The learning center

EVTEC Computer Learning Center

A free computer classroom in Pilar. Students come to learn, and to reach colleges and jobs far from the island.

A student with headphones types at a laptop in the container classroom

What students do here

Students with headphones on work at their laptops

English, math and typing

Lessons each student takes at their own pace, with a teacher in the room.

A boy with earphones works at a laptop

Websites and code

From first games made with code to building real web pages.

A row of students typing at laptops

College and work

Schoolwork, online courses, and applications for scholarships and jobs.

The learning center, a white shipping container under a thatched roof, with the EVTEC sign in front
The container classroom with the EVACE name on its side
A painter finishing the EVACE name on the side of the container
The building

A classroom that rides out typhoons.

The center is a shipping container, anchored to the ground and air-conditioned, with a shaded porch and an internet connection.

“After the class, many of the students asked if we could hold classes every day of the week.”

Oliver Dahl, after the very first class

Children gathered around a laptop at a table outside the center
Students standing in front of the mural they painted inside the classroom
A student at her laptop in the container classroom

The learning center, year by year

  1. January 2017

    The first classes

    Laptops arrive with a winter visit, and the first classes are held in a borrowed hall.

  2. November 2017

    Evening classes fill up

    Students come after school and share laptops two and three at a time.

  3. June 2018
    A green shipping container on the back of a truck

    A shipping container arrives

    It will become a classroom that can ride out a typhoon.

  4. August 2018
    A painter finishing the EVACE name on the side of the container

    Building the classroom

    Windows are cut in, walls are framed, the EVACE name is painted by hand and a thatched roof goes over the top.

  5. October 2018
    The finished learning center with a yellow ribbon tied across the front

    Opening day

    A yellow ribbon across the door, and students paint the walls inside.

  6. November 2018
    A row of students with headphones at laptops inside the container classroom

    Daily classes begin in the container

  7. 2019

    EVTEC reaches Haiti

    Two more container classrooms open on the island of La Gonâve.

  8. December 2019
    Students in EVACE shirts and Santa hats in front of the EVTEC sign

    The students' Christmas party

  9. 2023
    Students at laptops down both sides of the container classroom

    A full room again

  10. 2024
    Children running on the grass in front of the learning center

    The center today

    Children play on the lawn outside between classes.

  11. 2026

    Ten years of EVACE

An adult learner types at a laptop in the container classroom
A clinic nurse talks with a family

Help keep the classroom running.

Gifts pay for laptops, the internet connection and the teacher.

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