Maintaining the Heart of Our Community

Meet the LCS Maintenance Team: from left, Ganiel L. (Head of Facilities), Odson Jean F. (FHP Construction Engineer), Junior R. (Plumbing), Emanus S. (Asst. Maintenance Shop Manager), Ketty D. (Maintenance Shop Manager), Alex A. (Asst. Head of Facilities), and Dupency L. (Groundskeeping).

On any given school day, over 500 people circulate through the Louverture Cleary School campus. The fact that LCS is a boarding school also means that 80 percent of them stay overnight.

Additions, improvements, and repairs abound, especially in a school filled with teenagers. Walls must be painted and corrugated steel roofs replaced; PVC valves get worn out and electrical devices fail; new desks must be milled and bed frames welded; solar panels need to be cleaned and battery electrolyte levels checked.

Though the campus is self-sustaining in terms of energy and water production, it is far from self-maintaining.

Enter the LCS Maintenance Team. In a community full of heroes all working to educate and form good citizens ready to rebuild Haiti, this team stands out in their role as campus caretakers.

Over the course of 35 years at LCS, the maintenance department has grown to allow repairs and work to be done “in-house.” Only two decades ago, the maintenance facility at the school was just a small concrete block shed with no electricity. Today, the LCS Maintenance Team has a proper depot and office, with a computer to aid in research and to communicate reports and needs.

Soon, a solar-powered workshop will be ready to use at the headquarters of Fondation Haitian Project, THP’s partner foundation in Haiti, which is located a few miles from the school. This remote shop will allow the maintenance craftsmen to produce furniture, make repairs, and stock material away from the everyday bustle of campus life.

The LCS campus is the heart of our community. A clean, well-maintained campus allows for a well-maintained community ready to rebuild Haiti. 

The whole of THP extends a gwo mesi (huge thanks) to the knowledgeable and dedicated LCS Maintenance Team for keeping the heart of the campus community in great health!


PREPARING FOR THE LCS NETWORK

In addition to their current responsibilities, the LCS Maintenance Team is forming a model to be deployed at each school in the LCS Network. The know-how, systems, and community spirit that have been developed at the flagship LCS will prove to be the core of LCS Maintenance Teams throughout the LCS Network—something we all look forward to seeing put into practice!


Keep In Touch to receive periodic updates on our students, activities at Louverture Cleary School, and progress on the LCS Network. Together, we can build a bright and enduring future for Haiti.