Education is key, but students also need a little more

We make sure our students get an education PLUS everything else they need so they can focus and learn.

Education is the key to breaking free from poverty and having a bright future with choices and independence. But students who have grown up in extreme poverty, often without parents or a stable family life, need more than education to attain financial security. Their priorities may be food, housing, and healthcare. Without these necessities, students cannot focus on learning. They cannot set career goals or plan their future. They cannot think beyond their immediate, urgent needs.

At Kids Connection Haiti (KCH), we are much more than an education program. We take a holistic approach, meeting our students’ needs for food, housing, and healthcare. And we assign students a mentor to help them stay motivated to reach their goals.

When we meet our students’ immediate needs, they are able to focus on their education. With an education and life skills, they are able to establish a career and build a stable life, in spite of the extreme challenges Haitian people are currently experiencing. This is why more than 99 percent of our students graduate from high school. This is why more than 92 percent of our students get a job upon graduation in a country where unemployment is as high as 60 percent.

For many in Haiti, graduating from high school is a dream that is out of reach. Only one in three Haitians graduates from high school, and the literacy rate is only about 60 percent, much lower than other Caribbean countries. Most Haitians cannot afford to send their kids to school, and the cost of education has risen in recent years amid inflation, economic instability, and political unrest.

At KCH, we provide our students with books, tuition, uniforms, and the support they need to graduate from high school and pursue additional education and training through university or trade school. Meeting crucial needs beyond education is what gives our students the foundation to succeed. Our loving and stable family environment gives students the security of knowing where their next meal will come from. They know they will have access to medical care if they get hurt or sick, and they know they will have a roof over their head every night.

With this foundation, our students are able to learn and thrive. They enter adulthood with confidence and a career path, with the opportunity to think beyond their next meal and focus on building the life they want and deserve.