Non-Profit US-based organization
Welcome to Partners in Education Haiti
Who we are
Partnering to build a world where all people are equipped with the power of knowledge
PieH was founded in 2011 after a small group of individuals from the First United Methodist Church of Kearney, Missouri, traveled to Haiti to help with disaster relief following the 2010 earthquake. While there, they listened to Haitian parents living in a tent city. “Nou vle timoun nou yo edike.” “We want our children educated” was the common theme among parents. This request was above all other needs, of which there were many, including clean water, housing, food, medical care, and work. After returning to the US and receiving overwhelming support for the idea of providing school sponsorships to Haitian you, the travelers established Partners in Education Haiti (then called Love Haiti).
A PieH scholarship includes the cost of school tuition, uniforms, and books. PieH often assists with other basic needs, such as clean water, food, healthcare, and shelter, as needed to provide a supportive environment for learning.
Haiti can be a difficult culture to provide aid, partly due to ongoing political and socio-economic corruption. To avoid these issues, PieH does not fund through government agencies or other Not for Profit Organizations, opting to work directly with the students and schools to stay accountable for how PieH funds are allocated. Partners in Education Haiti is a non-profit organization based in the USA dedicated to helping uplift Haitians’ lives through education support.
PieH On-The-Ground Program Assistant
Edome Orvilus joined the Partners in Education Haiti (PieH)Team as the Program Assistant in December 2015. In this role, Edome acts as an advocate for PieH students and their families and oversees the day-to-day operation of the program in Haiti.
He is the liaison between students and their school administrations, their families, and the PieH Board of Directors. His primary objective is ensuring all aspects of the well-being of the PieH students and assuring they have the supplies needed to succeed in school. To accomplish this objective, he regularly meets students and their families and provides updates for the U.S. PieH members. Edome participates in PieH program development, advises existing students, and makes recommendations for new students,
Edome is certified in Computer Science and is a part-time professor of Computer Sciences at a Haitian Technology school in Delmas, holds a Bachelor of Science in Theology, and is an ordained pastor. Edome was born and raised near Kenscoff, Haiti. He and his wife are raising their four children, three boys, and one girl. He is an involved and devoted husband and father.
Edome
Program Assistant
Our Board
Debra Buzard
Chairperson
Teresa Brent
Vice Chairperson
George Handy
Treasurer
Susan Healow
Board Member
Blake Blakemore
Board Member
How we operate
Our Process
Welcome to Partners in Education Haiti, or PieH for short. We are a non-profit organization based in the US, dedicated to helping children and families in Haiti gain access to education. In Haiti, a country that suffers from severe poverty, school is not free, and parents cannot afford tuition. Ignorance perpetuates poverty and helplessness. That is why we focus on education.
We seek to reduce suffering from poverty by empowering Haitians with the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed to elevate themselves out of poverty and oppression by providing school scholarships for youth who would not otherwise be able to attend school.
We believe that our relationship with our student recipients and their families is fundamental to our success. We are partners.
PieH employs a Haitian Program Assistant who works closely with the students, their families, school administrators, and the PieH board.
PieH members visit the students, their families, and schools regularly for continued conversation and program development.
Students are responsible and accountable to perform well in school and make continued progress. Parents are responsible for encouraging their children to study and attend school.
PieH works year-round to raise funds for student tuition, books, uniforms, and assistance with emergencies.
We Engage
One of our program’s strengths is building relationships with scholarship recipients and their families. We are familiar with each of their situations and special needs. We travel to Haiti regularly to stay connected. We Engage.
We Support
Because of our relationships with our students and families, we can offer personalized support. Our Program Assistant is instrumental in this process. We will never understand the culture the way he does. He determines what support is the most critical, and we help. We Support
We Stay
Over the years, we have built a trusting relationship with our Haitian partners because we are present and constant. In Haiti, many organizations have a reputation for “arriving with candy, throwing it, taking pictures, and leaving, never to return.” That has made Haitians suspicious. Reliability and a presence have helped strengthen the success of our program. We Stay.
" An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. "
About Haiti
Haiti is a complicated country with a proud and often difficult history. It occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola, between the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. It shares the island with the Dominican Republic, and is 10,714 square miles in area, slightly smaller than the state of Maryland with double the population at 11 million. Like the U.S., Christopher Columbus stumbled onto the Caribbean island in 1492, and, like the U.S. the indigenous people (Taino natives) were decimated by violence and disease by the new invaders until nearly extinct. The Europeans imported large numbers of enslaved Africans to toil in profitable sugar plantations, making Haiti one of the wealthiest colonies in the world at the time. Unlike the U.S., the slaves revolted (1791-1804) for the purpose of ending slavery, maintaining freedom, and establishing the sovereign state of Haiti.
The Haitian Revolution is the only slave uprising that led to the formation of a sovereign state led entirely by former slaves.Haiti became the first independent nation in the Caribbean, the second democracy in the western hemisphere, and the first black republic in the world. Since the revolution, Haiti has struggled with external and internal dilemmas. The revolutionary war destroyed nearly all of the country’s colonial infrastructure and production capabilities. Then, it was shut out of the world economy, with embargoes from the U.S. and Europe.It was saddled with debt by its former masters, the French, making it impossible for them to recuperate. The discrimination against Haitians has continued until the present day.
Kearney Methodist Church Involvement
THANK YOU to Kearney First United Methodist Church members and staff and the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church for being primary and faithful supporters of Partners in Education Haiti.