UNifeed: HAITI / SCHOOLS

HAITI / SCHOOLS

Government education officials had hoped some schools in Haiti would begin reopening Monday, but few students survived after the Daniel Fignole school collapsed during the earthquake. The UN says as many as 8,000 schools that served 1.8 million children have been destroyed or damaged in Port-au-Prince alone. MINUSTAH

Duration:02:03Date:01 February 2010

Categories:

EDUCATION, EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND PLANNING,14.01.00, HAITI, United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti

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Full Script

STORY: HAITI / SCHOOLS 
TRT: 2:03
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: CREOLE / NATS

DATELINE: 1 FEBRUARY 2010, BELAIR, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, sign welcoming guests to the Daniel Fignole secondary school 
2. Wide shot, remains of the school 
3. Med shot, wreckage of the school 
4. Med shot, cab of an excavator machine 
5. Wide shot, child runs over wreckage near an excavator machine 
6. Close-up, report card of a student at the school in the rubble 
7. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Louis Montespoir, Director of the Daniel Fignole School: 
"We don't have any teachers that died in the building - but some died elsewhere. But we have 700 students who died." 
8. Med shot, facade of the neighboring national public primary school Dahomey Republic  
9. Wide shot, entrance to the public school with tents set up in front 
10. Med shot, a woman washes clothes in the school courtyard 
11. Wide shot, children sit on a school bench taken from a classroom 
12. Med shot, primary school child 
13. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Louis Montespoir, Director of the Daniel Fignole School: 
"We can't afford to waste a school year. Even if our buildings are destroyed, we can set up tents so the children who are still alive can come back to school to learn." 
14. Wide shot, two former students sift through rubble at the Daniel Fignole school site 
15. Med shot, boy in flip-flops climbs out of the rubble 
16. Med shot, copies of end of the semester tests lost in the rubble 
17. Med shot, a photo of a school student on the ground 
18. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Fedler Saint Croix, former student at Daniel Fignole School: 
"What about the students who didn't die, like me? How are they going to find the strength to go on? There are some kids who are the only ones left in their entire family. How are kids like that going to find the will to come back to school at all?" 
19. Wide shot, rubble 
20. Close-up, remains of a filing cabinet in the rubble 
21. Wide shot, excavator and two trucks 
22. Med shot, excavator 
23. Wide shot, entrance to the school and excavators

STORYLINE:

As schools in other provinces in Haiti reopened today, students of Port au Prince’s Daniel Fignolé high school, one of 8,000 schools damaged by the earthquake, still grieved their deceased classmates and teachers as well as struggled with the traumatic memories of being in a classroom again.

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Louis Montespoir, Director of the Daniel Fignole School: 
"We don't have any teachers that died in the building - but some died elsewhere. But we have 700 students who died." 
Daniel Fignolé high school once stood tall amidst violence and despair in the city’s Belair neighborhood. Six years ago, in this neighborhood, demonstrations took place demanding the return of Haiti’s ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. 
Today, the neighborhood’s displaced people hangout by the school’s destroyed façade. Many have started seeking shelter in the school next door that still remains unscathed reducing any hope of reopening its door to students. 
The UN reported that schools serving up to 1.8 million children in the city have been destroyed. In fact, all schools on the western side of the city have been completely  destroyed, while 40 percent in the south remain severely damaged. 
The UN is now calling for at least 4,000 temporary classrooms to accommodate the children in the city. Both the UN and school officials believe that the longer orphans and other vulnerable children stay out of school, the more likely they are to fall prey to misery or abuse. 
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Louis Montespoir, Director of the Daniel Fignole School: 
"We can't afford to waste a school year. Even if our buildings are destroyed, we can set up tents so the children who are still alive can come back to school to learn."

Many of the children who had survived the earthquake are still in shock after losing many of their friends and classmates. When the earthquake struck, three classes were in session and an estimated 700 students are suspected to be dead. Many survivors still harbor fears of ever being in a classroom again.

SOUNDBITE (Creole) Fedler Saint Croix, former student at Daniel Fignole School: 
"What about the students who didn't die, like me? How are they going to find the strength to go on? There are some kids who are the only ones left in their entire family. How are kids like that going to find the will to come back to school at all?"

The UN helped to refurbish the 16-classroom school and revitalize the neighborhood after it closed down in 2004 due to political strife resulting from Aristide’s departure.

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