Eight Conant High School Interact Club students and their advisors traveled to the Dominican Republic over spring break to support a school serving Haitian immigrant children in La Romana.
The group brought fundraising dollars and volunteer labor to the school, which serves hundreds of Haitian children and lacks adequate funding for repairs and basic sanitary and electrical infrastructure. The school is located in an area of rapid urban expansion, where many Haitian families face barriers to education, including limited access to legal documents and language differences. Many of the children speak Haitian Creole at home while Spanish is the primary local language.
This marked the fourth consecutive year Conant students have traveled to the Dominican Republic to assist the school. This year’s project focused on preparing reinforcement beams for a new wall by cutting and bending rebar, and mixing and hauling concrete for skilled laborers constructing the wall. The wall will enclose part of the school’s property slated for future expansion.
Students and advisors paid their own travel expenses. Funds for construction materials and labor were raised by the Conant Interact Club and supplemented by donations from local church groups and the Jaffrey-Rindge Rotary Club.
Interact is a Rotary-sponsored service organization for young people ages 12 to 18.
