The Forgotten Island: Why La Gonâve Became Our Home

In the early days after the 2010 earthquake, I would go to an internet café in Port-au-Prince every few days. It was the only way I could reassure my family back home that I was safe.

One afternoon, while waiting for a computer, I struck up a conversation with a man who listened to me describe the work I was doing. He smiled and said, “You should see La Gonâve.”

I had never heard of it before. Locals called it the forgotten island — a place apart from the mainland, quiet and rural, often overlooked by both the government and aid organisations. His words planted a seed of curiosity.

First Impressions of La Gonâve

A short while later, I travelled with him to the island. We stayed with his aunt, who welcomed me with warmth, and soon I was introduced to the mayor of Anse-à-Galets, the island’s largest town.

I remember my first impressions vividly. The streets were calm compared to Port-au-Prince. Few cars. People walked on foot, travelled by donkey, or balanced three to a motorbike. Life moved at a slower rhythm.

It was beautiful — the ocean views, the hills, the sense of community. But beneath that beauty, I saw deep challenges.

The Needs of the Island

In Anse-à-Galets, more than half of the children were not attending school. Across Haiti at that time, the literacy rate hovered around 62% — meaning nearly half the country could not read or write. On La Gonâve, the reality was even harsher.

If education was a struggle in Port-au-Prince, it was a crisis here.

I knew immediately: this was the place where my work needed to begin.

The Decision to Stay

There were many reasons. Port-au-Prince was overwhelming — crowded, chaotic, and already full of aid groups trying to respond to the earthquake. I didn’t want to be one more foreigner caught in the rush.

La Gonâve was different. It felt safer, more open, and more in need of a school that could truly belong to the community. And on a personal level, I simply fell in love with the island.

That decision — to stay on La Gonâve — shaped everything that followed. It led me to TiTen at the well, the boy who became our first student. It led to the creation of our first class of 12 children, learning around a single table. And it led to the school that still stands today

The forgotten island became the foundation of Greater Good Haiti’s story.

La Gonâve is still one of the most underserved places in Haiti. But it is also where lives are being changed through education every single day.

Sometimes the places the world overlooks are exactly where the most powerful stories begin.