Newsletter November 2024
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Gang violence in Haiti’s capital has gone on for years, and the struggle for power and money shows no sign of ending. This week the airport was closed again after gangs fired on passenger planes.
On 17 October, in the street where one of our teachers lives, all the houses and cars were set on fire during a fight between gangs. Fortunately, Mr Kerby managed to rescue his mother from their burning house and they were unhurt. They, and many others, have lost everything! After two nights sleeping outside, his mother was able to flee to the countryside thanks to help from a few donors, and Mr Kerby found shelter with a friend in another neighbourhood.
Straight afterwards, Mr Kerby went looking for the children of the Saturday Human Values Club, which he had started in April this year, to see how they were. Even though he has lost everything – his own belongings, the Club’s materials and so on – with Bon Timoun’s support he was still able to hold the Saturday Club for local children on 2 November. He borrowed the inflatable pool from the ABC school and arranged a water tanker to fill it. It was a great success: 43 children came to relax, see friends and play games. With a snack, of course. So the Club is up and running again, and around 60 children are coming once more. Being together is an important moment in the week for everyone.
Katinka van Lamsweerde spoke about this on the NPO Radio 1 news last Wednesday, 13 November.
Listen to the clip:
Last summer our foundation supported Mr Kerby and five volunteers to run a summer school with lessons and activities three days a week for three months. 100 children came, many of whom had been unable to go to school during the school year because they had fled gang violence.
On 11 November the gangs announced that schools in the capital had to close and that everyone had to stay at home. Going out on the street then means being shot at or kidnapped. People cannot buy food or earn anything… Most schools have been closed for much longer because they depend on school fees. Our schools are not businesses and, fortunately, do not depend on them.
Because we keep paying the teachers’ salaries, our schools can stay open – except at times like now, when it is too dangerous for anyone to go out. For the children, school is an important place that offers safety, where they can see friends and relax, and where, besides education and a life-saving meal, they can simply be children again for a while in this terrible situation.
Many thanks to everyone who makes Bon Timoun’s work possible! The harder the times, the more our help matters!
