Ranja Valley School

Children in Haiti don’t have it easy: Haiti has a literacy rate of only 60% — the lowest in the western hemisphere. The lack of education deepens social and economic differences, resulting in a high poverty rate and little opportunity to improve life conditions.

 

Another great current challenge that the country faces is to recover from the huge natural disasters that have devastated the island in recent years, most notably the earthquakes in 2010 and 2021 and hurricane Matthew in 2016, which left more than 300 schools in the western part of Haiti destroyed or severely damaged, causing school disruptions for more than 100,000 children.

 

 

We are planning a sustainable, earthquake-resistant school in Ranja Valley of the Grand’Anse region at the westernmost end of Haiti. Today, the closest school for the children of Ranja is not only too far away, but it also requires crossing the Grand’Anse river, which puts the children’s’ lives in danger every day. As a result, We-Building proposes, in partnership with the Dioceses of Jeremie, the construction of a rural school for the children of Ranja Valley. They have provided the land next to the local church which is currently used as a multipurpose bulding.

 

 

The planned 1st phase of the school complex will include 6 classrooms with toilets and will benefit approximately 180 children of the community and their families. The subsequent phases would include 10 more classrooms with a computer lab, a space for the teachers and the staff and a canteen with kitchen facilities. The master plan positions all the classrooms around a big central court that can be used for social, sport and entertaining activities.