Adult illiteracy in northwest Haiti is close to 90 percent. With an annual income under $500, most families cannot afford to send their children to school. We are very proud that our children at House of Hope, Port-de-Paix do in fact attend school. Some of our older students have returned from university during a school break to teach our younger ones some of what they have learned. Ruben, in his last year at a university outside Port-de-Paix conducted art classes for all our children.

Linda Felix, our director, and Dieuny and Roseméne have all past their exams and are entering the last grade of high school. Other students will be retaking the exam in order to pass. All told, we have 50 students in school this year.

It costs us approximately $200 per student to cover tuition, books, and the cost of uniforms. This is difficult because we also have heavy medical costs for the children being treated at Beraca Medical Center. In fact, all our funding goes toward helping the children. House of Hope does not have the money to pays its own staff. So far, Beraca Medical Center has been covering this cost but they are under financial pressure and are asking us to pay them back. We do not have the money to do so right now, but we hope donations can help.