Haitian Youngsters Deprived of their Full Potential

November 24th 2013 

HAITIAN YOUNGSTERS DEPRIVED OF THEIR FULL POTENTIAL 

PITCH

How many more cries do we have to hear before we finally do something? The project is to build a small elementary school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti to give children something that was snatched away from their hands many years ago. Haiti was a beautiful country, yet the people of Haiti lived in poverty and were in need of many essentials to live. To make things worse, in 2010 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck near Port-au -Prince, the capital city of Haiti. This had about 86% of the Haitian population living in the slums; which means that people were living in the worst possible conditions. 3.5 million people were affected by the earthquake and more than 200000 people died. 70% of Haitians were living on less than $2US a day. Half the population of Haiti do not have access to clean drinking water. Haitian children live in very poor living conditions. Half of the children living in Haiti under the age of 5 are malnourished.  7% of these children die at birth due to a lack of good health care, and 80 of 1000 children don't live to see their first birthday. This project holds a lot of meaning to me. The people of Haiti struggled so much, and live in poverty. This project means that I will be able to help children live a better life and to give children new opportunities in their lives. I believe that education is very important to youngsters and are the stepping stones to a successful life. Two goals of this project are, to help children who cannot to go school a chance to learn, and to feel that they have a chance to dictate their own futures, and also, to give children a chance to go back to school if theirs was damaged in the earthquake. 

CRITICAL NEED 

Haiti was affected by a catastrophic earthquake, and the people of Haiti were suffering in all aspects. Most of these people are children who are in need of food, water, shelter and education. Haiti has an unemployment rate of 40.6% in 2010 and this number is still rising. This high unemployment rate is caused by two reasons over the last couple of years, the low literacy rate and the abysmal earthquake that struck.  55% of males and 53% in females are able to read and write. The enrollment rate in primary school is 67%, less than 30% make it to third grade, and only 20% of the children go to secondary school. 80% of education thought in Haiti was in provided private schools, but most of these schools were of poor quality.  By creating this small elementary school I hope to help young children of Haiti better their lives and to give them hope that they are able to do something that can affect the lives of other Haitians.

IMPACT 

This project will benefit the world because it’ll show that problems all over the world should not go unnoticed and that we should all strive to help people that are in need of it. In developing countries all over the world education is always something that children are in need of. This project would be held in a developing country and the goal is to give children a chance to go to school and learn. This project will benefit the world because it shows that all these places need is a jump start to get them on their way. Children of these countries are deprived and are not as fortunate as those who live in Canada or the States. This project should open the eyes of those who are too blind to see what’s happening all over the world and how they think that it’s okay for these issues to go unnoticed. Children are the future and we should do all that we are capable of that they are able to live their lives to the fullest.

 

FEASIBILITY

I plan to start this project in January of 2014 and complete it by January of 2017. This would give me ample time to start my project and have enough time even if there are some setbacks in the process. I hope to get help from, Staples, Home Depot and Oprah. They would provide me with the funding because they are wealthy companies and people. Staples already have an organization that helps people that have a mission to create an organization that provides jobs or education for all people.

For my project I will need a minimum of $250000

Some equipment I will need for my project are:

-Building Material = $200000
-Desks = $50000 (Quantity 100)
-White Boards = $5000 (Quantity 10)
-Materials (pencils, markers, rulers, pens, etc.) = $5000
-Gym equipment (soccer balls, volleyballs, basketballs, etc.) = $4000

 

LAST POINTS 

Haiti is one of the most deprived countries in the world. The children that live their are living in poverty and are in need of much help, our help. Its easy to talk about what we can do about it, but what really sets us apart is those who actually try to do something about it. Not only will it effect you, it will effect the lives of many Haitian children, and that is an accomplishment in itself.

My name is Christopher Jaggarnath; I attend Bill Crothers Secondary School. I play many sports such as volleyball, basketball and soccer. Soccer being my favourite and best sport. Over the last couples of years I have traveled to many different countries to play soccer, such as France, England, Ireland and Spain. Going to these places really opened my eyes to how lucky we are to be living in Canada. Everything about Canada seemed better to me compared to these countries, expect for our National team.  In my grade 9 year I had received the honor roll achievement and am striving to receive it again in my grade 10 year. My goal is to receive a scholarship to play Division 1 Soccer in States, my dream universities being Syracuse, Temple or Michigan State.  

1. Haiti’s Poverty Statistics  – P-81 Haiti Relief,http://project81haiti.org/?page_id=69, November 24th 2013

2. At a glance: Haiti,UNICEF,http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti_statistics.html, November 24th 2013

3. Haiti Earthquake Facts and Figures,Disasters Emergency Committee,http://www.dec.org.uk/haiti-earthquake-facts-and-figures November 24th 2013

4. Haiti,http://topics.nytimes.com, http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/haiti/, November 24th 2013