Grace Emmanuel School reopened on Monday, December 9, two months after being forced to close because of insecurity.

While no one knew how many student’s families had once again uprooted their lives and left the area permanently, attendance was at 38% on opening day with 191 students present. By Thursday, attendance had grown to 62%—nearly triple the amount of students present for the first day of school on October 7.

“We were so eager to reopen,” said Andris, GES director. “The staff was eager. The kids were eager. The parents were eager.”

Reactions to reopening

When Marthe, a senior, heard school was going to reopen, she was thrilled.

“I’d spent too much time at home,” she said. “I need to finish high school. As the months had passed, I didn’t have much hope for school to reopen.”

After the attacks in October, she had fled to another neighborhood outside of Arcahaie with her family and stayed there for a month.

“It was really tumultuous for us because of my mom’s health after her stroke,” she said. “It’s difficult for us to move with her.”

Marthe, who just turned 18, hopes to study to become a doctor after she graduates this summer.

Daroud, a junior, fled to the mountains after Arcahaie was attacked. He spent a month there, filled with sadness. After returning to his home, the days were stressful with nothing to do but worry. Going back to school was a huge relief.

“I am happy to be with my classmates again and the teachers. I was scared I was going to lose a year of school.” Daroud, 20, has attended Grace Emmanuel School since he was a kindergartener.

Returning to school also brought relief to Wadson, the 6th grade teacher. He had spent October and November moving his family to safer areas while battling an illness himself.

“I was very stressed,” he said. “I missed the kids a lot. When I’m with them, I feel like I’m home. I missed all the staff, too. We are like a family.”

Is it safe to reopen?

When school closed in October only two days after opening, it seemed unlikely that it would reopen anytime soon. Different gangs had united to attack Arcahaie from all sides. Though they weren’t ultimately successful, they did a lot of damage and made it further into the center of Arcahaie than ever before. It seemed like just a matter of time before they launched another attack with greater success.

“I really wasn’t sure if we’d be able to open by January, let alone December,” said Roger, operations director for JiHM. “But by mid-November, Arcahaie seemed safer than before with five armored vehicles stationed there and police officers occupying the entire region.”

In addition, the gangs that had united to attack Arcahaie suffered heavy losses and severed their alliance.

Area school directors and government entities met together in November and made plans to reopen. With life returning to “normal,” the leadership team at Grace Emmanuel School also decided it was time to resume, giving staff that had left the region a couple of weeks to return.

Will peace remain?

The question on everyone’s minds is how long this peace will remain in Arcahaie.

Yolanda, 3rd grade teacher, shared that while she was happy to get back to work and see the kids again, the return also brought fear. “I’m happy and scared at the same time,” she said. “I’m sad and fearful to be returning to stress again.”

When the gangs attacked in October, Yolanda’s neighborhood was in a hot zone. “We had to move my whole family again. The gangs started to burn many houses where we were living. It was really sad for me because that was the second time gangs had attacked the area where I was living.”

Like Yolanda, GES Director Andris is putting his faith in God for security each day.

“I’m praying we can stay open, but only God knows what the future holds,” he said. “We continue to pray to God for grace and more security. It would be horrible if something like this happened again. But God is faithful, we will prevail.”

Please pray for the rest of the school year to continue uninterrupted, and for peace throughout Haiti.

Maudeline Saint Fleur is the secretary for Grace Emmanuel School. Maudeline began at GES as a kindergarten teacher in 2008, transitioning to secretary in 2014. She is an invaluable member of the GES team, called by God to serve Him in this place. Maudeline lives with her husband and three daughters.

Kristi Bucher has served as Communications Manager for Jesus in Haiti Ministries since 2014. She currently lives in Minnesota with her husband, Nathan, and two kids. Kristi and Nathan lived in Haiti from 2012–2014.