Back on Track in School and Life: International Women’s Day
This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating the incredible women and girls we work with around the world, many of whose lives have been transformed by education. Meet Sheelove Fanfan, a young woman from Haiti who thought her dreams of an education were out of reach, until she found buildOn.
When 15-year-old Sheelove Fanfan first heard that she was going to the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, she thought that her chance to pursue an education had finally arrived.
“I dropped out of school because my parents couldn’t afford to send me,” remembers Sheelove, who grew up in the rural community of Baie de Flamands in Southwestern Haiti. “There was a lady who promised my parents that she would help me, so together we went to Port-au-Prince.”
Unfortunately, it did not take long for Sheelove to realize that the circumstances she found herself in were nothing like what she had imagined. “Once we got there, she didn’t send me to school like she had promised—she mistreated me, so I called one of my aunts to come and get me because I couldn’t stay in that hell,” says Sheelove.
“Once we got there, she didn’t send me to school like she had promised—she mistreated me.”
Sheelove Fanfan
Sheelove’s mother was uneducated and had seven children, all of whom did not go to school due to a lack of financial resources.
“This is one of the reasons why she gave Sheelove to work as a maid,” says Sainisie Fanfan, Sheelove’s niece. This practice, called “Restavek” in Haiti, is common, especially for girls, with an estimated 300,000 Haitian children currently trapped in this modern day form of slavery. Parents who are unable to support a child financially will hire them out to a wealthier family, often in an urban area, where the child then works as an unpaid household servant in exchange for food, lodging and, occasionally, an education. But, as was the case with Sheelove, this promise of an education often goes unfilled, and Restavek youth are frequently subjected to physical, emotional, and even sexual abuse.
Not only was Sheelove fortunate to have a loving home to come back to, her return to Baie de Flamands also coincided with the start of buildOn’s Enroll Program in her community. According to recent reports from UNESCO, there are currently 69.9 million primary school-aged children who are out of school and, following the COVID-19 pandemic and recent earthquakes in Haiti, those numbers are expected to rise. Through this innovative initiative buildOn and Education Above All’s Educate A Child Program are partnering with local community leaders to identify out-of-school children like Sheelove, and then working with their families to ensure that they’re able to start learning.
Today, Sheelove is one of 159 previously out-of-school children enrolled in the buildOn school in Baie de Flamands. Through the Enroll program she participated in accelerated learning courses, which allowed her to catch up on the education she had missed before transitioning into mainstream classes. Since returning to the classroom, Sheelove has been thriving.
“She is really studious and likes to ask questions,” says her teacher, Mathieu Loridon. “Sheelove was 2nd in class after the first evaluation. I would like Sheelove to remain in school, so that she can finish her studies and pursue her dreams, because to become something in life one must get an education.”
“I want to say a big thank you to buildOn for giving me the opportunity to go back to school and follow my dreams because without the bread of education, I am nothing.”
Sheelove Fanfan
Through the Enroll Program, buildOn and the Education Above All Foundation are ensuring that every child has access to education—and to date they have partnered to enroll 146,297 out-of-school children across the globe. Not only will Sheelove’s education help her pursue her dreams, it will also make her more likely to educate her own sons and daughters one day, breaking the cycle of illiteracy in her family, and preventing her children from ever ending up as a Restavek.
“I am really happy to continue with my school studies,” says Sheelove, who is now in the sixth grade. “When I am finished, I would like to be a nurse to help my family and my community. I want to say a big thank you to buildOn for giving me the opportunity to go back to school and follow my dreams because without the bread of education, I am nothing.”
Will you help us get young women like Sheelove back into the classroom? Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today.