"PORT-AU-PRINCE, ) – A call by Haiti’s government for schools to reopen in areas spared by the earthquake has gone largely unheeded because of parents’ fears and financial woes.
“I want to send them to school, but how could I pay?” said Sauver Jean-Baptiste, a cobbler by trade who used to keep five children in private education at an annual cost of just over US$800.
“My clients are now either dead, have left the capital for their home villages or have lost all their belongings, including their shoes. Shoes are the last thing on anyone‘s mind,” Jean-Baptiste told IRIN.
Some senators were opposed to the call to reopen some schools, on the grounds it was disrespectful to students and teachers still buried in collapsed buildings.
But Education Minister Joel D. Jean-Pierre told IRIN: “Life continues and schools can be places of healing.”
Healing for people like Jean-Baptiste’s 15-year-old son, Jude, who lost two friends in the earthquake."
“I want to send them to school, but how could I pay?” said Sauver Jean-Baptiste, a cobbler by trade who used to keep five children in private education at an annual cost of just over US$800.
“My clients are now either dead, have left the capital for their home villages or have lost all their belongings, including their shoes. Shoes are the last thing on anyone‘s mind,” Jean-Baptiste told IRIN.
But Education Minister Joel D. Jean-Pierre told IRIN: “Life continues and schools can be places of healing.”
Healing for people like Jean-Baptiste’s 15-year-old son, Jude, who lost two friends in the earthquake."