Newsletter September 2025
“What a joyful reunion with the children I hadn’t seen for four years! It was so special to hear how they were doing and to get news of their older brothers and sisters who had already left school. The younger children looked at me with curiosity. And the cooks were so happy that I could taste their food for the first time!” – Mr Joseph
The newly rented stone building is much cooler than their own corrugated-iron school in Torcelle – a blessing in disguise.
In Galette, too, the school reopened in mid-August. The children are now having lessons to make up for the month of the school year they missed, so they can move up to the next class.
Getting to school is still dangerous, for children and teachers alike. Gang members stop the ‘tap-taps’ (local minibuses) and even steal the nursery children’s lunchboxes, along with any money people are carrying. So not all the children can come to school yet. When all schools reopen on 6 October, the hope is that schoolchildren in uniform will be left alone. That is why our school T-shirts matter so much.
At ABC de la Vie, the temporary wooden partitions used to create extra classrooms are being replaced with brick walls and sturdy doors. We keep making improvements like this to increase both safety and comfort and to support learning.
ABC runs a summer school for three months, with lots of activities. In this photo from the special careers day, a nursery child – doctor for a day – examines one of the parents!
The Saturday Club in Tabarre is also running a daily summer camp from 1 July to 30 September for 90 displaced children. One in eight children in Haiti has been displaced by gang violence.
Thanks to Bon Timoun, these children get the chance to learn, to play and to be children. Many children are left to fend for themselves and are easy targets for gangs and crime. That is why this summer camp is so important.
The daily meal that Bon Timoun’s children receive remains essential in this humanitarian crisis. Half of Haiti’s population does not have enough to eat, and 2 million people are suffering acute hunger. This school meal is truly a lifeline.
The new school year officially starts on 6 October. The teachers are receiving online training from Katinka in human values education, the classrooms are being prepared, the school T-shirts and sports clothes have been ordered, and parents are doing their best to give their children shoes and an exercise book.
Thanks to Bon Timoun – thanks to each of you – 170 children were able to take part in the summer camps every day for three months, with a hot meal. In mid-August another 225 children joined them. With everyone’s support, the three schools Bon Timoun supports in Port-au-Prince can start again this year, so that 600 children in all can grow into positive, confident people. Most schools prepare children for getting a job. Our schools also help children to be good people: “Education for life, not just for a living!”
All gifts are welcome and tax-deductible under the ANBI rules
- €300 covers the costs of one child for a whole school year
- €25 per child for the school T-shirt and sports clothes
- €50 per child for schoolbooks