Meet Marc and Daniel, a first and seventh grader from Cap-Haitien, Haiti. When COVID-19 forced school closures in Haiti, Marc and Daniel did not know when they would get to see their schools, teachers, and classmates again, and without access to a computer or a cellphone to stay in touch, they began to worry about getting behind in their schoolwork. They both have big dreams, and even at a young age, they recognize the important role education will play in their future. Even though they do not attend a school from the Read Haiti/Strong Beginnings program, they learned about the radio program through a neighbor and jumped at the opportunity to keep learning during school closures. Using their family’s radio to tune in for daily lessons, Marc and Daniel stayed on track with their studies and were prepared and excited when schools reopened in August 2020.

Cesnie-Flores is only in first grade but already loves learning. By way of example, when we first asked Cesnie-Flores what she was most excited about going back to school for she matter-of-factly explained, “so I can get good grades and keep learning!” When COVID-19 reached Haiti, she was devastated because she wasn’t able to do her favorite thing: go to school! Fortunately, the Read Haiti/Strong Beginnings radio program brought learning to her through its weekly lessons. Before she received a radio from the program, Cesnie-Flores was determined not to get behind and listened to the radio program through her family’s telephone with her mom. However, the telephone’s radio feature did not provide the best quality, so having a new radio that she could charge all by herself was a big improvement!

Basking in their newfound freedom when schools first closed, Jamesly and his siblings got in the habit of playing with other kids in the neighborhood all day. His mother, Jesula, knew that there was very little studying and schoolwork happening during these adventures and began to worry about Jamesely and his siblings staying on track with their studies. The delivery of a solar-paneled radio and program outline from the Read Haiti/Strong Beginnings radio program came at just the right time and re-engaged Jamesly and his siblings in their education.

When schools shut down due to COVID-19, Katia eagerly awaited their reopening. While getting to play with her brother every day was fun, she quickly began to miss school. She has big plans and knew she needed to know all of her letters if she wanted to learn to read and write and keep progressing. Through the Read Haiti/Strong Beginnings radio program, Katia was able to listen to new literacy broadcasts each week and master her letters. Now, she is excited to be back in school and grateful that she was able to stay on track through the radio lessons.

During COVID-19 school closures in Haiti, Wilelmine had to balance all of her household chores and stay on track with her learning. Fortunately, Wilelmine studied hard with her friends by tuning into the Read Haiti/Strong Beginnings radio program. Now she’s excited to be back in school and ready to build on the skills the radio program helped her develop! At school, she loves learning in her native tongue, Haitian Creole, but she knows that her dream to be a nurse and to help as many people as possible will require her to be able to speak in French and Creole, which is why she is excited to be a part of the Read Haiti program that teaches her to read in her mother tongue before learning to read in French.