Remicile  and Maxime Louis have a heart for children.   

 

In 2011, Remicile  and Maxime had purchased land to build their own home in which to raise their family.   But in their community of Montrouis, they saw children – restavek children – in the streets.   They knew no schools would take the children in as students.   They also knew that left alone without an education, a routine, a hope for their future, the restavek children would likely cause more heartache and eventual problems for the community.

 

Instead of building a home for themselves, they built a school for their community.   In the early days, the two classrooms were cinderblock walls with coconut leaf roofs.   The school opened with 21 students.    Students were not charged for tuition, school supplies nor the daily lunch provided.

 

Shortly after Remax opened, Kesnel (Paul) Toussaint, a businessman and local community activist had several boys who lived on the streets, frequenting his shop.   He would often pay them for completing small tasks for his business.  But he knew that wouldn’t be enough.   They needed an education.

 

Kesnel brought the boys to Remax to receive an education.   He would often use his own money to ensure the students were fed a daily lunch.  Kesnel has also brought in foreign partners from both the United States and Canada to help with the daily operational expenses of the school.

 

Since opening in 2011, the school has blossomed to providing an education to over 170 students from Pre-School, to Kindergarten to Grade 6.   And accordingly, the classrooms, faculty, and staff have grown, too!   Remax now boasts 9 classrooms, employs 8 teachers, 1 admin staff, a logistician, 2 “lunch ladies”, and a custodian.    Students continue to receive their education, uniform, and daily lunch at no cost, although the school now charges a nominal $10USD registration fee to help offset school supply expenses.

 

​Future plans for the school include improving classroom and teacher resources, outfitting a proper office space for the school director and admin staff, and building storage cabinets.  

 

The dream continues for the day when the school can be outfitted with reliable electricity, enabling the students’ education to include access to technology and the global world.