Henri Christophe Community School
Henri Christophe Community School was founded by Jean Francois Marc Dorvilas in 1982. Mr. Dorvilas was already the Principal of another local school and when it became clear that he could not accommodate all the students that applied to his school, he opened Henri Christophe. He was a great believer in education and could not stand by and let the many children who so desperately wanted to learn to simply go without an education.
After many years of excellent service to the school as its principal, Mr. Dorvilas died. Since then the school has been led by his equally dedicated widow, Mme. Dorvilas, affectionately known as “Madame Do.”
Haiti Partners first connected with the Henri Christophe Community School through its co-founder, John Engle, who did his initial homestay in 1991 with next door neighbor of Mme. and Mr. Dorvilas. In 2009, with help from the Vista Hermosa Foundation and then subsequently JM Herr and family, Henri Christophe Community School became one of Haiti Partners first three formal Partner Schools.
Though this partnership started very well, on January 12, 2010, the Henri Christophe Community School was irreparably damaged by the massive earthquake whose epicenter was only miles away. Since then we have obtained donated land and constructed a Learning Center/Shelter to replace the building which once housed the school (pictured above). This project will need help not only to finish paying for reconstruction, but to cover its operating costs for the remainder of this challenging school year as well. If you would like to support us in this partnership, please contact us at: info@haitipartners.org
- Location: Darbonne, Leogane (about 20 miles west of Port-au-Prince)
- School type: 1st through 6th grade
- Principal: Mme. Dorvilas
- Staff: 7 teachers; 4 administrators
- Students: 160
*For Henri Christophe Community School updates, click here.
*Pictures: before the earthquake; after the earthquake; since reconstruction began.
*To read reports and partnership documents, click here.
