There is a little light shining in the troubled country of Haiti.
If you look at a map of the island, on the Haitian side, it looks like
a giant alligator about to gobble up a fish. That "fish" is La Gonave, an
island off of Port o Prince.
Fifteen years ago a school was founded there with the progressive
tenants that we take for granted here in the United States.
At the
Matenwa Community Learning Center, children are taught in their mother tongue (creole) instead of french which is the language of the government, not spoken by most Haitians. They are taught french as well.
There is no corporal punishment (common in Haitian schools)
and children are encouraged to have opinions, speak up, and engage in
interactive learning. These methods that we take for granted
are radical in Haitian schools. MCLC has soldiered on and flourished
against all odds for fifteen years.
Meanwhile the need is great. Children eat one meal a day.
One meal a day.
Women and children walk down the mountain to gather water and carry it
back up a steep hill in jugs on their heads.
So back to the school. Lacking paper, children write with chalk on small
blackboards. There were no books until recently.
Through partnerships with Boston area schools, books are
written and illustrated by kids here, translated into creole,
and sent to the children at Matenwa; most of whom have
You will hear more about this project on this forum. I am on a
committee whose goal it is to encourage local schools to support MCLC in
a variety of ways. This relationship between schools already exists in some cases but more schools in the Boston area are interested in developing a partnership with Matenwa. We hope to help them do that. Teaching children here about life and culture in Haiti is good for them and has the potential to open minds and raise money to help the children there.
Look at the faces on the kids who are holding a book for the first time!
If you know me at all, you know why I am so excited about this!