Starthrower in Haiti Webcomic Fundraiser For Education Program Launched

Starthrower Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of a unique fundraiser to raise funds for the Education Program in Haiti.

Starthrower in Haiti is a web comic, an online version of a graphic novel, created by Dan Lafrance that tells in picture form the story of Starthrower Foundation and Sharon Gaskell's work in Cap-Haitien and Sen Rafayel, Haiti, to sponsor Haitian youth in school.

Begin with the Starthrower in Haiti Welcome page  and the Prologue, which tells the story of Loren Eiseley's The Starthrower in picture form. Follow the Next links to read the full story. The story of daily life in Haiti begins with Home Visits. Use the Next or Previous buttons to read ahead or go back in the story.

New Pages
New pages will be posted Tuesdays and Thursdays from now until Christmas. You can use the Email sign up box on the web comic site to have new pages delivered to your inbox as they are posted. This is done automatically, so your email is not divulged to anyone.

Backgrounder Starthrower in Haiti Webcomic
Dan Lafrance is a Toronto, Canada-based professional storyboard artist who has been working in animation for more than 24 years. Last March, Daniel contacted Starthrower Foundation with his unique fundraising idea to tell its story in a graphic novel format.

Daniel wanted to reach a wider audience and a totally different demographic to tell the story of life in Haiti, and to raise funds to help our students get an education.

After months of meetings and phone and email discussions with Sharon to make sure the graphic novel portrayed Starthrower Foundation as accurately as possible, Daniel began drawing his wonderful pictures.

He enlisted the help of Cassi Fuertez, a talented colorist, for the prologue and the webcomic banner.

How Webcomics Work

The practical business-minded will be asking, "How do webcomics raise funds?" In the webcomic community, creators are shown appreciation by the inclusion of a Tip Jar - a Donate button on the comic pages.

Why not have the webcomic Tip Jar/ Donate button go directly to Starthrower Foundation's Canada Helps page, Dan thought, so all tips would go directly to the Education and Food Distribution programs.

The donate link is on the web comic site, and at the bottom of the web comic email updates.

More Than a Fundraiser

But Starthrower in Haiti is much more than a fundraiser in novel format with lovely images: It is also a fantastic resource for educators everywhere who are looking for ways to teach units about Haiti, charities, and social justice.

If you are a teacher, or know someone who is, send them the link to the web comic. The graphic novel format is appropriate for all ages, and many levels of reading skills.

How You Can Help Raise Awareness

If you enjoy the web comic and appreciate the incredible amount of time and work that has gone into its creation and development, then help spread the word.

Send the web comic link to your contacts that would enjoy reading about life in Haiti. Post the link on your Facebook status and your Twitter feeds and MySpace pages.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Starthrower in Haiti speaks volumes. And though the web comic is scheduled at this time to run for a few short months, the content is evergreen and will be an ongoing, online global resource.

What Next?

Daniel is currently looking for ways to publish Starthrower in Haiti in print form. If you can help, please contact him through the web comic site.

To Daniel and all who supported this project, a big Thank You from Starthrower Foundation!

As much as fundraisers are urgently needed to keep our university students in school after Christmas, and as urgently as funds are needed to re-establish the Food Distribution program, this web comic will be invaluable for helping others understand life in Haiti, and the difference between Charity and Social Justice.

Like It? Comments?

Please take a minute to leave a comment on the web comic site, to show your support or to ask questions or make a comment about a particular issue.

Start Reading

Here's the Welcome Page. Working together, we CAN make a difference!

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Haiti School of Nursing, France Pictures, Trip Colorado & Cap-Haitien, No Internet Lakay

Bonjou tout moun! Hello Everyone!

And welcome back from France, Sister Rosemary and Rosenie! This photo of them was taken at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

And Great News! Last night Auguste, Starthrower's director of education at Lakay Fondasyon, in Cap-Haitien, emailed with wonderful news!

Brunie, Gaby, Wisly and Alland, the four new grads that Starthrower had sent to register and write entrance exams for a Leogane, Haiti, nursing schooll were ALL bon (accepted)! Congratulations, to you all!!

How I wish I could have been at the kay for the cheers that must have resounded! All of us can be very proud of them.

This relatively-new School of Nursing, begun by Haitian-American Hilda Alcindor, has a demanding curriculum, and as we have been disappointed before, we didn't have high hopes for their success.

However, now that all four students have been accepted (you know what is coming!), we now need to find the money to pay for their tuition! I spoke with Auguste briefly this afternoon about the fees for the nursing school.

