At the request of the Municipality of Leogane Habitat for Humanity and Architecture for Humanity are collaborating with the local community to create an urban infrastructure that will support the settlement of a starter home village, schools, health facilities, recreation and community spaces as well as opportunities for commercial development at Santo, near Leogane. The project was supported during the initial stages by local planning company, SODADE, who helped facilitate community engagement and review the design process.
Each of these urban infrastructure components in addition to fulfilling their specific functional goals will each serve a communty building role as well. The school component of this community consists of a primary and secondary school. During specific discussions of schools with local teachers, the need to reach out to both parents and other residents alike on the importance of education was emphasized. The Santo Schools will educate not only their students but the community as a whole, forming an anchor of civic life. The school’s siting along one of two planned ecological corridors”(large public spaces running through the site) puts it in prime location for fulfilling this role.
These schools are critical to the improvement of the Santo Community Development Plan. and need funding for them to be realized.
