Sitting on the roof of his uncle’s house under construction in Port-au-Prince, Kervens Casséus uses a cinder block as a desk to support his geology book.
This 20-year-old Haitian high school never attended school in February. The political crisis that paralyzes the country prevents him and his colleagues from continuing their studies normally. Worse, it forces them to add other concerns to their education.
“The opposition and the power: they are destroying the country,” estimates this young man, who is in his senior year of science baccalaureate and has not received any instructions from his teachers to continue his studies. He’s not even sure if his final test dates back so much that the school calendar has changed this year.
The public education sector, which Kervens attends, is short on funds in Haiti, where 80% of schools are private.
Fear of going out
When he has to take advantage of his age to have fun, Kervens lives locked up. “I’m scared,” admits this young adult, who has been living with his aunt in a precarious room for three years since his parents live outside the capital.
“This morning in February I went to the main street for the first time. And it felt strange,” he says. “There are fewer people than usual. The street is different than in January. Everything has really changed from 7 February,” he explains.
On that date, the opposition and part of civil society decided not to recognize Jovenel Moïse as the country’s legitimate president, who estimates that his term in office will expire on February 7, 2022.
Entire sectors of Haitian society are being held hostage by this political tug of war.
Opening the school, a political gesture?
In this context, welcoming students to school is seen by some as political support for the ruling party. As a result, most school institutions in the capital have been closed since the beginning of the month.
“You have to let the students go to school. But when you say that in Haiti some people today will put you in a political box,” says a teacher who asked for anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The wide economic inequalities that exist in Haiti are reflected in the school system and exacerbated by this political tension.
Left alone with his books, Kervens has trouble paying for a charge on his cell phone.
Less than two kilometers away, installed in a large pink armchair, little Lucie closely follows her teacher who teaches online.
Alone at a computer is the 5-year-old girl in uniform, as required by her school.
“I do not believe that all Haitian parents have computer equipment at home, a broadband Internet connection and there is also an electricity problem,” recalls his father, Jean Romuald Ernest, aware of his fate.
“Last week, the teacher had to interrupt classes precisely because his device was no longer charged,” says this father of three children, two of whom went back to school.
Gray hair at the age of 11
The doctor and his accountant’s wife are part of the purchasing minority in a country where 60% of the population lives on less than two dollars a day.
But that does not mean they are escaping the crisis and the climate of violence that reigns in the country.
“We don’t have children, we have small adults,” says Jean Romuald.
“A child who sees wheels on the verge of a road, a dead person, and asks, ‘Daddy, what is this? Why is it happening? And the child hears gunshots … He is stressed,” he scares this family man .
“I was shocked to discover that my 11-year-old daughter already has gray hair. That shows her stress level! It should be a wake-up call for everyone,” said the concerned man.
Given political uncertainty and the proliferation of armed gangs who kidnap every day, concern is the sentiment shared by all Haitians.
Despite the tragedies of those leaving the country through immigrant routes, Kervens understands those who leave.
“We have our dreams, but they cannot be fulfilled by the crisis in the country. That is why most young people want to go abroad”, the young secondary school concludes.