The Other Side of the Fence

We serve 2,570 students. What happens to those we can’t serve?

We are grateful for every child you support. They know they will find safety, a hot meal, caring teachers and a chance to learn. We celebrate their successes and are so thankful for the impact being made in their lives.

But we need to talk about the child on the other side of the fence. There is a child who doesn’t walk through the gate. Not because he doesn’t want to but because there wasn’t space for him this year. He peers through the fence, watching the other children line up to salute the flag and sing the morning song. His mother hoped this would be his chance for a better future, but she had to tell him, “Not yet.”

For children like him, the days look very different. Without school, there is no daily meal to ease the hunger. Without lessons, he falls further behind, trapped in the cycle of illiteracy that grips nearly half of Haiti’s adults. Without the safe walls of a classroom, the streets become his world, where gangs give him a place to belong, drugs and violence lure him in, and exploitation is common.

This is the reality for so many children in Haiti who long for an opportunity, but are left on the outside looking in.

Inside the fence, something powerful is happening. Teachers pour into their students, not just with knowledge, but with love, discipline, and encouragement. Children learn that they are valued and capable. They receive care, a meal, and the support of adults who come alongside their parents to strengthen families. And in this environment, they are introduced to the greatest hope of all—Jesus.

That little boy on the other side of the fence is why Haiti Empowered exists. Every empty desk filled, every classroom opened, every teacher trained means one less child left outside, one more child given the chance to grow, to thrive, and to believe there is hope for their future.