Thousands of children have been left without school due to the gang war that has been taking place in the Haitian capital since April 24 and has led thousands of people to live poorly in unhealthy shelters.
The conflicts, which are concentrated in the north of Port-au-Prince, have prevented 500,000 schoolchildren from attending classes since the end of April, according to Unicef.
Several minors have also been killed and kidnapped in the midst of these clashes, which have cost the lives of at least 188 people, including 92 civilians and 96 gang members, while 12 people are missing, 113 were injured and 49 were kidnapped. in these three weeks, according to the UN.
SCHOOLS CONVERTED INTO SHELTERS
An example of the serious crisis resulting from the war between gangs is the temporary shelter that has been converted into an old school located in front of the public square of Clercine, in Tabarre, near the United States embassy in Port-au-Prince, where 150 children and their relatives live abandoned to their fate.
Mackenley Cadet, 9 years old and in second grade, reminds Efe of the books he left behind a month ago in the Butte Boyer neighborhood, but also of his friends and classmates.
However, the minor, who has been wearing the same clothes for days, says that he continues to study and read on his own because he wants to be "Excellent".
Cadet, as well as the other children in this shelter, have lost everything, which is reflected in their faces, although they try to distract themselves by playing and running in the midst of the incessant noise.
In a corner of the shelter, a group of three children, between 5 and 9 years old, try to review what they learned in school, count from 1 to 15 and read together a book called "You Malice".
CAMP LIFE REPLACES SCHOOL LIFE
Currently, almost 1,700 schools are closed in the metropolitan area of ​​Port-au-Prince due to the clashes, which have left at least 9,000 people homeless, many of whom have taken refuge precisely in educational centers.
Many of these children lived quietly in Butte Boyer, at the northern entrance to Port-au-Prince, but together with their relatives they were forced to move to the school in the public square of Clercine, which, in four rooms, houses about 300 people.
Jesilhomme Pierre, 43, is the father of three children, whose house was destroyed by fire from armed groups, so they took refuge in this old school.
"Children can’t go to school… They haven’t finished their exams yet"Pierre lamented in statements to Efe, a month before the end of the school year.
"We thought there would be a truce, but it is announced that the situation will get worse again"said.
FEAR OF GOING TO SCHOOLS
Unicef ​​reported that parents and children are afraid to go to school to avoid being targeted by gangs.
"Families, women, and children and adolescents are afraid to leave home. Boys and girls are afraid to go to school"Bruno Maes, UNICEF representative in Haiti, said in a statement, in which he described "unheard" what happens.
Many schools have been closed due to extortion by gangs, who force directors to pay them fees to guarantee security.
NO WAY OUT IN SIGHT
Like many other displaced parents, Jésilhomme Pierre asks the State for help so that his children can return to the classroom.
In Haiti, families see education as the only way out of the misery they find themselves in, which is why many parents make unimaginable efforts to send their children to school.
Until now, the authorities have said nothing about the relocation of the displaced, who do not know where to turn, living in inhuman conditions, without food and without access to water or electricity.