Alliance for Catholic Education Secures Partnership to Build New School in Haiti
The Digicel Foundation, the charitable arm of the Digicel Corporation, a major provider of mobile telecommunications services in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the South Pacific, agreed in December to partner with the Congregation of Holy Cross in Haiti to build a primary school and support facilities in the neighborhood of Tabarre in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
This project, led by the Congregation of Holy Cross and supported by the University of Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), will create a new school in an area where few children have access to quality education. The demand for quality schools increased dramatically after 80% of schools in Port au Prince were destroyed in the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010.
The CEO of the Digicel Foundation in Haiti, Sophia Stransky, confirmed this week that the Foundation, already known for its work in training teachers and building over 100 schools in Haiti, agreed to start construction soon on the new primary school in Tabarre. "Digicel is committed to providing high-quality school facilities and instruction for students," said Stransky, "and we are delighted to partner with the Congregation of Holy Cross, an educational leader with a proven record of providing Haitian students with an education that prepares them to be the citizens and scholars Haiti desperately needs." Completion of the project is expected by September 2014.
"This investment will make a life-changing difference for hundreds of children, and enable a top education provider, the Congregation of Holy Cross, to serve this community for decades to come," said Rev. Timothy Scully, CSC, founder of ACE and director of Notre Dame's Institute for Educational Initiatives. Established in Haiti in 1944, over the past 69 years Holy Cross has proven itself to be one of the most respected educational providers in the country, serving over 5,000 children in 20 schools located in some of the poorest communities in Haiti.
"We are deeply grateful to the Digicel Foundation for its dedication to Haiti's children and their future," Scully continued. "We are absolutely committed to the long-term success of this new school and the children it will serve. We look forward to deepening our partnership with the Digicel Foundation to make more transformative changes in Haiti in the years to come."