Party Planning

Plans for the 4th Annual Flavors of Haiti are underway! As we prepare for our one fundraising event of the year, we try to consider ways to make the event meaningful, inviting and fun. We want to raise funds, and we want our guests to feel energized and enthusiastic and educated about the impact their support makes.

These critical components of party-planning are also basics in community building. As we have worked to build a school, we have worked to build community in Atlanta with our three-church partnership and to build community with our friends in Haiti.  We are excited, enthusiastic and energized! We celebrate the new friendships, relationships, understandings and potential for the future that these years have provided. 

We invite you to come to the Party! April 15th, 5:30-7:30pm. Meet the person who founded the EcoVillages.  Hear the leader who inspired us to build the school.  Learn about the families who have hope because of the communities that support them.

Building from Bricks to Business Development

As we begin our fifth year with our school project, we celebrate the accomplishments and the beautiful school that is central to the lives of the EcoVillages.

We also recognize the impact of the crippling poverty on these families.  They work hard and struggle to find ways to provide income for themselves and for supporting the school.

We realize the key to the future of the school is the ability of the families to become self-sufficient.  We need business-minded friends to share their ideas and expertise with us as we search for ways to support the work of the families.

Gather with others to share food, friendship and your ideas.  Join us to apply what you know to the challenging situation facing the people of the EcoVillages.

Dinner and Brainstorming, Saturday, January 20, 2018, 7:00p-8:30pm

For more info or to RSVP: sowseedsofhope@gmail.com by Jan. 17

Give a gift to Tanisha and Djemima and all our friends in School in Haiti

Today please remember our special friends and partners in Haiti.  The children who now attend school are relying on your help to continue in their studies and create productive, meaningful lives. They have hope and faith because you have helped them.  Won't you help them today?

Tenacious Tanisha

View fullsize

As Chris and Scott were walking through village 5 with Jean and Michael, we heard music playing on a radio--the first radio we had heard in the EcoVillages. Electric power is not available and batteries are expensive, so few villagers have radios. This radio was connected to a solar panel for power. On this trip Chris had brought six hybrid radios powered by hand cranks and built-in solar panels to give to MPP, one for each of six the EcoVillages. 

We followed the music to a house where a mom and dad were sitting on their front porch with a young girl, Tanisha. Tanisha was sitting in an improvised wheel chair constructed using a bicycle handle and pedals. Her mom explained her daughter Tanisha could not walk because she was severely injured in the January 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince. She was buried in the rubble for 3 days before being rescued. In addition to not being able to walk, Tanisha also appears to be unable to speak. We believe the music playing on the radio was to entertain Tanisha.

Tanisha's presence and courage are a constant reminder that every Villager 7 years old and older survived that terrible earthquake. Each person has scars of the trauma, visible or invisible. Each person lost a family member or loved one on that day.

In helping these former city dwellers find ways to recover from the disaster, we are also engaged in humanitarian assistance and in development. With tenacity and courage, we travel together towards hope and brighter futures.

by Scott Grosse and Carolyn French

Report from Day 2

Our second full day in the Central Plateau was our opportunity to visit the EcoVillage school and see the progress that has been made.  The first thing we noticed was the new gate and fence that surrounds the school. 

View fullsize

Upon entering the school yard, we see the 2 new classrooms and a storeroom for the kitchen.  We hear sounds of students reciting their lessons and so we quietly make our way to the school director's office making an effort not to be a disturbance.

View fullsize

The students are in classes from 8am-10am, and this is a good time to interview the school director, Romain Exil.  We learn that the school has 172 students enrolled in grades PreK - 6th grade.  The enrollment breaks down like this:

• PreK &  Kindergarten - 33 students
• 1st grade - 34students
• 2nd grade - 29 students
• 3rd grade - 23 students
• 4th grade - 30 students
• 5th grade - 15 students
• 6th grade - 8 students

The two new classrooms are being used for the 5th and 6th grades.

