MIAMI — The voyage out of PortMiami to deliver backpacks, pens, and notebooks to students in Haiti isn’t easy, but Samuel Darguin said it’s all well worth it because there are children who have to go through great lengths to get an education.
Darguin, the founder of the Haitian American Caucus, said they are on a tight schedule because more than 1,000 students at the new schools that the HAC opened in Miragone, Jeremie, and Cap-Haitien return to class during the first week of October.
“Most of them are children that were in Port-au-Prince that are escaping the violence ... These students and these families literally escape with just the clothing on their backs,” Darguin said.
Many of them have to travel long distances every day to make it to school, and their needs go beyond school supplies. On Friday, the HAC team was preparing a second shipment of school supplies at PortMiami.
“Now we are also sending stuff from Miami to a barge into the city of Miragone to circumvent all the gang activity in and around Port-au-Prince,” Darguin said.
The HAC delivered and distributed the first round of school supplies last month.
In 2023, gangs ransacked the school that the HAC built in Port-au-Prince and stole computers and science lab materials, according to Darguin.
“There’s no way we can give up on what’s going on in Haiti. We have to figure it out. I would have probably said they destroyed our school,” Darguin said.
The HAC team is going through great lengths. Darguin said there are “heroes” involved in the effort, and they really don’t mind the sacrifice because it’s for the future of Haiti.
“This is an overnight trip on a boat ... we literally have to sleep on the floor or just not sleep,” Darguin said.
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.