DESCRIPTION:
A need-based tuition scholarship award for Haitian Children enrolled in L’ecole Coeur Immacule de Marie Primary/Pre-Primary School, LaCroix and St Joseph and Mount Carmel Primary/Pre-Primary School, Minville.
This scholarship award is funded through the Global Igbo Heritage Fund operated by Okigbo-Okpara Trust Fund (OTF). The seed money for this IHCSA was all monies donated by some members of the Igbo community in the US following the January 2010 earthquake through the joint efforts of Igbo League, Inc (a Human Rights and advocacy group focused on people of Igbo descendent) and Daughters of Divine Love, USA. The Okigbo-Okpara Trust Fund(OTF) was approached by members of the Igbo community through Igbo league, Inc., and has agreed to provide oversight for the scholarship program.
ADMINISTRATOR:
Daughters of Divine Love (Catholic Order of Nuns founded by Bishop Okoye in 1968 in a refugee camp during Biafra-Nigeria War) which operates a mission in LaCroix, Haiti.
RATIONALE:
The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that devastated much of Port-au-Prince, Haiti on 1/11/2010 resulted in the death of between 90,000 and 200,000 people, with a further 300,000 and about a million rendered homeless. Damage to buildings and infrastructure was wide spread, including the collapse and damage to 250,000 residencies and at least 4000 schools. Even before the earthquake, Haiti’s educational system was under considerable stress. The literacy rate was the lowest in the western Hemisphere at 53% (compared to >90% for Latin America and the Caribbean). Ninety percent of students are educated in private schools. With poverty prevalent in the country, many families could not afford the costs of private schooling, and delinquency rates were high. Enrollment rate into primary schools stood at 67%, with less than 30% transitioning to secondary school.
The widespread loss of property and personal belongings from the earthquake, coupled with low employment opportunities will mean that families will have to manage scarce resources prudently into the foreseeable future and it is likely that school enrollment will decline and delinquency rates increase. Since a good education still represents the easiest pathway out of poverty, dropping out of school will further limit the long term economic opportunities for these children.
Cognizant of this, the Igbo community in the US has decided to partner with a local NGO in Haiti to improve access to quality education by awarding scholarships to needy children.
The Daughters of Divine Love (DDL) is a Catholic Order of Nuns founded in Eastern Nigeria, and involved in charity work in different parts of the world. They have an active mission in Haiti, and currently run two schools in La Croix, Haiti. They have been selected as the agency through which the funds will be disbursed.
MODUS:
The DDL sisters working in the schools will develop a protocol for screening prospective recipients of the Scholarship. Once this protocol is approved by the OTF Oversight Committee, it will be rolled out to the community, for the school year starting fall 2010. The selection of the actual recipients of the scholarship will be done by DDL. Each recipient will receive a scholarship award of fifty dollars (US) every year for tuition only.
Once a scholarship is awarded, a formal letter detailing the conditions of continued funding will be mailed to the child’s parents. Each scholarship will renew automatically each new school year up to sixth grade, as long as the conditions of maintenance of sponsorship are adhered to. It will be the responsibility of the school to send updates on each child every term, with a comprehensive review and recommendation on continued funding at the end of each academic year. Interested donors (especially those that choose to sponsor individual students) will have these reviews made available to them.
DONATIONS:
You can mail your cash donations to:
Okigbo-Okpara Trust Fund
3650 West 95th. Street
Evergreen Park IL 60805
Make the check payable to: Okigbo-Okpara Trust Fund and on the memo write Igbo Haitian Children Scholarship Award. All donations are tax deductible.
