A talented young footballer from the Lycée national de La Saline, Réginald Estimé went missing two days before his participation in the Kako’s Kids interschool tournament won by his school
Réginald Estimé had been reported missing when his comrades from the national high school of La Saline won the first edition of an interschool football tournament organized by the Kako’s Kids association at the Turgeau sports center on March 23, 2024.
Réginald Estimé, student from La Saline national high school, missing since February 2024.
Disappearing two days before the start of the competition, Estimé has still not been found more than two months later, in a context where bandits – and sometimes the police – make the bodies of victims of armed violence disappear.
Also read: “Kafou lanmò” are multiplying in Port-au-Prince
Estimé was a second grade student and one of the talents on the winning team.
“His disappearance really impacted us, as well as the members of management, the students and the players,” Patrick Pierre Louis, coach of the La Saline national high school, explains to AyiboPost.
The coach of the Lycée national de La Saline team, Patrick Pierre Louis, in an interview with AyiboPost during their victory in the final, March 23, 2024.
Banditry makes life difficult in the slums, and young people, often without prospects, fall into armed violence.
“It’s a young person I know,” laments the coach. “I take the responsibility to say that he was not a bandit and unfortunately, he disappeared in a situation which is not clarified,” he assumes.
The captain of the La Saline national high school, Richard Joseph, regrets Estimé’s non-participation in the competition.
His passing really impacted us, as well as the members of management, the students and the players.
– Patrick Pierre Louis
“He was a very talented left-hander,” Joseph continues. “His disappearance is one of the reasons for our motivation to win this tournament.”
Before the final won against Saint-Georges College in the penalty shootout, the high school students encountered difficulties in training and traveling from the La Saline district to the Turgeau gymnasium.
The captain of the Lycée national de La Saline team, Richard Joseph, in an interview with AyiboPost during their victory in the final on March 23, 2024.
“Because of the gangs who create panic in the area, we sometimes cannot travel to come and play,” says Captain Joseph.
For more than three years, the high school had to close its doors following a massacre perpetrated in the locality on the night of November 13 to 14, 2018.
According to a United Nations report, at least 26 people were killed. This figure remains conservative, according to observers. The youngest victim was only ten months old and the oldest was 72 years old.
Still according to the United Nations, at least two cases of gang rape have been recorded. The report specifies that the residents of La Saline were “allegedly targeted for their supposed affiliation with rival armed gangs”.
Also read: Testimonies, investigations… understanding the massacres that occurred at La Saline
La Saline high school resumed activities on its premises in January 2022.
More than a year later, due to persistent armed conflicts in the area, the institution was forced to relocate to the premises of the Toussaint Louverture high school.
But on February 29, 2024, the coalition of armed groups “Live Together» launched a major attack across much of the Haitian capital, forcing schools to close their doors.
Ralph Rameau, Director of the Lycée de La Saline, takes the floor to, among other things, congratulate the players of his team for winning the first edition of the “Kako’s Kids” interschool competition, on March 23, 2024.
The area housing the Toussaint Louverture high school is now under the control of armed groups.
At this time, it is difficult to say when and how school activities will resume in these areas.
Richard Joseph, a student at La Saline high school, calls on the authorities: “There is no country without education. It is urgent that those responsible make decisions so that the situation changes and we can return to school.”
The first edition of the competition was organized by the Kako’s Kids association, under the direction of comedian Jacques Borjourly (Kako).
Comedian Jacques (Kako) Borjourly about to celebrate victory with the winning team of the first edition of the competition, the Lycée national de La Saline, on March 29, 2024.
Kako had initially planned for sixteen schools to participate, but only thirteen were able to take part in the exercise due to insecurity.
The competition lasted approximately two months and several trophies were distributed.
Furthermore, Kako announced to AyiboPost that two players from the championship will receive scholarships to study first year at Quisqueya University.
Par Kervens Merisema
Cover image published by AyiboPost illustrating the emotion aroused by the disappearance of the young schoolboy Réginald Estimé among the members of the Lycée national de La Saline team and the management of the institution.
Watch this AyiboPost report, published in April 2024, on the “Kako’s Kids” interschool tournament won by the Lycée de La Saline:
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