Sustainability Through Action

Notre Dame’s involvement in education in Haiti began 2006,  with support for Catholic schools. When the 2010 earthquake devastated Haiti, Notre Dame responded by helping to rebuild Basile Moreau, the Congregation of the Holy Cross’ flagship K-12 school, as well as broader engagement with Haiti’s Catholic schools in rural areas of the country. The Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child’s strategic education partnerships now extend to over 300 school communities—over 200 of which are Catholic. Listen in to a conversation focused  on school-based work which began with the implementation and study of the impact of an early grade literacy program in Catholic schools in Haiti.

The University of Notre Dame’s Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child  works to create pathways out of adversity for the world’s most vulnerable children in 25 countries around the world, leveraging evidence-based innovations to develop effective Whole Child Development (WCD) approaches to not only advance children’s academic achievement, but also create safe, supportive, and equitable family, school, and community environments. Join Kate Schuenke-Lucien, Director for Haiti and Senior Associate Director for Strategic Planning, Fr. Herald Jean from University of Notre Dame Haiti-Hinche, and Chip Wirth, the GC-DWC’s Senior Advisor of the Social Enterprise Initiative, as they conclude this three-part series with a conversation about Notre Dame’s history in Haiti, the work that has been done to bolster the resilience of Haitian children and families, what we have learned through our implementation of science initiatives, and most importantly, the work that we hope to accomplish in the future.

Forging a Future in Haiti is sponsored on ThinkND by the Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child, located within the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame.