Adoration Christian Centre - Part One

Adoration Christian Centre is a school that was founded and currently directed by our new friends, Randy and Karen Lodder (a couple from Southern Ontario) who are supported by the Canadian Reformed organization, “Word and Deed”.  They started this Christian School seven years ago for Haitian children who are taught by Haitian teachers.  The school has grown to nearly 300 students from pre-kindergarten to Grade 10 with students in Grades 11-13 going to school off-site.  Listening to Randy talk about the joys and challenges of the school over the past few months has been both disheartening and inspiring.

 

On our first visit to the school in September, Randy shared with us that parents need to go through a long application process because so many people want to send their kids to this school.  Adoration Christian Centre, in an effort to affect as many families as possible, has a policy of accepting a maximum of two children from any given family.  Their first priority is to Christian families with hopes to strengthen Christian leaders to make a difference in their communities.  The children who attend are on a sponsorship program through generous donors in North America who provide $38 per month, similar to how World Vision or Compassion International works.   For some families, the fee is very difficult to pay.  The school provides the t-shirt part of the school uniform.  Adoration Christian Centre’s vision is to help these kids who are in especially difficult situations. 

Until this year, many of the families lived in a ‘tent city’ across the road from the school.  After the earthquake, many tent cities were erected around the city and some have remained until this year.  Recently, the government moved everyone off the land because they plan to build a hotel in that space.  Many of the families moved far from the school to a place named Canaan because that is the only place they can afford to live.  Although you may recognize the name Canaan from the Bible, believe me, it is not a land flowing with milk and honey as the name suggests.  Many of these families do not have the resources to get their children to school now and some have stopped coming to school. 

It was lunch time when we arrived so we were able to witness lunch being served to all of the students.  Until this year, they also provided breakfast since many children come to school hungry, however the funds are no longer available to provide a breakfast program.  For some kids, this is their only meal of the day which usually consists of rice and beans (diri ak pwa).

   

The original school building came down in the earthquake (and by the grace of God, no one was in the building at the time as students and staff who were still at school were all outside watching a basketball game).  The school is currently housed in a former construction company office building with rooms that are rather small.  The average class size is 25.  The kindergarten room was maybe 12'x12' max with 18 students and I felt overwhelmed thinking about my large kindergarten classroom in Drayton with all of its space and supplies and saw these children who need to sit at their table all day because there is hardly enough room to get up and move around.  Randy’s hopes and dreams are that they could buy a piece of land and build a new school as they are currently renting this space.  It would include larger classrooms.  Having said that, if there were larger rooms, the Haitian community there would suggest that the school could hold lots more kids and there might not be a solution to the crowded classrooms. 

    

Adoration Christian Centre has three classes for children with special needs demonstrating beautifully that ALL children are unique, special and created in the image of God.  Special needs classes are rare in Haiti. 

Although it was very difficult to see and hear about the poverty that many of the students are experiencing, I was encouraged that these children have been given the opportunity to receive an education.  Most of the students would not be able to go to a local government school because they would not have the necessary funds to pay for the basics –uniforms, supplies and transportation.  By the fourth grade, students are learning in French only (which is the language of the educated) and will help provide more opportunities for them in the future than if they only speak Creole.  Their education will help provide them with skills that will enable them to provide for their families and make a difference in their communities.  My utmost respect goes to Randy and Karen for their vision and perseverance to help children who can in turn help their families makes a difference in their communities.