On The Record - Columbus School of Law

R E P O R T F R O M T H E F I E L DA Thirst for EducationIt is a warm, humid May night in Jérémie, the seat ofthe sister diocese to the Archdiocese of Washington.Following my presentation, I have finished taking questionsfrom the law students of the École SupérieureCatholique de Droit de Jérémie, a private Catholic lawschool in Haiti’s 11th largest city. As they disburse, carryingdesks and chairs back to the classrooms from the openhall where we had been meeting, my attention is drawn tosmall groups of younger students seated on the edge of aplatform. They are reading and writing in notebooks,illuminated by the few florescent lights of the open-airclassroom. It took a moment, but I soon realized thatthese children were gathered in this place because therewas light here—thanks to the law school’s generator thatproduces electricity after the city’s power grid shuts downfor the evening. They were doing their homework fortomorrow’s classes, having walked from their homes toone of the few places in the city with light.So it is throughout the city. In the pockets whereNGOs have their offices and the ability to generate theirown electric power, elementary and secondary schoolchildren congregate in fierce determination to educatethemselves in the hope of lifting themselves and theircountry out of crippling poverty. They face enormousodds. Even on paper, education in Haiti is free and compulsoryonly for children between the ages of 6 and 11.The reality does not match those numbers. Access to educationis limited by school location, the scarcity of trainedteachers and the cost of school uniforms and supplies.Currently, most Haitian schools are private, educating upto 90 percent of the students.During our visit, we briefly observed students at twoschools sponsored by our host, the Rev. JomanasEustache, a parish priest of the Diocese of Jérémie.During the week, the old, wooden parish church serves asthe school for about 300 children from pre-schoolCrude wooden dividers transform a church into school for hundredsof Haitian children in the Diocese of Jérémie. Many of their basicschool supplies were donated by the CUA law community.through 6th grade. There is no soundproofing betweenthe class clusters or relief from the heat and humidity ofthe day. The second school we visited was constructedrecently through the efforts of Father Eustache. Thisschool also serves about 300 students ranging in age from4 to 17. Like the classes in the parish church, the classroomsconsist of a clustering of benches separated bypainted wooden blackboards. A second classroom forolder students was constructed nearby. It is a simple, openrectangular structure, protected from the sun and rain bya sheet-metal roof.We were very pleased to be able to deliver severalhundred dollars worth of pencils, pencil sharpeners, compositionbooks, chalk and erasers purchased for theschools with funds donated by faculty, staff and studentsof the Columbus School of Law, since we noted anabsence of even basic materials, not to mention textbooksand workbooks.Fall–Winter 2008 / C UALAWYER 23