École Lakay Project

The Canadian Construction Association together with its partners Builders without Borders and the Association de la construction du Québec are rebuilding École Lakay, a Port-au-Prince, Haiti, based trade school damaged by the January 2010 earthquake. Besides having an opportunity to learn a trade, students receive a hot meal three times a day, can take a bath, have clean clothes supplied and a safe place to sleep. While the original school’s capacity was only 80 students, the new school will span 2,100 m2 and be able to accommodate 200 students. Over $1.4 million has been raised for this project.

École Lakay Update (November 2012)

Preparing for Contract Signing

The project management team for the École Lakay project, led by Paul Charette, CCA Past Chair and Chairman of the Board of Bird Construction, continues to meet on a regular basis to finalize various details relating to the project. They will be travelling to Haiti in early December to meet with the Rinaldi Foundation, the preferred contractor for the project, and the site supervisor to formalize the scope of work and the contract price and to prepare the contract documents for signature

New Donations

The school project doubled in size from its initial design, to better meet the needs of the many young people who attend the school. Members of the Canadian Institute for Steel Construction have reconfirmed their donations-in-kind of the structural and reinforcing steel, and an additional boost to the project occurred during a recent event by the Association de la construction du Quebec, where additional pledges were made by individual members and matched by the association.

École Lakay Update (September 2011)

The project management team for the École Lakay project has been meeting diligently the past two months via conference call and face-to-face meetings wherever possible. 

Update on School Capacity and Size

Through their communications with the school owners and management - the Rinaldi Foundation and the Salesian Order/ Mission - it has been determined that following a needs assessment (functional plan), the school now must service a population of some 150 students. Previously, the school held only 80 students.

A new design calls for a 2,200 square metre complex with concrete clock on the first floor and a steel frame on the second. The structure consists of an L-shaped building (i.e. building A) and a smaller square building joined via a roof that fits inside the L-shape (i.e. building B).

Additional Fundraising Underway

As one can imagine, the increased size of the project has raised the cost to approximately $1.3 million. Thanks to continuing donations, an additional $130,000 dollars has already been pledged, and another $100,000 is expected. Further fundraising efforts are underway in order to ensure that the school is built to the satisfaction of the Canadian construction industry.

Next Mission in Mid-September

Although the scope of the project has increased, the project management team is confident in its design, and its functional plan.  The geo-tech report has been completed and reviewed, and during the upcoming mission to Haiti, the task force will meet with possible contractors and begin the selection process of site supervisors.

Further updates and pictures will be available following the upcoming mission, which is taking place the week of September 18, 2011.

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Overwhelming Generosity Helps Exceed Fundraising Goal to Rebuild a Trade School  in Haiti (April 2011)

On January 12, 2010, a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti. Centered less than 25 kilometers from its capital, Port-au-Prince, it left as many as 250,000 people dead and more than 300,000 injured. The earthquake damaged more than 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings.

École Lakay, a trade school located near Port-au-Prince, was seriously damaged. The École Lakay Project saw Canadian Construction Association (CCA) work together with the Association de la construction du Québec, British Columbia Construction Association, Builders without Borders, as well as The Rinaldi Foundation in Haiti to raise funds to rebuild the school whose graduates, through learning construction trades, will be in prime position to help rebuild their home country.

École Lakay Project Moves to the Next Phase

The original fundraising goal of $500,000 to rebuild École Lakay was reached during CCA’s Annual Conference in Hawaii. In a touching demonstration of generosity over $300,000 was raised during the Closing Gala, bringing the total funds raised by CCA and its École Lakay Project partners to over $600,000. CCA’s Chair Dee Miller expressed her appreciation for the donations that came in from all over Canada.  “Our members’ generosity is heart-warming,” she said. “Many of our members have held fundraisers and donated to this very worthy cause.”

The project is now moving on to the next phase. A project team is being assembled and is expected to travel to Haiti in mid-May. We will keep you updated on the École Lakay Project’s progress.