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In Montgomery County, prestigious private schools compete for some of the area's top students. In Haiti, a rural Catholic school competes to keep their students fed.

But with the help of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Silver Spring, the Haitian town of Baraderes has a secondary school that's a model for the country: 95 percent of students at the school passed the national exam, compared to 20 percent nationally.

Cynthia Norris, director of social concerns for the church, was part of a medical mission that recently returned from Haiti. She said the reasons for the school's success are clear: The teachers care, they get paid regularly and students can rely on a hot meal at school.

"Many students walk hours to get their school," Norris said. "They carry shoes on their backs because they don't want their shoes to get worn out."

"They truly love to learn," she said.

For 16 years, members of St. John the Baptist have brought medical supplies and educational materials to their sister parish in Baraderes, a rural community in western Haiti where residents make an average of $75 a year.

For Baraderes' children, the little things – like a French-English translation book – bring joy. "The students went crazy," Norris said.

In addition to traditional offerings, the school offers trade programs, including carpentry, baking and embroidery, to prepare students for the workplace. Norris said attending college often means leaving their close-knit community to go the capital city of Port-au-Prince, where students must find their own housing. Vocational programs allow students to live closer to Baraderes.

The Rev. Pierre Pascal Pierre, a former Catholic church official in Baraderes, said in an e-mail that the Silver Spring church plays a large role in the community. When someone offers to help build a school, they are helping build the future, he said.

The villagers often associate Americans with being rich, Pierre said.

"But when you take time to explain to them, they understand that the members are people who like God and because they are Christian, they share what they have with the [world's poor]," he said.

For members of the medical mission, just getting to Baraderes is a challenge as they try to weave past rural roads and government corruption. The village is 35 to 40 miles off road.

Oftentimes, Norris said corrupt officials leave roadblocks on their trip, especially in Port-au-Prince, and often try to tax them, she said.

"If they want to stop you, they'll do it," Norris said. "They'll create a traffic jam in a heart beat."

Other relief efforts

In Cloverly, members of the Cloverly Cubs Kids Care Club are also contributing to relief efforts in Haiti.

Since last spring, club members have collected items including Tylenol, bandages, baby vitamins, toothpaste and toothbrushes and soap. Once collected, a nurse takes the items to Ouanaminthe, a village on the northern tip of Haiti near the border of the Dominican Republic.

The group is currently on its second trip to Haiti. The Cloverly club is comprised of members who attend Cloverly Elementary School.

Angela Edwards, whose daughter Ava is in the club, said the group's involvement in Haiti began with the help of her cousin, Vanessa Battista, a registered nurse in New York. Battista was going to Haiti with a team of nurses to provide health services.

Edwards said helping children in Haiti lets club members know their contributions can make a difference: "They can see all the boxes going in the car. … Their love is going to these children," she said.

Much of the items collected were sent to Danita's Children orphanage in Ouanaminthe, while other items were sent to children in surrounding areas. The Orlando-based nonprofit, founded in 1999, has 75 children living in homes in Haiti.