(ANS – Madrid) – Tomorrow, 8 October Her Royal Highness Queen Sophia of Spain will arrive in Gressier, a few miles from the epicentre of the earthquake which devastated Haiti in January 2010, to open the Salesian school build with funds from the Salesian Missions in Madrid and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID), thanks to the solidarity of the Spanish people.

Queen Sophia is leaving for Haiti today Friday 7 October, to give her support to several projects of cooperation, reconstruction and education in a country still picking itself up after the effects of the earthquake in January 2010.

This school is for children and young people from neighbouring villages. During her visit Queen Sophia will open the primary and the secondary schools and two hostels for abandoned or orphaned children. Covering a total of 7000 m², its main purpose is certainly education, but not only that. As Olga Regueira, a co-worker of the Salesians in Haiti says, “We want them to learn by playing.”

Even after the official opening, the Gressier centre will not be fully complete. Still being built are a multi-purpose hall and an agricultural school which will also have four hostels for students who want to follow a vocational training course.

Published 07/10/2011