JELA Foundation was founded by Mr Francilien Paul, a Haitian health care practitioner based in the UK.  The idea to start the charity was born when Francilien, who was on holiday in Haiti in 2007, took the opportunity to witness the damage and devastation that the mud slide had caused in Haiti.  He wanted to find out how this was affecting the lives of the Haitians and assess what would be needed to fully recover from the disaster.  He observed that the land affected had been permanently destroyed and that the rate of poverty still affecting his people, especially the children, was escalating.  Children were playing in open fields and aimlessly roaming the streets during the day when they should have been in school.  Poverty could be seen everywhere and witnessing this caused Francilien to want to do something to overcome these issues.  Upon enquiry from some of the children, they told Francilien that they were willing to go to school but their parents could not afford to support them with the fees.

Whilst in Haiti, Francilien cut his holiday short, returned to the UK and re-mortgaged his house.  With this money, he bought a large piece of land to build a school also incorporating an orphanage for the less privileged children of Limbe.

JELA primary school was then born and it is situated right at this moment on that piece of land in Haiti. The land has become the initial investment of JELA Foundation.  It was purchased for £45,000 paid by the founder, Mr Francilien Paul. 

At its inception, the school opened on 23rd September 2007 with a record registration of 150 children, alongside four teachers and a headmaster who is in charge of the day to day running of the school.  They formed the first batch enrolled in the school, with  four teachers who volunteered to give their skills and teach for free on a daily basis initially.  In 2009, teachers started earning monthly subsidised wages.

These children are taught in one big hall, subdivided into classes.  The hall is built with blocks and covered with iron sheets.  The building has not yet been completed as projected, as the financing of the project has been coming only from Francilien. 

Help is hereby needed!  There are plans for the project to add additional classes each year.  As you can appreciate, given the severe lack of free education in Haiti and as news of this free school spreads among the local communities, more children continue to approach the school seeking to enrol.  The school does its best to ensure these additional children receive some form of education in the school while waiting to enrol for the next school term.

JELA is not only teaching the children how to read and write, they are encouraged to plant a little tree every week to preserve their environment from deforestation and erosion which another significant problem faced in Haiti.  Those children will know exactly what the benefits are of soil preservation, photosynthesis and how vital trees are to nature.  All teachers are part of the green project.  They show the students how to cultivate organic seeds and the budding of trees.  They nourish them with water and plant them when they are ready on weekly basis.

Knowing that education is a key which can open many doors for a child to serve and sustain their community with relevant skills, JELA will provide what it takes to assist and educate the most deprived children of Haiti.  Our aim is to educate the children of Haiti to become assets to their community so that they can make a positive difference in the world around them. 

JELA Primary School needs to survive.  We need you to join us and together, we shall help to provide a hopeful future to the children of Haiti.

Funds are needed right now!  Please help us by donating NOW to JELA FOUNDATION, of Haiti.