In the town of Gros Morne, Haiti, about 4 hours north of Port-au-Prince, sits a 2-story school building that is over 100 years old. Solidly built, it easily weathered the 2010 earthquake that devastated the capital. Sure, its stone stairs show the wear from thousands of student feet, its walls need paint, and it desperately needs new latrines—but this is the one and only all-girls school in the region, boasting 500 girls and a record of graduating them into the better high school in town. St. Gabriel’s is a proud landmark to girls’ education in a country where extreme poverty keeps many girls from school. Mercy Beyond Borders gave its first grant of $5,000 to the school in August 2011 for general operating expenses. In addition, Mercy Beyond Borders is awarding high school scholarships to the top graduating female in each of 16 primary schools in the Gros Morne region (including St. Gabriel’s).

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