to bring people together. At its heart was a specially commissioned trail of ten micro show gardens, designed and built by community groups from across Calderdale. It was wonderful to see spaces where ideas, conversations and creativity were flourishing and connecting through Seeds of Hope. I cannot wait to see them transported to their ‘forever homes’. Standing there, I found myself thinking about what we mean when we talk about education, culture and hope. 

Alfa Liv Kalkil - Math concepts for popular literacy classes in Haiti

By Chancy Jak • August 25, 2026
2025 During the annual fomasyon for Alfa monitors, Antoliyis Pye gave an extensive presentation on how best to introduce and develop basic math concepts in literacy classes. The response to his insight and enthusiasm led to our decision to create our own math book for Alfa participants.  In Haiti and around the world, illiterate market women and peasant farmers develop their own techniques for calculating and recording numbers. However, in providing literacy for the development of our people, we must also introduce the world of conventional numeracy. These skills lead to logical thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to interpret and make informed decisions on numerical evidence. For a year we worked together to draft the contents of our Alfa Liv Kalkil, seek illustrations, create layout, and finally take our product to the local printer. Funds were provided for 350 copies, enough for each Alfa participant at each of our sites at the present level of attendance. 2026 Our next step was to fully engage each Alfa monitor in the process for introduction and use of Liv Kalkil in Alfa classes. Our two day fomasyon for 2026 was dedicated to ensuring that each member of our team was familiar with the book and comfortable in implementing the concepts with Alfa participants. The sessions were a great success. Every monitor was extremely pleased with this new tool which will allow them and their classes to work together in the world of mathematics. Liv Kalkil is now in service for every participant throughout Alfa, from Limonade itself out to sites in the hills and along the river. It is with some excitement that the monitors and participants are beginning to use our very own, home-grown, math book. In the same way that we already had Goute Sel*, Lekti Netale*, Ti Koze Sou Istwa Peyi Dayiti*, we are proud to have this math book which advances our shared work for the development of our people. We are profoundly grateful to all those who have encouraged and supported us in developing this book. We want to thank our dedicated team of monitors, the Alfa support team in Columbus, Ann Beatty and the Steve Sinnott Foundation, and the many others who contribute to our literacy programme. Chancy Jak (Alfa Co-ordinator) Antoliyis Pye (senior monitor) *Goute Sel: Taste of Salt (base text for Alfa literacy classes) *Lekti Netale (reading comprehension) *Ti Koze Sou Istwa Peyi Dayiti (stories from Haitian history; Alfa second level)

Five Days, 64 Educators, One Renewed Mission

By Marie Antoinette Corr • August 10, 2026
Every teacher has a time in their career when a student needs someone to listen to them instead of just a lesson plan. Schools have been preparing for that moment for far too long. That started to alter on Friday, August 7, 2026. After completing a five-day guidance and counselling program in the RED 2 West hall in Brikama, 64 educators left with certificates and something more substantial than paper. They left with a duty: to be a support system for young people negotiating the challenging realities of school and life, a listening ear for a struggling student, and a source of advice for a colleague. Why This Training Matters During the closing ceremony, union leaders and education administrators made it clear that schools need counsellors, and they need them right now. The message is grounded in reality. Today's students face an ever-more complicated array of social, emotional, financial, and personal obstacles as they enter the school each morning. Teachers are the first to notice it. They are the ones in the classroom when a youngster needs someone to notice, when a student becomes quiet, or when grades decline for no apparent reason. Guidance and counselling have traditionally been viewed as optional extras rather than essential components of a school's operations. This instruction directly challenged that notion. Counselling and guidance are not extras. It contributes to the success of a school. Five Days of Learning and Practice Over the course of the week, participants moved beyond theory into practice, building the listening skills, guidance techniques, and support strategies they'll need to respond to real situations in real time. It wasn't just about acquiring knowledge; it was about rehearsing the kind of presence that makes a difference when a student or colleague needs it most. By the final day, the room held a shared sense of purpose. Participants reflected on what the five days had given them, not only new skills, but a renewed sense of why they came into education in the first place. They thanked the funders who made the training possible and made a collective commitment: to serve with diligence, empathy, and purpose. Taking It Beyond the Training Room The real test of this training won't happen in Brikama; it'll happen in the weeks and months ahead, in classrooms, corridors, staffrooms, and communities across the region. The 64 newly certified counsellors were challenged to carry what they learned into every one of those spaces: to notice the learner who's struggling silently, to check in on the colleague who seems overwhelmed, to be the steady presence that a school community can lean on. That's the real outcome of a training like this. Not just a certificate, but a shift in what's considered normal: a school culture where guidance and counselling sit at the centre of education, not the margins.