Distance learning classes in prestigious universities are precious educational tools. Limited access to information due to the lack of educational material has been a serious problem in education provided to the less fortunate. In 2010, AGAPE-HAITI decided to add to the tuition program, a new project: The youth learning center ( YLC). The idea was to equip a local with computers, internet access, and audiovisual materials. This would also allow children from different schools who were agape scholarship recipients to gather and build a community, a “home”, benefit from conferences, on-site classes, and workshops. The goal was to use the YLC to help bridge the gap to the future, bring economically challenged but talented kids up to par with the youth of the world. We first rented a local in 99 Rue Eugene Magron in downtown Jeremie for a couple of years. We later moved to a more secluded area in Source Dommage, in Bordes, Jeremie. In October 2016, the local we rented was totally destroyed by Hurricane Matthews.
We decided in the spring of 2017 to build our own youth Learning Center and reached out to the firm Plan Consult. The construction started in October 2017, and it was estimated that this would be accomplished through four (4) phases, likely over 3 to 4 years, depending on funding. In December 2018, phase 1 was completed.
The students were able to move in, and weekend meetings, workshops, conferences have been held for the last 2 years.
The Covid 19 pandemic slowed the completion of phase 2, which we hope will happen in the summer of this year.
