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Our Story

Teach Haiti began in 2007 as a scholarship program designed to empower impoverished children to pursue an education. Three years later a devastating earthquake struck the nation and Teach Haiti expanded to meet the growing needs of a generation. Haiti’s children needed more – they needed an education that equipped them to rebuild and restore their nation.

Teach Haiti launched its first school in 2010 with the opening of the School of Hope in Port-au-Prince. Initially enrolling 1st – 4th graders, the School of Hope now welcomes students from Pre-K through grade 13, the final year of secondary education for children in Haiti. Six years later in 2016, a second school opened in the village of Saint Michel, our founder Miquette D. McMahon’s hometown.

Today, more than 600 students, faculty, staff, and over 500 partners like you, remain committed to changing the face of Haiti through the
education of the next generation.

meet our founder

Miquette D. McMahon

Education
changed
my future.

Miquette D. McMahon

My story is like that of most children in Haiti.
While primary education in countries like the U.S. is available through public school systems, over 80% of schools in Haiti are private and tuition-based. In a nation where nearly 59% of the population lives below the poverty line, you can imagine how this affects education.

Most families just can’t afford it.

I recall one painful experience familiar to many Haitian children. It’s customary in Haiti for teachers to gather students together each month for a roll call of sorts. They then read aloud a list of names of those students whose parents have not paid tuition. My name was often called. I still remember how my face burned with shame as I was forced to leave.

But by God’s grace, that wasn’t the end of my story.

In the fall of 2000, I received a rare opportunity. As a part of Rotary International’s Youth Exchange program, I spent a year attending Detroit Lakes High School in Minnesota. The experience instilled in me a determination to complete my education.

Two years later in May of 2002, I received my high school diploma from Oak Grove Lutheran High School in North Dakota. Then in 2006 I received a BA in Nursing from Concordia College.

Education changed my future. God’s faithfulness changed my life.

Teach Haiti reflects my gratitude for all God’s done – and my conviction that even more is possible as we stand together to provide children in Haiti with complete Christian education that can transform lives . . . and change a nation.