Our story
The city of Jacmel, Haiti is a beautiful area. With scenic ocean views from high rolling hillsides, it is breathtaking. I could understand my husband Lionel’s desire to retire there and for him, with family nearby, it would almost be like going home. But for me? It just wasn’t the same. I had grown up on practically the opposite end of Haiti and had no friends or close family in the Jacmel area. Still, I went along and over time the idea grew on me. In 2007 Lionel bought land for our home and in his excitement, he also bought not one but two parcels of land in the country where we could build a small cabin to get away from the city. Before I go further in my story, I need
The city of Jacmel, Haiti, is a beautiful area. With scenic ocean views from high rolling hillsides, it is breathtaking. I could understand my late husband Lionel’s desire to retire there; with relatives nearby, it would almost be like going home for him. But for me? It just wasn’t the same. I grew up on practically the opposite end of Haiti and had no friends or family in the Jacmel area. Still, I went along with the idea; over time, I realized it had grown on me. In 2007 Lionel bought land for our home’s construction, and in his excitement, he purchased not one but two parcels of land in the countryside to construct a smaller home to escape the city. Before I go further in my story, I need to back up a bit. Starting a school in Haiti has always been my dream. But at this point, Lionel and I have given it little thought.
We knew Haiti was a land of rags and riches, but we were alarmed the following year when we visited our land in the countryside to see such poverty! We noticed some school-age children in rags playing in front of their mud home, the father looking on. We talked with him and discovered that the children didn’t go to school! He couldn’t afford to pay the tuition, the books, and the school uniforms. We knew that 90% of all schools in Haiti are private. Many are good, but some want only to make money, and for many families, the cost of even the cheapest, inadequate private school wasn’t within their means.
That day, the realization that children could not attend school deeply stirred our hearts. These children have NO chance of getting out of poverty without quality education. We could be looking at a genius here, and it wouldn’t matter. It was unjust.
I understood these children were God’s too. It is their right to frequent school, and He wanted us to advocate for them. Right then, we decided to do our best to honor God.
The dream took root, and Lionel immediately bought another parcel of land for the school building. Now we had enough room to open a progressive school based on Christian principles and affordable to disadvantaged children. Below is a picture of that dad and his family, who we talked to so long ago. It has been several years since I first met them. Now all five children attend school, but when I asked the father how his daughter, shown in the picture, was doing in school, he said, in a discouraged tone, that she repeated an academic year in almost every grade level. Something is wrong with her brain.
to back up a bit. Starting a school in Haiti has always been something I wanted to do. As a teacher in the States for more than 30 years, I knew I had the ability to give back. But at this point in time, it was a vague notion that Lionel and I had talked about in a general way. We knew that Haiti was a land of rags and riches but yet we were alarmed the next year when we visited our land in the country to see such poverty! We saw some school-age children in rags playing in front of their simple mud hut with their father looking on. We struck up a conversation with him and found out that the children didn’t go to school at all! He couldn’t afford to pay the tuition and buy the uniforms needed to attend. We knew that 90% of all schools in Haiti are private. Many are good but some want only to make money and for many families, the cost of even the cheapest private school wasn’t within their means. That day our hearts were deeply stirred. These children had NO chance in life to get out of poverty without an education. We could be looking at a genius here and it didn’t matter. It just wasn’t fair and my heart was heavy inside me. I realized that they were God’s children too and Lionel and I knew without a doubt we had to listen to Him speaking on behalf of these kids. He was saying “Do it, Marie and Lionel! You are able and I’ve put you here for just that reason!” Right then and there we decided to do our best to honor God and the dream took root. Lionel immediately bought another parcel of land for the school building and now we had enough room where we could open a school that would be excellent, be based on Christian principles, and be affordable.
Here is a picture of that dad and his family who we talked to so long ago.
Our house was finally completed (see pictures below). Now Lionel and I had a mission for when we would retire. The dream continued but suddenly in 2017, the Lord called my beloved husband home. I was devastated and all thoughts of a school were quickly pushed aside. BUT GOD, in His infinite wisdom and kindness, didn’t let that dream die but rejuvenated it again in November 2019. And here I am today…working to make that dream a reality!
