4,000 schools and 30,000 classrooms have been destroyed
On January 12th, 2010, a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, killing at least 230,000 and injuring tens of thousands more. The country's already fragile infrastructure suffered incomparable devastation. The catastrophe and suffering are unimaginable.
An estimated 80% of buildings in the heart of the capital's downtown area were destroyed by the January 12 earthquake that struck Haiti.
Some 4,000 schools and 30,000 classrooms have been destroyed in a 40km zone around Port-au-Prince. This is catastrophe on the most terrible of scales and as always in a disaster zone the young are among the worst affected.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80% of the population living below the poverty line on less than US$2 a day. An estimated 55% are illiterate. Its people will need our support long into the future.
In the aftermath of this disaster, leaders in the travel retail industry are partnering with Hand in Hand for Haiti as part of a pan-industry initiative to make a bold and compassionate response through designing, building and operating a new sustainable school.
The state-of-the-art complex will offer accessible education from kindergarten to 13th grade, in an area of great need, the Commune of Saint-Marc, which took on 32,000 refugees after the earthquake and is strategically situated between two major fault lines. This offers its people protection from devastations that hurricane winds bring with them.
| find us on |
 |
 |
 |
