St. Andrew's Raises Money for Haitian School's Needs

The students of are making a commitment to raise funds for the needs of a school in the Central Plains region of Haiti.

The partnership began in August, said middle and upper school chaplain Luther Zeigler, who has been fundamental in connecting the students of St. Andrew's to the students of Christ Roi School — a school located in rural Haiti an hour north of Port of Prince.

Five adult representatives of St. Andrew's plan to visit the Haitian school in February, which gives the faculty less than six months to plan for the visit with their new partner. In addition, St. Andrew's hopes to raise $8,000 for the trip.

Zeigler said $6,000 will pay the annual salaries of the four teachers of Christ Roi, who teach 160 Haitian students. The remaining $2,000 will help buy school supplies and uniforms for the students. The uniforms will be made in Haiti, which will not only cost less than uniforms purchased in America, but will also provide Haitian seamstresses with work, Zeigler added.

Zeigler said his hope is that St. Andrew's can get each of their 525 students to participate in raising the money. The Student Government Association has already adopted the Haitian partnership as this year's charity and students are planning events such as donut sales and yard work to raise money.

SGA president Ben Mitchell said the partnership will allow the two schools to connect.

"Our community is growing," Mitchell said. "We are forging a relationship."

Zeigler said his long-term goal for the partnership includes taking the older students to Haiti for service work, which he hopes will begin in spring 2012.

St. Andrew's head of school Robert Kosasky commended Zeigler for his efforts and the headway he has made with the program.

"He has been wonderful in the care in which he's made this partnership work," Kosasky said.

Kosasky said Christ Roi needs the basic necessities so learning can happen. He said it would be easy for the school to write a check, but they prefer to teach their students the importance of serving others.

"Students will be personally invested in this partnership," said Kosasky. "We think service is transformative to students ethically and morally as they grow up."

Kosasky said students at St. Andrew's are excited about the partnership because Haiti is relatively close to America, the Haitians speak Creole and St. Andrew's teaches French, and Haiti has suffered enormous challenges.

Haiti suffered from an earthquake that occurred in January 2010, which left a reported 230,000 people dead and one million homeless. Reports from news sources shocked the world over the devastation, resulting in global humanitarian efforts directly afterwards.

Reverend Roger Bowen, who has helped on a national level to coordinate partnerships between the United States and Haiti, said there have been 40 new partnerships since the earthquake, but there is still a need for more.

"Founding and supporting schools has become the heart of the Episcopal Church's mission in Haiti," Bowen said. "Living in one of the world's poorest countries, the majority of Haitians lack the basic things we take for granted as essential to maintaining a good standard of living. In a country where 60 percent of the people are unable to read, literacy is a step toward self-determination."

Mitchell said the students of St. Andrew's agreed unanimously that the partnership was a worthy cause.

"Doing good work is part of what we do as a school and student body," he said.