From classrooms to communities

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In schools tucked among the hills of Haiti’s Central Plateau and in classrooms powered by solar panels along the southern coast, something remarkable is happening.  

Teachers are blending traditional lessons with digital tools. Parents are joining meetings with other parents to support their children and discuss community plans. And children are learning through stories, music and characters that look and sound like them. 

These are not isolated projects. They are part of a larger movement made up of organizations and funders that are partnering for community change in Haiti — a campaign called Pockets of Hope. The campaign channels investment directly to organizations working closely with Haitian communities to ensure every child grows up healthy, educated and connected to opportunity. 

Across sectors from education and health to agriculture and economic development, Pockets of Hope builds on the simple premise that lasting change happens when Haitians lead the way. 

A campaign rooted in collaboration 

In a country where global aid too often focuses on short-term fixes and bypasses local leadership, the Pockets of Hope partners take a different approach. The campaign connects funders to Haitian innovators who are already driving solutions within their own communities. 

This network includes organizations like Digital Promise, Blue Butterfly, The Haitian Project and Hope for Haiti — each advancing unique strategies designed in collaboration with Haitian leaders and united by a shared belief that education is the cornerstone of community change. 

In the classroom, that transformation often begins with access. Digital Promise works alongside local educators to bridge the digital divide in rural schools where electricity and internet access are scarce. By training teachers, improving connectivity and creating culturally relevant learning materials, they’re helping children gain the skills to thrive in a digital world while remaining rooted in Haitian culture and language. 

At the same time, storytellers and educators from Blue Butterfly are reaching children in a different way. Their animated web series Lakou Kajou brings lessons to life using Haitian characters and places. It’s an approach that blends joy and education, fostering literacy and pride in Haitian identity. 

At Louverture Cleary School, the flagship of The Haitian Project, collaboration is the foundation for everything. The school offers tuition-free, high-quality education to its students, 90 percent of whom go on to university or professional roles in Haiti. The project’s model is grounded in partnership with families and communities. For example, students receive mentoring from local leaders and, in turn, help local residents through a school-sponsored adult literacy program. 

And at Hope for Haiti, rebuilding and strengthening schools also means strengthening the social fabric around them so that children are cared for holistically. Schools double as gathering places for parents, health workers and local leaders. Classrooms are equipped with culturally relevant materials and teachers receive ongoing training in their use. Scholarship programs open pathways to higher education. And health and nutrition receive just as much attention as academics so that children can thrive. 

“The schools that we build at Hope for Haiti are not just education facilities,” says Skyler Badenoch, CEO of Hope for Haiti, in the organization’s “A Safe School Environment” video. “They’re community development centers as well for mobile clinics to gather, to assemble, to create development plans for themselves.” 

“We know that for each additional year of education that a student is able to access, their social and economic indicators go up exponentially.”

Skyler Badenoch, Hope for Haiti

Together, these stories form a powerful narrative of what’s possible when Haitian leadership and international partnership align. Each classroom rebuilt, each child equipped with digital tools and each teacher trained represents more than a milestone — it’s a signal of confidence in Haiti’s capacity to shape its own destiny. 

Across the country, from coastal villages to mountain communities, Haitian leaders are proving that transformation begins when those closest to the challenges are trusted to design the solutions. 

As a result, many in Haiti’s next generation are learning with confidence, dreaming with courage and leading with hope.