The initiative aims to address the immediate and short term needs of the country’s children in the aftermath of the catastrophic 7.3 magnitude earthquake which struck Haiti on 13 January 2010. So far 3.5 million people have been affected with tens of thousands of people confirmed dead.

Working in collaboration with Save the Children and Plan International, both of which are established aid organisations in Haiti, SchoolAid will develop programs to guarantee the rights of the children of Haiti with an emphasis on water and sanitation, health, education, shelter and child protection.

SchoolAid founder and former school principal Sean Gordon said “Children are often the most vulnerable in disasters like this, with families, homes, schools and communities torn apart.

“The most important step is to restore children’s lives to some sort of routine as soon as possible. This is most often in the form of returning them to school.”