Rebecca's Education and Empowerment Journey
Rebecca is a prime example of the power of Education and Empowerment in transforming lives. Rebecca was separated from her family at the...
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Education
Learning to be Self-Sufficient
We believe education is a powerful catalyst for change and progress. It provides the spark needed to move Haitians from dependence to self-sufficiency. Overture provides education through offering full or partial scholarships to children, facilitating teacher training programs and building new classrooms in areas where children lack access to educational facilities. And our Young Adult Empowerment Program and business training workshops guide students toward a productive and sustainable career through training and skills development.
1,348
children given full or partial scholarships
23
graduates from Young Adult Empowerment Program (now called Rejuvenation)
37
Philo Graduates from ESPWA School in Les Cayes
Stats from 2023 Annual Report
Our Focus Areas
Children
Unlike in the U.S., Haitian families are required to pay for their child’s education, and in the most rural communities like Overture serves, there aren’t even functioning schools or trained teachers. This is where Overture enters the equation. We offer scholarships for thousands of children attending more than 100 schools in southern Haiti to ensure these families can put their children on a path to ending generational poverty and creating a generation of independent, self-sufficient Haitians. In addition to scholarships, Overture donors fully support five core education schools in southern Haiti. This includes our ESPWA campus and the communities of Les Cayes, Camp Perrin, Tiburon and Dory. To ensure children in these communities have a place to learn, Overture and local adults have built classrooms in some of the most remote areas of southern Haiti.
Youth
Youth and young adults in Haiti are especially vulnerable to being drawn into gangs and other destructive behaviors. Many of these young people don’t enter school until they are teenagers and then often end their education in the 9th grade. This perpetuates their choice to move to gangs where they find acceptance, access to power and money. It’s critical to offer an alternative path that provides an opportunity to gain the skills and tools necessary to shun gang life and move to independence and self-sufficiency. Overture’s Young Adult Empowerment Program equips these young folks with vocational and business training that give them viable, marketable skills they can use to work within the community or to establish their own business. We also provide internship opportunities with local vendors where they can hone their skills. This work is just another example of how Education Means Life in Haiti!
Adults
Overture believes in lifelong learning, so we have developed educational programs that equip adults to be more effective parents, providers and businesspeople. These programs provide continuing education opportunities that promote independence and self-sufficiency to adults of all ages, many of whom have grown up only experiencing the hopelessness and frustration that comes with generational poverty. Our continuing educational efforts include: - Safety and wellness workshops for parents and other adult family members - Trainings for teachers, medical professionals, social workers and other frontline providers - Entrepreneurship classes that equip community members to start and sustain a business - Education for farmers to learn best practices and increase their productivity and efficiency - Training to work in our Diri Lavi! food packaging program
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