St. Andre’s School, Haiti

St Andre’s School in Hinche, Haiti, is where the Great Commandment to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves took root years ago and still flourishes.

For four decades, St. Dunstan’s has been working hard to provide love and financial support for the children of St. Andre’s.

From a fledgling school of just 3 grades and 37 pupils, St. Andre’s has grown to 50 classrooms with 1,500 students (including recent refugees from Port-au-Prince) who are fed a hot meal for the day and nourished with a stimulating education that will serve them far into the future.

Through catastrophes of every kind – a failed government, gang violence, earthquakes and hurricanes, and excruciating poverty – St. Andre’s partnership with St. Dunstan’s has grown in strength, commitment, and love.

What are the odds that folks living and worshiping in such diverse places as Haiti and the Monterey Peninsula could develop such a loving and dynamic partnership?

That story is much too exciting to fit here. Please be brave, take a chance your heart may expand, and keep reading.

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The Miracle at St. Andre’s

Building and operating a school in a country of chaos and poverty is a difficult task. But look at St. Andre’s in Hinche, Haiti! Beginning four decades ago, St. Andre’s Episcopal School in partnership with St. Dunstan’s has had an immense impact on both the students and the community around them.

Here are a few highlights:

The student body has grown from a few dozen to 1500
The school is energy independent, with its electricity coming from solar panels
Every student is provided with a daily hot, nutritious meal

Student body growth

St. Andre’s started out with 37 students in three elementary grades and has grown to a dynamic student body of 1,500.

Students are enrolled in classes from pre-school for 3-year-olds through the final level of high school, 13th grade – that’s 16 years of education!

Every year, we invest in training our teachers who are eager to improve.

St. Andre’s educates children from the local Hinche community, as well as talented children from rural areas that do not have access to education. They also educate children of refugees fleeing the violence in Port-au-Prince.

Unmatched education

St. Andre’s students are among the best in all of Haiti. We now graduate over 100 young adults a year into a future of opportunity.

Our students consistently test at or above the 90th percentile level on the mandatory national exams.

They learn French, Spanish and English, study the sciences of biology, physics, chemistry and the environment, and learn mathematics through trigonometry and calculus.

They are taught history and social sciences, computer science including the use of laptops donated by our Carmel Unified School District, and have access to trade school courses on Saturdays.

Campus improvements

The campus itself has expanded from a single room with flimsy construction into a group of sturdy 3-story buildings made from reinforced concrete to withstand earthquakes. The school now boasts around 50 classrooms.

A separate kitchen serves a daily hot meal to every student, teacher, and staff member.

All classrooms have electricity from solar panels, and the school has a modern sanitation system with flush toilets and a large septic tank.

The school built and maintains its own well and cistern with clean water, while also providing students with filtered bottled water to drink.

Nutrition, health, and hygiene

Good health is a fundamental part of St. Andre’s. Two school nurses educate students in personal hygiene and health care, including the importance of washing their hands and brushing their teeth.

The nurse team also dispenses vitamins and anti-worm medication to our youngest children.

The daily meal is a nutritious diet of rice and beans with some fresh vegetables, meat, and fish farmed in Haiti.

There was a time when teachers observed pupils fainting from hunger. Now, they have the energy they need to study and learn.

How we do God’s work

We’re very proud of this track record. It wouldn’t have happened without the people of St. Dunstan’s walking with and working with a remarkable succession of Episcopal priests and dedicated laymen and women in Hinche. It has taken all of us, along with a network of friends and supporters throughout the Monterey Peninsula, to get us this far. By walking together hand in hand we are bringing hope for a better life to thousands of children who otherwise would grow up without hope!

Where we are headed

Every year our first and most important financial commitment is to supply hot meals for the kids. Some parents are able to pay the yearly tuition of $250 that pays for part of the costs per student to cover teachers’ very modest salaries. Many are not.

St. Dunstan’s covers the purchase of food from local farmers and markets and pays 15 cooks. We also send money for health and hygiene supplies for the nurses and a computer teacher. Altogether this need comes to around $100,000 per year from us – about 25 cents per meal. Once again, we rely solely on donations given by individual members of St. Dunstan’s and our loyal friends around the Monterey Peninsula and beyond. Without us, St. Andre’s would be very different.

Around the corner

Once our nutritious meals are guaranteed and salaries for teachers are assured, we’re hoping to:

Upgrade our computer lab
Elevate our English teaching with online resources
Improve our library with books in French, Haitian Kreyol, English and other languages
Look farther ahead and plan for laboratories for chemistry, biology and physics, and more internet resources to supplement classroom teaching

We believe

We believe our work with St. Andre’s for four decades is exactly what Jesus has called us to do. To care for the poor. To bring hope where there is despair. To bring light where there has been only darkness.

We believe our lives here at home have grown in purpose and satisfaction because of the opportunities given us in Haiti to provide hope for the poorest of the poor.

We believe in miracles, because we have seen the Holy Spirit at work at St. Andre’s.

We believe there’s more to do, and much more love to share and receive.

We ask

If you would share in the wonder and joy of St. Andre’s, we would gratefully receive your financial gifts. We consider all gifts, whatever the amount, to be major gifts. Every cent will go straight to St. Andre’s priorities through the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti. Other than bank transfer fees, there are no administrative costs charged by St. Dunstan’s. Ever.

To donate, simply click below. Or, if you would like to send a check, please make it payable to St. Dunstan’s and write “For St. Andre’s” or “Haiti” on the memo line and mail it to the church at:

St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church
28005 Robinson Canyon Road
Carmel, CA 93923.

Or come see us in person. On a Sunday or a week day, we welcome you.

St. Dunstan’s is a non-profit corporation registered with the IRS.

Donate to support St. Andre’s

Mèsi, Thank you!

2025 Receipts and Expenses

Fall Fundraisers	$65,186.00
Spring Fundraisers	$58,657.13
St. Dunstan’s Foundation	$15,000.00
St. Dunstan’s Church	$7,000
Handmade for Haiti	$4,636.10
Amazon Smile and Benevity	$10,380.00
Other	$1,568.78
Total	$162,428.01