Traces the author's journey as a Black Caribbean immigrant from Haiti to the United States. Describes the underlying factors that led to the author's relocation in the U.S. diaspora while at the same time examining the ways in which the author has been racially and linguistically positioned. The author further explains the negotiation of this position. The author's immigrant story is situated in the larger U.S. sociopolitical, linguistic, and racial context where immigrants, particularly immigrants of color, have faced many challenges.
Examines the impact of remittances on the schooling of children in various Haitian communities with a high incidence of out-migration. In some communities remittances raise school attendance for all children regardless of whether they have household members abroad. In other communities this effect is observed only among children living in households that do not experience any family out-migration.
Discusses the imperative to establish a functioning education system and explores how the earthquake exacerbated perennial challenges to the Haitian education system, while also perhaps offering some hope. Analyzes reconstruction efforts involving the Government of Haiti and such organizations as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, arguing that an education system premised on local ownership and focused on sustainability is Haiti's best hope.
Demonstrate how the priority of education in Cuban social policy, from its outset after the 1959 revolution, has privileged women. Statistics chart the rapid increase in educational level and attainment over the decades and the high degree of feminization of higher education and thus the skilled labor force; and today Cuba ranks among the countries with the highest indicators in the United Nations' Millennium Goals with respect to education and gender equity.