Haitian President, US Ambassador Inaugurate School at USAID-funded Settlement in Caracol, Haiti

Haitian President, US Ambassador Inaugurate School at USAID-funded Settlement in Caracol, Haiti  

Pamela White, US Ambassador to Haiti, helps plant a tree near a new block of homes in Caracol, Haiti.
Haitian President Michel Martelly and Pamela White, US Ambassador to Haiti, recently inaugurated the S&H Primary School in Caracol in northern Haiti, donated by a Korean company SAE-A, the anchor tenant at the nearby Industrial Park. The K-Grade 4 school is located in the Village La Difference de Caracol, a new settlement of 750 homes funded by USAID for families affected by the 2010 earthquake and includes a two-year $1.5 million community development support program managed by Global Communities. EPPLS, the Government of Haiti’s social housing agency, is managing the new settlement and ensuring that the community, which also hosts some small restaurants, shops, and a police depot, becomes resilient, productive and sustainable. School officials said the inauguration of the primary school on March 26 signifies the dedication to educating the new community’s children and the determination that they have access to learning environments that are not merely educational, but also challenging and fun.
At the inauguration, Ambassador White planted a symbolic tree near a block of the new homes – many of which were adorned with decorations for the festive occasion – and applauded the efforts of the members of the new post-earthquake settlement for helping to advance the region in positive ways. With its shiny new bathrooms and Pele-worthy soccer field, donated by one of the contractors of the housing development, the school stands as a shining example of “Building Back Better” for a hopeful new community. “This school is important because it’s helping to grow this part of the north into a vibrant, economically and socially important community, because, even before the earthquake, this part of Haiti faced many challenges, but now the economic pieces are coming together,” Ambassador White said. Ambassador White went on to say that whenever she speaks with parents, they mention that their top priority is education. “This little school really is the model of what we’d like to see across Haiti,” she said.