Mr. and Mrs. Steven Toth and Erin Almond, the founders of Living Water Christian School, have had a heart for Haiti ever since their initial medical mission trip to the country following the horrific earthquake in January, 2010. While they were there, they were deeply moved by the horrific suffering and abject poverty they witnessed. With a developing love for, and desire to help the Haitian people, they continued to visit the country joining medical teams helping those physically devastated by the earthquake. Steven worked in orthopedics, assisting in surgery and casting broken bones, and Erin, under the guidance of prosthetists, used her sewing machine to fit and fix old prosthetics to accommodate the patients in need.
After their second visit to the North Coast of the country where many of the effected fled to after the destruction in Port Au Prince, Erin and Steven began making good friends with several Haitians. One special friend was their interpreter Monine, as well several of the children begging in the streets that had wormed their way into their hearts. Upon their second visit they decided to pay for three children to attend a school. They arranged to wire the funds to Monine to make sure the money got to the school and to keep them up to date with their progress. Only twenty percent of children in Haiti are able to afford the 99% privately run schools. These schools are very expensive and on top of the fees, books, uniforms, paper and exams all cost extra. Uniforms are hand made by a tailor (without electricity) and cost upwards of $60.00 {American} per year.
Seeing the dozens of emaciated children begging on the streets near the medical center burdened Erin’s heart. Then visiting the unlivable conditions these children were living in, without toilets, clean water or electricity, she could not turn a blind eye. During that second trip in April 2011, Erin sobbed every night in their tent on top of the roof of the mission building where they were staying. Erin spent most of the night praying and begging God to please let her help these children. Every night for a week, she cried in anguish for these children, while listening to the sounds of Voodoo drums coming from the jungle. This is where the seed was planted in Erin to open a free school for the children begging on the streets who would never go to school without her help.
In July, later that year while talking to Monine about the three individual children they were sending to school, Erin spoke the words to Monine declaring her idea of starting a free school for the poor there. This conversation was like striking a match that started a wild fire; a blessed wild fire of God.
Erin and Steven began getting donations and submitted the project to their church for support. They applied for non-profit status. Donations began trickling in and were wired to the Johnson and Monine Blanc.
Monine and her new husband Johnson, both orphans, volunteered to be the directors of the new tuition free school. With the donations sent over, they secured a rental house, hired teachers and drove through the poverty stricken village with a megaphone yelling out the opening of the free school for the poor, and where and when to apply. They had benches and row desks built, sewed curtains, painted a sign, and built a fence in front of the rented school house. On that first registration day more that 100 children came to try to get into the school.
The school was registered with the National Haitian Education Commission, and they obtained the license for the school. The Port de Paix department of licensing city officials, after suspiciously questioning the school application, suddenly waived the $500.00 license and registration fee on the spot, having compassion for what we were doing for the community.
And so, in early November of 2011, 16 weeks after conception, Living Water Christian School was open and classes began. Erin flew to Haiti to attend the opening. Now, hundreds of the poorest children on earth have access to education, purified water, basic and emergency health care, as well as daily vitamins, supplements and celebration day meals. None of the kids that attend LWCS have ever gone to school before and none had ever had access to these basic human necessities. Several students were who began school at LWCS were into their teens, some as old as 10, 11, 12, and even 14 years old, beginning school for the first time in their lives. Erin will always remember the look of joy, wonder and excitement on these young ladies faces as they entered the school.
Many of the children attending the school are orphans, and 1/3rd of the LWCS student body are what is called a “Restavek”. This is a legalized form of a slave. Because the poor do not have access to birth control, they have more children than they can afford to feed. In order that their children survive, mothers to give or sell their tiny children to other families that are little better off. Many times these families will promise that the child will get to go to school, but it is extremely rare that a Restavek is sent to school because the cost is very high. Restaveks are required to do anything the family wants; hauling water, cleaning, sewing, cooking, hand washing all the laundry, babysitting and more. They traditionally sleep under the dinning room table. There are many stories of physical, emotional and sexual abuse of these tiny slaves. Twisted rawhide “Resavek whips” are sold in every market place.
Education is the one and only chance any of these children will ever have to climb out of abject poverty and gain access to basic human requirements needed to survive throughout their lives.
Living Water Christian School is a 501(c)3 non profit run solely on the donations of generous individuals like yourself. Everyone on the LWCS staff in the U.S. is a volunteer, so 100% of all donations go to the school and to pay the teachers and staff at the school, all of whom are Haitian. Our current goal is to match every student with a sponsor so the teacher and staff salaries are secured.
Our long term goal is to buy a large plot of land, build a school facility for the children and a training center for adults. We will plant gardens, fruit trees, and maintain chickens and live stock, thus being able to provide income enough too pay the teacher and run the school and adult training center. This would also enable us to provide daily meals for the students while we equip their families with a source of income. Ultimately, this will create a sustainable, self sufficient organization uplifting the entire North West community without the need for any outside donations.
Now in 2020 (almost 2021), we are in the middle of our TENTH year of classes! At times we have had had as many as 600 students!
With the help of sponsors and donors like you, we CAN achieve our immediate and long term goals, making a palpable difference in the city of Port de Paix, positively effecting thousands of people. Your generous donations mean everything to these children and their families! You can save a child’s life and provide them a survivable future where they can thrive in their country.
Please click here to donate or here to learn specific needs and ways to help.
