”No amount of money can fix the problems in Haiti. The only solution is education.” Mona Millien, co-founder, Ecole le Bon Samaritain.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of Ecole le Bon Samaritain is to provide a K-5 education and a hot meal along with basic healthcare and hygiene to children in Waney, a community in Carrefour, Haiti, where most children are at risk.

PROGRAM

Ecole le Bon Samaritain (EcoleLBS) is a place where students meet in a clean, organized and purposeful setting. It is not over-crowded and includes areas of resting and quiet play as well as greenery surrounding the outdoor play space.

In conjunction with L'Hôpital Sainte Croix, a hospital owned by the Episcopal Church of Haiti, EcoleLBS offers on-going health screening for infectious diseases and illnesses. It teaches basic physical and dental hygiene and works to provide supplies that support good health (for example: tooth brushes and tooth paste).

EcoleLBS believes that early childhood education, combined with basic health care, are the most essential building blocks for strong communities, especially among the destitute. Countless studies show that the impact of early education on a child’s future ability to learn is dramatic. Children educated at EcoleLBS have a far greater chance of success than peers who do not learn to read and write French and Creole, know mathematics, history and sports.

THE CHALLENGE

Waney, a town of 25,000 three miles from downtown Port-au-Prince, suffers from the political and economic chaos of Haiti’s recent past. The entire community is in urgent need of food, clean water, health care, and education. The most vulnerable, of course, are the children. EcoleLBS cares for a small number of these children in a most creative and supportive environment, providing not only education but a nutritious meal each day.

HISTORY

Ecole Le Bon Samaritain was founded on October 7, 1996, when Rev. Jean-Elie Millien, an Episcopal priest, founder of the Epiphanie Episcopal Church in Stamford, Connecticut, along with his wife Mona retired and relocated to Haiti. Prior to migrating to the U.S. in 1987, Fr. Millien and his wife, Mona, had long supported literacy education for communities in the United States, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Haiti. However, after retirement, they decided to focus on children from Waney, a destitute community on the outskirts of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. In addition to the academic program being offered, Ecole Le Bon Samaritain is affiliated with Hôpital Ste. Croix, (a hospital owned and directed by the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti) by way of providing access to basic health care and nutrition.

OUR STAFF

EXECUTIVE directors

• The Rev. Jean-Elie Millien
  
• Marie Mona Anglade Millien

BOARD OF counselors

• Solange Séjour
• Ferne Vernet
• Jean-Claude Darbouze
• Rev.Joseph Mathieu Brutus

ECOLE Lbs partners

• Old St Andrew's Bloomfield, CT
• Christ Church, Greenwich, CT
• St. Paul's, Riverside, CT
• St. Andrew's Miami, FL
• Eglise de L'Epiphanie, Stamford, CT
• Messiah/ St Bartholomew
• Mr & Mrs Jean Hilaire Belizor Stamford, CT
• Rev & Mrs Puck Purnell, OSA Bloomfield, CT
• Jacqueline O'Clair, OSA Bloomfield, CT
• Bill Johnson, OSA Bloomfield, CT
• Phillip Mentle, Chicago, IL
• Jonas Thomas, OSA Bloomfield, CT
• Danelie Millien, Cos Cob, CT
• Solange Séjour, Port au Prince, Haiti
• Mrs Belot, Port au Prince Haiti
• Food for the Poor, Haiti
• Episcopal Diocese of Haiti
• CEDDISEC (Centre de Developpement Diocesain de Secours) Haiti
• The Links Organisation

REFERRENCES

• The Rev'd Erl G. (Puck) Purnell, Rector
  Old St. Andrew’s Church
  59 Tariffville Rd.
  Bloomfield, CT 06002
  860-242-4660
  puck@ecolelbs.com