school of Nicolas

Geographical situation
Nicolas is a mountain village located in the district of Petit-Goâve. Petit-Goâve is 47 miles from Port-au-Prince and Nicolas is at 2 1/2 h drive from Petit-Goâve. The road is practicable but not asphalted and in bad condition. The access is difficult.

Description
8 classrooms, 1 dormitory, 1 dining hall
2 attendances : 8h30-12h30 et 13h-17h
Enrollment : 446 students, preschool and primary
Staff : 13 teachers

Assessment of the building
The school consists of several units: the Principal’s office and the dependencies; across the schoolyard are the classrooms, the teachers' dormitory, arts and crafts’room, a warehouse and a toilet. The building housing the classrooms is made of solid walls of a river pebbles envelope, poor cement mortar with a roof of galvanized sheet metal on wood frame (strong and crude wooden slats, untreated). The window openings consist of cement trellises. During the earthquake, the back wall of all the classes could not resist since there are no reinforced concrete structure in the building.

Latest update

At Nicolas, construction work is completed. Classes are now bright, and ready to welcome students. The school Director, Mr. Zacharie Danjou, shared with us what parents said to him just two days earlier: “Lekòl sa a se li menm ki pi kanpé nan zòn nan”. (Haitian Creole) “This school is the nicest in the area.” And the Director added: “We really appreciated the team spirit from the construction team. The laborers they hired locally have learned a lot from them.”

SCHOOL OF NICOLAS