A little over a year ago, the Pella Christian School of Pignon was a vision that had yet to be discovered (Click here to see vision video). Now, that vision has become reality with a school standing where barren ground was before.
Ezeckias (Zeke) Nicholas, MH4H Project Coordinator, project managed the building of this K-6 grade school. As it stands today, it is an 8 room building, with an additional kitchen, latrine, and well on the school grounds. In the month of November and the first week of December, Tim Van Maanen lived in Haiti.
He helped Zeke project manage the construction of the school and was able to stay until completion of the basic structure. The school is located in the Northern Plateau of Haiti, in a small rural community where previously kids had to walk a long distance to school, typically several miles, or did not attend school at all.
In September, students at Pella Christian School wrote prayer cards to place in the foundations and block walls to cover the school in prayer. These prayer cards were delivered in late September to the jobsite, and the kids of the community then placed these prayer cards in the school while it was being built. A time of prayer was then held at the school with both Americans and Haitians praying for the school grounds and surrounding community.
The school still needs to be painted, doors installed, and school benches made for the classrooms. In March, a group of 16 comprised of Pella Christian School students and administration will be traveling to Pignon to paint the entire school.
Setting up scholarships for the students to attend school will be taking place in the first part of the year. This is crucial for students whose families would otherwise not be able to afford to send their kids to school. If interested in sponsoring a student scholarship, please contact Many Hands for Haiti or H.E.L.P. (Haitian Education Literacy Program). Teachers will also be hired this spring, as the school is scheduled to be opened this fall.
Praise God for being before us on this project. Thank you to the many generous donors who sacrificially gave to make this school possible. We are all amazed at the speed of which this project was able to become reality, and MH4H is honored to steward this vision in partnership with Comite Bienfaisance de Pignon.