D’Jephly sits down to talk with us in April, 2019
D’Jephly Viscount was 14 years old and in the 7th grade when we interviewed him in April, 2019. Today, he is part of the 9th grade class at the Ecovillage School that will take the National Exam that will determine if he can progress to high school.
His family lives in the nearby town of Colladere. Approximately two-thirds of the students at the Ecovillage School live outside the villages. It was one of the goals of this project to provide a quality education not only for the children living in the Ecovillages but to serve the surrounding community as well.
D’Jephly started his education at the primary school near his home in Colladere. He switched to attend the Echovillage School when he was in the 3rd grade because his parents thought he would get a better education there. He has 5 brothers and 2 of them attend the 4th grade at our school.
He and his brothers must walk for one hour each way to attend school. This is common in rural Haiti where transportation services are nearly non-existent. But his parents, like many parents in Haiti and around the world, recognize the critical importance of education as a key to a better life. Many of the parents in Haiti cannot read themselves and must rely on the schools to provide instruction, books and other resources essential to education.
This stage of school is equivalent to middle school in the United States. The students receive instruction in multiple subject areas including English, Spanish, Math, French, Social Sciences, Experimental Sciences, and Kreyol. The different subjects are taught by different teachers who specialize in the various subjects. The principal at the school is also the Kreyol instructor.
D’Jephly told us his favorite subject is English. Perhaps he was simply trying to please us, but we had a small exchange in English. It is hard for these students because there is no place to use English outside the classroom.
Like most boys in Haiti, he likes to play football (soccer) and wishes there was a playground at the school for boys and girls to play games when not in class. He also told us he wished there was transportation because it’s a very long walk for him.
We pray that D’Jephly is successful in passing the 9th AF Exam in July 2021 and that he can move on to High School. That would be his best chance at a better life and the aspirations his parents have for him.
Boys at the EcoVillage School play soccer on a makeshift field with balls donated by the Partnership.