A New School. A new hothouse of knowledge, emancipation, concrete hope of a better future for 400 children in Haiti. The Manitane school is located in Dame Marie, an corner of naturalistic paradise in the department of Grand’Anse, a distant part of the Hispaniola island that stretches towards Jamaica.
Here in 2014 the foundations of a new construction were laid which then hosted 135 students. With the new building (a significant contribution to the construction came from the families who would then benefit from the new facility) the number of students has increased to 450.
This represents another important milestone for the EDU Project of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation, in collaboration with the local partner Fondation Saint Luc. The objective of transforming the school – located in an area with 27.000 inhabitants – into a proper, functional and safe building has been reached.
On June 15th, as a sign of good omen and encouragement on behalf of our Founder, the ABF team took part to the Inauguration of the new educational center.
The Manitane school will be organized based on the latest educational curricula and will also offer training courses for teachers. In addition, the school will have all relevant educational materials, a stocked library, a lab with some computers and a canteen…
Everything was realized in the spirit of the Mission of the Foundation, with the objective of offering empowerment and development opportunities to each child and to the community as a whole, by elevating the education level to the national and international standards.
The Opening Ceremony started with the school blessing and a joint prayer, followed by the Haitian and Italian National Anthems and the joyful words of the children, the teachers as well as the representatives of the Foundations. At the end of the ceremony, short variety acts prepared for the occasion, were played by the students, with festive songs in the background.