We talked about the new video system being installed.  MPP has partnered with an organization which provides instructional video systems to public schools. The organization providing the system has certain requirements, including security, which motivated the construction of the fence around the school yard.  We saw the beginnings of installation of the system which will be run off solar power.

Romain was excited to hear about the book project going on now at our churches in Atlanta.  He asked that the books be printed in the US and transported to the school if there is a way to do that without high shipping costs.  He would like books in both Kreyol and French side-by-side, primarily for beginning readers. 

We discussed the likelihood of 'nationalizing' the school, which means the government will pay the teachers' salaries and possibly other costs.  The director told us that the government has provided some furniture to the school and has conducted on-site inspections.  The director has worked with MPP to create a dossier for the staff and school which will be submitted to the government.  He admits that nationalization is a political process but is hopeful that they can make it happen.

We presented Romain with a framed photo of the students in front of the school taken by David Diener during our April 2017 trip.  He immediately sought out a spot on his office wall to proudly display the photo.  We also delivered colored paper donated by Good Shepherd which was greatly appreciated.

The students break for lunch from 10am - 10:30am eating in shifts in the cafeteria.  This day the kitchen staff has prepared a hot meal of beans.

The lunch break was the perfect time to get an updated photo of the student body standing in front of the school. 

View fullsize

While Chris setup for the photo, Scott interviewed students asking about the hopes and dreams for the future.  It was satisfying to be able to spend a little time interacting with the children.

After the children returned to class, we decided to tour the large garden beyond the school.  We learned that the vegetable garden adjacent to the school is fallow because the ground was too wet to cultivate. We walked through the gap in the fence through which the path to the outhouse goes, then down the hill and up the next hillside to where the fields start. We walked through a field planted with sweet potato vines, then a field newly planted with moringa. We kept walking and came to a field where two men were cultivating. We were told that that land was cultivated by people in village 1. We then walked back toward the school and saw an ox, which we learned belongs to the school. We also walked through fields planted with peas.

It is wonderful to report that everything is noticeably greener and lusher that we observed on previous trips.  More of the land is being cultivated, and there is no evidence that recent hurricanes provided anything other than needed rainfall.

by Chris Calia

Haitian Students Love Math!

Scott Grosse and Jean Lindor interviewed some of the children at the school during the lunch break Wednesday. They asked the students to tell them what their favorite school subject is and what they want to be when they grow up.

View fullsize

 

Dorcelis Chalinda especially likes math.

 

She wants to study to be a medical doctor and take care of children.

 

View fullsize

 

Bienaime Louisky also likes math best.

He wants to become a civil engineer and build roads throughout Haiti.

 

Other children agreed that their favorite subject is math. Desired occupations listed include nurse, accountant, pilot, and plumber. 

by Scott Grosse

Enterprising Farmer

View fullsize

Carel Sinfinice lives in village 4. At the end of our visit to the school gardens on day 2 (Wednesday), Carel chased us down to invite us to come see his farm. 

He took us to the Community Center where the floor was covered with recently harvested peanuts.

View fullsize

We also saw wooden beehive boxes presumably used for honey production and pollination of the vegetable garden. Then Carel proudly showed us a mature cassava field that he cultivates. Next to that was a MPP moringa project nursery protected by a fence and roof.

View fullsize

Carel also has built a pig pen where we saw a female and 6 piglets.  He said that he recently sold a pig to pay school fees for his three older children who are attending university.

View fullsize

Carel is married to Annette who works as the Kitchen manager at the EcoVillage school.  They have six children.  Their fortitude proves that people in the villages can provide more than a subsistence living for their families.

by Chris Calia

Some greetings you carry in your heart for months

The children greeting their guests from Atlanta and Boston. They are so proud of their school and so eager to share their joy and love.

Report from Day 1

Chris Calia and Scott Grosse are representing Atlanta’s EcoVillage School Partnership during meetings in Haiti with our partners, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP).  Here’s a brief report on their first day.

