Letter from The Founders
September 29, 2008

Four (4) hurricanes in one month hit Haiti , but the Gawou Ginou School and the C-CLAK located in Mirebalais are spared.

Haiti has been hit by four hurricanes in one month, and most of you may have seen on the internet the pictures of the devastation. Mirebalais, where the Gawou Ginou School and the L é ocardie & Alexandre Kenscoff Cultural Center are located, was hit very hard. This is a first for us, as Mirebalais is surrounded by mountains that protect the town from hurricane force winds. But this time what hit us are the flooding rivers, two of which, the Artibonite and La Tombe pass through the center of town. The Artibonite, the biggest river in Haiti , supplies the hydroelectric dam at Peligre, situated some 10 miles up stream, where the water from the lake of Peligre had been released to prevent the busting of the dam. So, the overflow from the Artibonite met the water from its confluent La Tombe which therefore inundated about one quarter of the town. The main bridge that connects part of the town to the hospital and the road leading to the Artibonite Department collapsed, and the people who live near the river La Tombe lost their homes and possessions. Fortunately, no lost of live has been reported thus far. But the Gawou Ginou School principal lost all her possessions, and was forced to move her family (husband and three daughters) in with her sister who lives on higher ground. A sizable number of people, many of them parents and children at the Gawou Ginou School , workers and builders of the Center are affected, and indeed traumatized by the event. We have been unable to visit over there as Gerdès' flight from Fort Lauderdale to Haiti was canceled twice earlier this month. Gerdès is looking forward to join the people before the 6th of October, the scheduled date for the reopening of school, of course one month late. In many other areas of Haiti , school won't be opening for at least another month, if not longer due the extent of the devastation.

We were fortunate that the Gawou Ginou School and the L é ocardie & Alexandre Kenscoff suffered no damage and the school principal home, though severely affected, she, her husband and her three daughters made it out just by the nick of time.

The Gawou Ginou Foundation whose mission is education will continue to help parents, students, and teachers understand the importance of long range planning and solutions to predictable problems, for Haiti is on the path of hurricanes, and some advanced planning would have saved many lives. As many reputable organizations are involved in drives to help the victims of those 4 hurricanes, we urge you to contribute to them, for the people are in dire need. We will be most grateful to you also for your continued support of our education program. More importantly, we need to open a canteen to serve our 150 children one hot meal a day, particularly in the wake of the passage of the hurricanes in our area. Many parents whose means, already stretched out to the limit are greatly diminished, have a hard time coming up with the necessary funds to face up the pressures of school reopening. More than ever we need your help and contribution to insure a good school year for our children

We want to thank you for your prayers and support, and we will report to you when Gerdès comes back from Mirebalais in couple of weeks.

Sincerely yours,

Gerdès Fleurant & Florienne M. Saintil

Co-Founders,

Lauderhill , Florida

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