Back to School Inside a War Zone
As we prepare for the 2025-26 school year, we are incredibly grateful. Our students safely completed the 2025 school year, they and their families remain committed to education, and our student sponsors remain with us as we look toward the fall. That doesn’t just mean tuition – it’s school supplies, transportation, meals, and family support.
The reality is that being in school at all is a miracle in Haiti. There is no real public school system. Without support from donors like you, an education is accessible to only the privileged few, and not even they are insulated from the gang violence that encompasses Haiti today.
Since the last time we shared an update, Port-au-Prince has completely fallen under gang control. While many aspects of daily life carry on as usual, they do so under a regime of fear and oppression. The threat of violence is an ever-present shadow, always lurking, not an if but a when. The fact that each and every one of our students have remained in school is miraculous – we mean that.
What comes next?
As the new school year approaches, the Heartline team will meet with each student and their family. We’ll confirm their school choice and validate their grade level and standing. Once that’s complete, we’ll coordinate with each school to verify enrollment and arrange for school supplies, uniforms, and any other essentials. Regarding meals, we’ve transitioned to a meal allowance program for most students, alleviating our reliance on schools that already struggle to operate, and allowing students and their families some additional flexibility.
Education under attack
In 2024, UNICEF estimated that 284 schools were closed due to violence and unrest. Gangs are systematically dismantling the core of Haitian society. Additionally, 1 in 6 children in Haiti has been displaced from their homes. Gang recruitment of children is up 70%.
To be absolutely clear – Haitian society is collapsing. Things are not going to look like they did years ago.
But what our donors are doing matters. It matters immensely. When you keep a child in school, you keep them away from gangs. You give them purpose. You equip them with skills and tell them they are not forgotten, and that their lives matter.
We are in a literal war for the future of Haiti’s children.
What can I do?
There are a few children who were once sponsored students in our program, but have lost their sponsorships over the years – never because of anything they did, but because circumstances changed for their sponsors abroad.
Those kids are still in the program, and Heartline still pays for their education as we do with every other sponsored student, but that money comes from either our General Fund or from a very small amount of available funds that are earmarked for Children’s Education broadly.
But you could change that. Each of those kids needs a sponsor.
How great would it be to tell them that someone thousands of miles away chose them?
Below are photos of each of those students. For $75 a month, you’ll be covering the education expenses their family can’t afford: tuition, uniforms, texbooks, school supplies, and lunch at school each day. Sponsorship also means Heartline can holistically support each student and their family – so they can prioritize education.
If you’d like to step up for one of these students, just reach out at dave@heartlinehaiti.org and I’ll be more than happy to set you up.
Ted A.
Age: 13
Grade: 7th
From: Corail, HT
Galancia S.
Age: 17
Grade: 7th
From: Corail, HT
Djoudena B.
Age: 13
Grade: 7th
From: Corail, HT
Wasnel T.
Age: 17
Grade: 8th
From: Cite Soleil, HT
Samantha T.
Age: 17
Grade: 9th
From: Corail, HT
Olson J.
Age: 19
Grade: 10th
From: Corail, HT
Fernando C.
Age: 13
Grade: 8th
From: Cite Soleil, HT
Salma L.
Age: 13
Grade: 6th
From: Corail, HT
Now in our 25th year of operations, we’ve never seen Haiti in such despair. Every single economic and social indicator measuring the security and safety of Haitian society has gotten worse. Many of the children in the program have spent most of their short lives in this crisis, and don’t remember things being different.
Our hearts break for the trauma and oppression Haitian families face each day. Still, we know we are not alone. There are incredible teachers, administrators, and support staff coming to work every day and taking a stand for education, risking their lives for these students.
And there are our donors. As I said earlier, when you sponsor a student, you make this education possible. That generosity keeps a student in school and sends a message of hope to them, their families, their teachers, and their communities.
We believe in a better tomorrow for Haiti, and we believe it will start with its children. Thank you for believing with us.
P.S. Again, if you’re ready to support one of Haiti’s students from our program, contact me at dave@heartlinehaiti.org, or DM @heartlinehaiti on any of our social media platforms, and we can set you up with a student.