They delivered and assembled a sewing machine. This brings the total to 6 machines.

Chris made friends with a fellow wood worker during his last visit.  He delivered some modern tools as a gift.

They watched the children play corn hole using a game donated in 2015.

They witnessed early stages of agricultural projects that we have funded. Proceeds from the projects are earmarked for support of the school. They saw fields of cassava and peanuts as well as goat husbandry projects.

They collected information to guide our book purchases that have been funded by book drives at our churches.

They worked out arrangements for the visit to Atlanta by Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, who will speak with our supporters during our spring fund-raising.

The meetings continue through Wednesday. 

Considering connections

They arrived safely at MPP. "Hillside is nice and green." No access to send further information.

We are cozy in our safe homes with clean, fresh water, abundant power for lights in every space and multiple devices connected and streaming constant information from around our planet.  In Colladere Haiti, it is not so. And yet...

I close my eyes and hear the children laughing, see them running with grins and joyful chatter.  I smell the soil, the flowers, the countryside bursting with vegetation and life.  I know what our delegation to the EcoVillages is sensing: love, acceptance, courage and purposeful drive to embrace the day.

Perhaps we need to daily examine our cozy, connected lives.  Where do you find your purpose? Where is the poverty in your life?

Planning with Partners

This week, Oct. 16-20, delegates are gathering from UUSC in Boston and The Haiti EcoVillage School Partners (formerly known as Atlanta Church Group). They are traveling to The EcoVillages to meet with the Executive Team at MPP to discuss plans for the coming year. 

Scott Grosse and Chris Calia, from Atlanta, will be sending news updates and photos as the internet connections allow. 

This time together builds our bonds, enhances our connections and strengthens our goals as we enter our last year of building the classrooms for our school.  

Follow their journey and keep the families and friends of the EcoVillages in your heart and mind.

Bracing for Irma

My brother Sam French and his family have lived near the beach in Puerto Rico for 45 years.  Many hurricanes have passed over.  For the first time, they may face an evacuation order today as Irma bears down. There is fear in PR.  My extended family is full of anxiety for their safety. 

After Puerto Rico, Irma will visit Hispaniola. 

The EcoVillages of the central plateau of Haiti are about to be hit if current projections bear out.  The good news is that the 60 families should be safe in their reinforced concrete homes.  They have a school that opened this week for the new year.  Now, every grade has their own classroom.  The Haiti EcoVillage School Partnership has partnered with them to improve their lives in this way.

The news may not be so good for their livelihoods.  Families live garden-to-mouth from the food they grow in the ½ acre outside their front doors.  Mark Hare describes their gardens as “their grocery store, pantry and refrigerator combined.”

In addition, each village has planted new cash crops of moringa or cassava & peanuts, while 3 villages have built enclosures and bought goats to raise funds to support the school.  Our partnership has funded these cash crops by providing loans through their credit union. 

When hurricane Mathew devastated the western part of Haiti 10 months ago, winds were strong enough in the central plateau to disturb their gardens and make it harder to feed their families.  Irma is on a more direct path.  I can only imagine the fear in Haiti, too.  I feel anxiety for their well-being.

In April we met all of the women of the EcoVillage households as Jeanine Calia shook hands with each as she passed out gift boxes sent from women in Atlanta.  Everyone of village women is a survivor of the 2010 earthquake (and years in tent cities) that deprived them of everything they had.  Their faces show the strain from living always on the edge. They are tough. They are resilient. They will survive Irma, too.  The unknown is what toll it will take on them.

I invite you, as you go through your day, to think of these friends.  See their faces in your mind. Embrace their fear with them. I admire their toughness, their resilience. I will accompany them as best I can from the comforts of my home.  And, when the storm moves on toward our homeland and we feel the fear and anxiety for ourselves, I will remember them.  I hope you will, too.

Gordon French