Choix Virtual Visit

"This is Madame Ione's office. We say 'bonjou' (good morning) to her every day as we pass her door!"

Ms. Ione Cassens is the Campus Director of l'Ecole de Choix.

"This is where we go to see Nurse Nancy when we don't feel well."

Nurse Nancy is a Registered Nurse supported by a grant from Direct Relief.

"This is our athletic field. We play football [soccer] and have gym class here."

Choix students engage in physical education class several times a week, after school sports, and competitive athletic team practices (which also include our alumni as participants).

"Some of us walk to school if we are close enough and others get to take the Choix school bus. This is what the road to Choix looks like after you turn off of the main road."

Choix is located just west of Mirebalais. We are very close to the world-renowned Partners in Health university hospital.

[Click other portions of road to see additional images of our surrounding area.]

"It is very important to wash our hands before and after we eat."

Choix's Registered Nurse Nancy educates all of our students and staff about appropriate sanitation and health practices - for use in both school and home.

"This is the kitchen.  We love our kitchen staff because they feed us good food and take good care of us."

With the support of its contributors and grantors, and through the work of the Haitian organization Bureau de Nutrition et Developpement, Choix provides a morning snack, a warm lunch and also a supplemental nutrition program for its students and alumni who experience severe malnutrition.

"Before school, during recess and after school, we LOVE playing on our basketball court!"

Choix maintains a basketball court where students hone their skills.  It is one of the students' favorite activities and is enjoyed by students of all ages.

"We love playing in our playground area.  We hang out, play on the swings or find a shady area to do our homework."

Choix students often can be found before or after school reading or doing homework.  These students are sitting on the wall below the cafeteria where we have our track long jump.

"This is our cafeteria, where we eat lunch, have morning assemblies, and also graduation is here."

Morning assemblies are offered three times a week on a variety of subjects and are staff and student-led.  As a condition of their scholarships, Choix graduates return to campus each afternoon for meals, tutoring and other support services.

[Please see other highlighted area for graduation images.]

"My objective next June is to graduate and to succeed in all of my activities." - Choix 6th grader's "new year resolution"

Graduation takes place in June each year in our cafeteria.  Choix students work tremendously hard to succeed and often are the first in their families to go to school.  The average education of a Haitian adult is 5 years (USAID).  A student graduating from Choix at 6th grade therefore has a great chance of success already, and we provide scholarships through high school with the generous help of our contributors.

[Please click other highlighted space for additional cafeteria image and description.]

"This is our fourth grade classroom.  We are allowed to open the windows to get a breeze on hot days."

Our classroom buildings were designed in partnership between our US-based director of design and construction (who also is an architect) and a Haiti-based architect. They are intended to blend with our local environment; they use local materials; they are earthquake and hurricane resistant; and they are sustainable.

"These are our classrooms. Our classroom locations change each year but every one is colorful and fun inside."

Each Choix classroom is staffed with a lead teacher and an assistant teacher; and Choix lead faculty have university educations and teaching certificates.

"These are our classrooms. Our classroom locations change each year but every one is colorful and fun inside."

Each Choix classroom is staffed with a lead teacher and an assistant teacher; and Choix lead faculty have university educations and teaching certificates.

"These are our classrooms. Our classroom locations change each year but every one is colorful and fun inside."

Each Choix classroom is staffed with a lead teacher and an assistant teacher; and Choix lead faculty have university educations and teaching certificates.

"We go to the tech lab to learn how to use computers."

Choix students begin to use computers as early as First Grade.

"This is one of our favorite spots on our campus - on and around the steps and space between all of the classrooms. We like to study here in the shade of the trees, or play or chit chat before or after school."

"Mirebalais is the city where Choix is located. Some of us live in Mirebalais, other students live in the fields and surrounding areas."

Mirebalais, Haiti, is located in Haiti's Central Plateau region, about 45 miles northeast of Port au Prince.  It was established in 1702 and has a population that has been estimated between 130,000 and 200,000.

[For other images of our surroundings, please click other segments of our approach road!]

"Choix is located in Mirebalais, which is in the Central Plateau."

Haiti's "Centre" or Central Plateau is one of its ten regional departments and borders the Dominican Republic on its Eastern side.  It is the only department that does not have a coastline. However, it does contains Haiti's second largest lake and the Artibonite River.

"We love to ride the school bus!  We sing and talk to our friends. It is a little loud but we have a ton of fun."

Choix's school bus allows us to welcome students from a larger geographical region, including the center of Mirebalais.  Our Volunteer Parent Committee staffs our bus stops so that our students are safe on the road as they wait for the bus in the morning.  The bus brings them home in the afternoon and also takes our athletes to competitions in Port au Prince and elsewhere.

"We know that our sponsors and other people think what we're doing at Choix is important.  That's why we work really hard. And we really appreciate their support."

We are so grateful to our student sponsors and other contributors!  Choix students have added the names of contributors over a particular amount throughout each year to the wall outside our cafeteria, along with the image of mountains.

Over the course of each year, as more names are added, they join together to build "mountains beyond mountains." Originally, this terms came from a Haitian proverb that refers not only to Haiti's beautiful landscape but also to the resilience of the Haitian spirit.  We share our gratitude to our contributors for partnering with our students as we strive to ascend mountains - just as our students are inspired that so many are rooting for their success!