The Anís Zunúzí Baháʼí School is a Baháʼí School near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which began in 1980.[1] It reached the point of offering classes K through 10th grade.[2] The building survived the 2010 Haiti earthquake[3] and was the site of a clinic during the relief effort.[4][5]18°37′03″N 72°14′56″W / 18.61750°N 72.24889°W / 18.61750; -72.24889
The Anís Zunúzí Baháʼí School (Ecole Baháʼíe Anís Zunúzí), named for the companion who suffered execution with the Báb, began classes in 1980 and grew into a K-9 primary and secondary school, serving 232 students by 1983,[1] 270 by 1988.[6] For a time the secondary school program was closed to focus on K-4th primary school offerings.[7] The secondary program re-opened in September 2004 and has added one class per year since then and by 2009 the school was a K-10 school (intending on becoming a full high school and offering national exams.)[2] Its initial funding and operating budget for years came from a Belgian Baháʼí family. [1] The student population comes mostly from no- to low-income families, and most students are only paying minimal or no fees to attend the school.[8] It follows the national curriculum but also provides moral education and English classes. It is situated on about three acres of land in what has become a suburb several miles north east of Port-au-Prince proper (and a few miles north west of Croix-des-Bouquets.)[9]
When the school was established, the area was rural and underdeveloped. A 220 V power line was brought in from Bon Repos to provide the school with electricity, and the first telephone line reached the school only in 1989.[10] An artesian well was drilled and provided drinking water to the school as well as to the public through a pipe ending at a fountain at the Bon Repos-Beudet road. In October 1982 Rúhíyyih Khanum, a Hand of the Cause, a position of prominence in the Baháʼí Faith, presided at the official inauguration ceremony for the school.[11] The initial board of directors were Counsellor Farzam Arbab, Dr. Nabil Hanna, Benjamin Levy, Dr. Iraj Majzub and Georges Marcellus.[12] The first school principal came from Germany in 1980 (Hans J Thimm, later of Union School, Haiti.[3][13]). Current directors are Sue and Yves Puzo.
The area has been built up with private homes and businesses[10] and the school has been broken into twice forcing security infrastructure additions.[7] The arable land in the vicinity of the school is no longer being worked due to lack of water and lack of initiative on the part of the youth who prefer to find other means of employment that are easier or more lucrative. The Mona Foundation has supported the school with funding for support of satellite schools, scholarships, regular summer camps, and general funding as well as acting as a mediator of larger scale funding for infrastructure improvements.[2]
The program at the school involves:[7]
The school has acted as a base of a number of development projects:[16]
The school has a Facebook presence.[3] In September 2009 there was filming for a documentary about Mona Foundation projects including the Anís Zunúzí school.[25][26][27][28][29]
The principal of the Anís Zunúzí School reported on January 17, 2010 that the school buildings were generally still standing after the 2010 Haiti earthquake[3] and its staff were cooperating in relief efforts and sharing space and support with neighbors.[30] A clinic was run at the school by a medical team from the United States and Canada.[4] The group has since organized under the name Love for Haiti; it had organized spontaneously, largely through Facebook.[5] The group gave a presentation on their Haiti experience at St. Matthews Parish Hall in Hoboken, NJ on Feb. 18, and returned to Haiti in March. The group included one photo journalist.[31]
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