La-joie

La Joie (elementary school in Haiti)

While doing a Vacation Bible School for children in Raymond, we met Yleme. He was the founder and operator of La Joie Elementary School. Yleme started the school because he saw a need for a school that was free to children in his community. It was the only school in the area that let children attend for free. The school building was some wooden sticks with tarps, and if not for La Joie, the students there would not be in school at all. Yleme let us use his school for Vacation Bible School during the summer months. La Joie was struggling to find financial support, and the school was in danger of closing. In 2014, we began supporting the school financially. We were even able to build a couple of classrooms and began paying for the children to receive a hot meal each day. In 2019, Yleme passed away. The property went to his family members, who decided that they wanted to sell it. As a result, we built a brand new school building and moved La joie to our property.