In an emergency context, it is very important to attend to education. "Firstly, education is a vital tool to protect to minors in displacement camps; and, secondly, it is important to guarantee places for children where they can go to study and exteriorize the trauma they have experienced"- said Ana Cristina, responsible person for the project of Entreculturas in Haiti. Moreover, she continues, "we are not talking about any kind of education; we propose a quality education with the building of decent schools and a good training for teachers."

Haitian youth are the driving force for the development and rebuilding of the country and it is essential that they are receiving the training for job creation. A budge of 3.179.448 Euros was the planned by Entreculturas (the budget come from the Entreculturas funds and the Red Xavier). As of today, the expenses have been 2.101.127 Euros. 66% of the Budget has already had a specific use. We will continue working in Haiti with the remainder 34% during the second phase. You can observe in the next chart the detailed expenses for each action line:

Entreculturas believes in a future in Haiti, and this is possible thanks to education.  

Ambroise Dorino Gabriel SJ: hope and frustration

During the visit to Spain of Ambroise Dorino Gabriel SJ, director of Fe y Alegría, he defined his experiences in the country with these two words "hope and frustration". "Hope" because of the effort of the country during two solidary years; and "frustration" because of slow process of rebuilding, a lack of coordination of the help and weak of Haitian institutions. He explained to us about the situation in Balan. This place is a remote community located in 21 km from Port-au-Prince. "We needed to build a road for children could go to school. Then, the problems emerged. Without access to water, parents did not want that their children went to school because if their children get dirty, parents would not have any water to give them a bath. We had to install a well for children could go to school. "People still think that catastrophe is a God punishment, for that they only pray. We have to act and change the situation. Entreculturas and Fe y Alegría believe in education as the most urgent tool", he said.

Gabriel had various meetings with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and several companies, partners and volunteers. Also, he participated in an important event about rendering of accounts in Madrid, in Círculo de Bellas Artes center with more than 150 persons. Agustín Alonso SJ, director of Entreculturas, Ramón Almansa as coordinator of International Cooperation of Entreculturas and, Ana Cristina García, responsible person for the project of Entreculturas in Haiti and the dedicated reporter of Spanish SER channel, Nicolás Castellano. They are an example of persons who took part in this event.

Within this framework, Ramón Almansa challenged Haitian Government to lead the education and to create a Global Scholar Program; due to 80% schools are private. In addition, he indicated to establish a "plan for solidarity" what means that the work on education of NGOs must be coordinated. Though there are many good signs to be a positive person, we still need to continue working for Haiti and new challenges in the educational system as for example: to promote the leadership of the Haitian Department of Education in the process of a creation of a new educational system in the country; to work with the institutions involved in education and creation of a free and quality education system in a coordinated way. We bet on a new public educational system of social management which promotes a decentralized education; to bet on teaching training because Haiti needs more and better teachers and, lastly, to work for a technical education to teach to Haitian youth who will be the new founders of Haiti", he said.