Nearly 3,000 people find shelter in a former school in Haiti

In Port-au-Prince, a school that once welcomed hundreds of pupils is now home to nearly 3,000 people displaced by violence.

Among them is a former teacher determined to give his children a future beyond the classroom they now call home.

Michel sits beside the doorway of a former classroom, watching people pass through the busy corridor.

A woman carries a bucket of water. Others return with food or stop to talk to neighbors. Children weave between adults, their voices echoing through the building.

For the 44-year-old former teacher, this is home for now.

He shares the classroom with his wife, Islande, and three children, with about 36 other people who have also been forced to flee their homes.

Asked about the future, Michel said. “Our ultimate goal is relocation; you are never well unless you are at home.”

The school once echoed with the voices of about 500 pupils.

Since 2024, it has provided shelter to nearly 3,000 people displaced by violence in Haiti's capital.

Its corridors have become shared living spaces.

Residents sell small items to earn a little money, women queue at water tanks, and meals are prepared in communal kitchens.

Everyday life continues, but privacy is scarce and the future remains uncertain.

Before the displacement, Michel worked as a teacher, while his wife ran a small business.

Together, their earnings helped pay for their children's needs.

Then armed men attacked their neighborhood, looting and settings homes on fire.

His wife, standing beside him, listened quietly; her face etched with sorrow.

She has also lost her livelihood, the income that once helped pay for the family's needs has disappeared, leaving them dependent on assistance and whatever opportunities they can find.

The family fled more than once before reaching the school. What they thought might be a temporary refuge has become their home for an indefinite period.

Two of their children attend school, The youngest, aged 5, has not yet started. For a father who once taught, education is now among the things displacement has made uncertain.

In another classroom, a local group gathers children for psychosocial support. Amid the pressures of communal living, the session gives them time and space to play, participate, and receive attention.

In the communal kitchen, huge pots of rice and sauce simmer as residents prepare food. More than 500 kg of rice is being prepared, but for many people, the meal will be all they eat that day.

Michel's family has received food and financial assistance.

Without this help, “we would not survive,” he says.

Michel’s family is among the nearly 1,5 million people displaced, about 12 percent of Haiti’s population.

It is a nationwide crisis.

Behind the figures are families trying to keep their children learning, finding work and regaining somewhere safe to live.

More than 1,600 schools closed last school year because of violence.

Humanitarian organizations continue to deliver food, shelter, healthcare, clean water, sanitation services, protection and psychosocial support, despite difficult operating conditions.

But the resources fall short of the needs, Haiti’s US$880 million Humanitarian Needs and Respond Plan aims to assist 4.2 million people and only 49 percent is funded.

For families living here, emergency assistance remains indispensable, so does the prospect of eventually no longer needing it.

Pierre, the president of the site often ponders about the young's people future. He wants children in school and young adults to be given a chance to learn trade.

“We always say a country's future depends on its young people,” Pierre reasoned.

But young people need to have a trade, a skill. If you develop a social reintegration and personal development programme for our young people, they will be able to learn a trade, something practical, whether refrigeration, tiling or plumbing. Do you understand? Through this, they will gain confidence in themselves.”

Humanitarian aid alone will not be enough. Haitian communities need support that goes beyond emergency relief: safer neighborhoods, access to basic services and real opportunities to earn a living.