A grassroots education
organization in Haiti called the Society of Providence United for the Economic
Development of Petionville estimates a quarter of the schools were
destroyed. Half of the schools were
seriously damaged, and another 25% could
be operational, but aren't.

A whole generation is being
affected by the disruption to their education. Steve Geurink with Worldwide Christian Schools explains that "a lot of the
publicity regarding the earthquake has shifted from public view. A tremendous number of schools are meeting
under plastic tarps and tents and temporary structures. For them, a school is
inconvenient, and in many cases, there are students that don't have the ability
to go to school."

Staff and students are afraid of the concrete roof structure of most
of the buildings that collapsed, which accounts for dozens of schools that
could be operational.    

Geurink says WWCS is
collaborating with their partners in Haiti to provide a building solution
that removes that fear. "Worldwide is going to be working on a truss design
building, possibly using steel that will hold 
up in an earthquake–that will not come apart and fall like the concrete
structures that they were using in the past."

The idea is to come up with a "transitional school" design that goes up quickly and can easily be made
into  a permanent school in the future.

HANDS teams provide the manpower
to make this a reality. Time is short. "We are working with designs; we hope to have
our school structure design completed by the end of October, and we will be
starting construction as early as January."

The future of many people will change for the better
because of Worldwide's focus. Guerink
says it motivates everything they do. "Because we are a Christ-centered school,
the Gospel is always a central part of the end product. The rebuilding of the
classrooms is a necessity, but the REASON that you're doing it is because it's
a Christ-centered school, and these children will hear about Christ."

You can still help. Teams are
forming now. Click here for details.

A report from the Ministry of Education says schools in
Port-au-Prince and other areas affected by the earthquake are unlikely to open again until March, at the earliest.

The quake either flattened or severely damaged almost
80-percent of the educational facilities in the capital city. In
outlying areas, primary and secondary schools finally opened their doors to
students again.  

Steve Geurink with
Worldwide Christian Schools says they're
partnering with CRECHE, a network of Christian groups with 231 schools in
Haiti. "Over 200 schools were
either damaged or destroyed in this earthquake, resulting in about
60,000 children not able to go to school and 1500-2000
teachers not able to teach."

CRECHE team members began the search for a temporary
solution. The shortage of aid supplies
stymied their efforts. Geurink explains:
"One of the goals of CRECHE was to find tents big enough to have the children
be able to be in school out of the hot sun and the elements, but they've been
unable to find tents."

Their inability to get tents for the schools magnifies the
need: if students are not in school, they
run the risk of getting involved in gangs, or finding adults who might exploit
them.

Getting schools up and running is critical for recovery on many levels. Geurink says, "Christian schools can best answer the
questions for those children, so I think it not only is necessary to get
children back into schools for a normal lifestyle for them, but it is the best
method for the children even to be able to cope."  

The "Five Gallon Challenge" is simple: find a five-gallon bucket, fill it with
donations, and give that donation through WWCS as part of this massive rebuilding
project. Geurink explains, "This
will be a yearlong campaign which would then result in us eventually sending
our volunteer work teams to Haiti.  We
plan to be rebuilding in Haiti." 

Geurink is hoping the initial phase brings in between $50-$80,000.
To put it in perspective, it will cost $3,000 just to clear away the debris at a school,
multiplied by 200. That's before the
actual rebuilding starts. Geurink says
they will be purchasing construction materials and sending in rebuilding teams
as soon as it is safe to do so. 

More details on the "Five Gallon Challenge" can be found
here.