Kentz and Digicel rebuild Haiti
Following the catastrophic earthquake that occurred in Haiti on Tuesday 12th January 2010, which resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and destruction, the Kentz Group was eager to support and help the victims, families and survivors. The Kentz Group Haiti Disaster Relief Fund was set up to allow our employees based in our offices and projects worldwide to contribute to the redevelopment of Haiti. Each Kentz office organised raising its own fund to contribute to the overall Kentz Group Fund. This was done through generous contributions from staff, clients, partners and suppliers, and also through many fundraising events organised around the world. In turn, each Kentz office matched all funds raised. In early February 2010, Noel Kelly, Advisor to Kentz and former Director, travelled to Haiti with Denis O’Brien, Chairman of Digicel which is well established in the Caribbean. They spent a number of weeks there meeting different local officials and aid organisations. Following the earthquake, reports stated that the Haiti capital, Port-au-Prince had lost 90% of its educational capacity across primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. The capital had approximately 6,000 schools. This was a colossal loss, with hugely significant implications for the future education of a generation of children and young adults. | |
In conjunction with the Digicel Foundation, Kentz identified a very urgent and important project to help rebuild up to 50 transitional schools near Port-Au-Prince with the funds generated by Kentz. This project is part of the overall Ministry for Education Plan. These schools will be hurricane and earthquake-resistant and built out of used containers. Mark Ford, Project Manager, travelled to Haiti to project manage the school construction plan on behalf of Kentz. The area around Port-au-Prince was very close to the epicentre, so that many of the schools were destroyed. Digicel came up with a plan to build temporary classrooms so they could get the children back learning as quickly as possible. The children are afraid to be in brick or concrete structures, in case another earthquake occurs. A clever idea was developed using converted sea shipping containers as classrooms, affording a quick, easy and safe solution to getting the children back to school. The structures are not only very simple, they are also open, allowing for a quick escape if needs be. They are weather-proof, and most importantly, they are quick and easy to erect. |
Two children waiting for their school to be rebuilt |
| The first school that was given a temporary classroom was École san Gerard, which is situated next to Saint Gerard’s Church, close to the Digicel office. The Ministry of Education came to inspect the site and approved the first classrooms on 24 March 2010. The prototype school was opened in March to the delight of local students. The classroom was designed to make the best use of the shipping containers which form each side of it and are covered with a high roof to allow the air to flow around easily. The floor area covers 50m2, which allows for 1m2 per child as required by the Ministry of Education. The classroom was fitted out with desks and a blackboard. There are roughly 30 boys and girls seated in the classroom and they are all very comfortable, with plenty of space. The next stage is to build another four classrooms to the same design on the surrounding site which will give the school capacity for 250 pupils. | |
Local workers demolishing the remains of Ecole san Gerard | At the beginning of June, construction work began on a transitional 6-classroom primary school in Leogane, two hours west of Port-au-Prince. Most of the buildings in Leogane were destroyed, including all the schools. Classes were conducted in tents provided by UNICEF. Kentz/Digicel has undertaken to construct 10 schools in Leogane. Wednesday 25 August saw the official opening of Ecole des Freres Louis Borno in Leogane, Haiti. The official opening was performed by Mr. St. Juste Patrick, Mayor of Leogane. Attendees included school management and staff, pupils and parents and representatives from USAID. On 7 December, the Kentz/Digicel team officially opened another three schools in the Leogane area. School management, local representatives and many community stakeholders turned out to celebrate the opening of Ecole Henri Cristophe, Carrefour du Fort; Ecole El Bethel, Leogane; and Ecole Les Chretiennes, Gressier. |
12 January 2011 was an official day of mourning in Haiti to mark the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake. The reconstruction efforts of the past year have faced many challenges including further tremors, a hurricane, a cholera epidemic and much political instability. Against this backdrop, we have made some fantastic progress on rebuilding the infrastructure for the shattered schooling system. This could not have been achieved without the unerring efforts of Mark Ford, Project Manager, and John Skelly, Construction Manager, as well as the contributions of the employees of Kentz across the world. While so much has been achieved, it is clear that there are no easy remedies and Haiti will continue to rely on outside aid for some time to come. |
Children in their new classroom |
Mark Ford with workers and pupils outside the new classroom | |
| The management of Kentz would also like to thank everyone who has contributed to the Kentz Haiti Disaster Relief Fund. Every donation, no matter how big or small, helps. Mark Ford will be providing ongoing reports of the progress in Haiti in the next editions of Kentz Group News so stay tuned. | |
