MaximsNewsNetwork: HAITI - SCHOOL RECONSTRUCTION SET UP BY UNICEF

MaximsNewsNetwork: 31 August 2010 - UNICEF: Port-au-Prince, Haiti - In Haiti, more than 200 temporary schools set up by the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) in Port_au_Prince following the January earthquake are now in the process of being transformed into semi-permanent structures.

More than 200 of these temporary schools were set up and UNICEF is in the process of transforming them into semi-permanent structures made partially of concrete and bricks. Hundreds of additional semi-permanent schools will be built. All told, the new schools will help 135,000 Haitian children realize their right to an education.

The biggest obstacle to building the new schools is removing the debris from the old schools. Some 4,000 schools were damaged or destroyed. Experts predict it will take years to clear the sites. In some cases, parents and school administrators are volunteering to remove the debris, as is the case in downtown Port-au-Prince, where a four-story school was reduced to this pile of rubble. Once the debris has been cleared, UNICEF will step in and establish a semi-permanent school.

Each one costs approximately $30,000. They're built on concrete foundations, with steel tubes to strengthen the tent walls. The roof is also made of steel. Ginette Mathurin is a UNICEF engineer who stresses the safety of the new schools.

The earthquake not only destroyed Christine's home, it destroyed her school. For now, she's attending class in a temporary learning space provided by UNICEF, which is also supplying Christine and her classmates with clean drinking water, latrines and hand-washing stations.

Fourteen-year-old Christine shares a small tent in Port-au-Prince with her mother, brother and sister. The January twelfth earthquake destroyed their home, and for the past several months, they've been living in a temporary camp near the airport.

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Christine, 14-year-old Girl:
"It takes me almost an hour to go to school. Sometimes, there is heavy traffic. And it's difficult to find room on a bus because the streets are so crowded. There are also blockages in the street that slow things down. It's not easy."

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Ginette Mathurin, UNICEF engineer:
"This is the first school where UNICEF will ensure that all the children who come here will be safe, even if there's an earthquake, even if there's a cyclone. They will be safe."

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Christine, 14-year-old Girl:
"My mother didn't go to school and she's had a very difficult life, that's why she wants us to go to school and to excel -- to become somebody and be able to take care of ourselves. She wants us to have a better life."

...... ( UNITED NATIONS CHILDRENS FUND: UNICEF ) ... ..............................................................
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