The total annual cost for each nursing student in residence is $2,000 USD. Comparatively speaking, this is such a small amount needed to do so much good!

Add that to the money needed for our other students in post-secondary: Vincent is still waiting to find out if he will be able to enter third year of the agriculture degree program; Plenitude was accepted at the private university in Port-au-Prince for a degree in electronics, and Casimyr and Osman were accepted at Teacher's College.

These young people are breaking all stereotypes, beating all odds (see Haiti exam results). I often refer to these students as "our kids'. Not mine, but ours. That is because they are children of the universe -- yours and mine. If we don't support them, who will?

There are many wonderful people who contact us, and offer support in whatever way they are able. They are the foundation of our Starthrower community. Blessings to all of you!

UN May 2002
Here's part of a May 2002 presentation to UN General Assembly Special Session on Children by Children's Forum members Gabriela Azurduy Arrieta, then 13, from Bolivia, and Audrey Cheynut, then 17, from Monaco. I re-read it often.

The statement opened as follows:

"We are the World's Children; We are the victims of exploitation and abuse. We are street children; we are the Children of War; We are the victims and orphans of HIV/AIDS. We're denied good quality education and health care. We are the victims of political, economic, cultural, religious and environmental discrimination."

And closed as follows:

"We are not the sources of problems, we are the resources that are needed to solve them. We are not expenses, we are investments. We are not just young people, we are people and citizens of the world. You call us the Future, but we are also the Present."

And even today, in the Toronto Star, Faith reporter Leslie Scrivener wrote a feature on the value in educating girls in developing countries. But in our opinion, all young people deserve an education. See full article here.

Trip to France ~ More Pictures

Here are more pictures that Sister Rosemary took of Rosenie and Nadeg when she accompanied these young Cap-Haitien Haiti students on the trip to the conference in France.

It's still hard to believe that one of our kids from the poorest of Haiti had the opportunity to travel to France!

Thank you, Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto!

And in this photo from a ceremony at the start of the conference, Rosenie and Nadege are adding soil from Haiti to the pot.

When soil from every participating country had been added, all soils were mixed together, and seeds were planted.

By closing day of the two week long peace conference, new plants had sprouted.

What a beautiful lesson: One family, one earth. We all have the same basic needs and same basic mandate.

Boulder Colorado Trip
I returned safely from Boulder, Colorado on Sunday night, after a whirlwind weekend of new faces and experiences at the UN committee fund raiser to support our Potable Water Distribution Program in Haiiti.

Many thanks to Jan and Tom, Ann and Oliver who went out of their way to make certain I arrived and departed all activities on time. (Jan, thanks also for a lovely evening with the board!).

To Nancy and the UNA committee: Thank you again for selecting Starthrower Foundation for this program, and for following through with a beautifully orchestrated event.

Condolences
Our condolences go out to Starthrower Jackie on the death of her mother, Eleanor. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Trip to Haiti End of September
I am making a trip to Cap-Haitien prior to my next surgery, scheduled for October 20. I will leave Toronto on Monday, September 28 and return on Monday, October 5. And yes, I realize that this is almost the exact date that I was airlifted out of Haiti last fall.

Starthrower's friend, and mine, Mme Marjorie, a retired nurse, will travel with me to Cap-Haitien and stay at the house. I know it's a short visit, but this is better than no visit at all. I really want to see staff and students and reassure them that I am very much with them.

Internet Cap-Haitien Down
We've lost internet contact at Lakay in Cap-Haitien. Auguste says that the 'NetGear' component (router) of our internet set up is kase (broken). Hopefully we can get the internet back up and running while I'm there. It appears that it will need services of a technician or a replacement. We really miss it as cell phone international calls are a lot more expensive.

Congratulations once more to all to our students in Haiti who worked so hard to pass their exams, both high school and entrance to post secondary.

To alll Starthrowers, please keep these young people in your thoughts and prayers and pass along their desire to attend post secondary programs to anyone who might be able to help. A little goes a long way ... a lot of 'littles' go even further!

Beni w
Sharon

Texts, Supplies, France trip, University Sponsors, News from Haiti

Bonjou tout moun / Hello Everyone!

Auguste has sent news of what's happening at Lakay Fondasyon, our centre in Cap-Haitien.

Here's the news about the text book program, trip to France, school supplies status, and more high school grads who need sponsors for university.

Supplies In, Backpacks Needed SAP
Two boxes of supplies (school shoes, dental supplies and meds) sent by Mme Cindy in Pennsylvania arrived yesterday (Big Thank You!). We'll distribute them with backpacks to our students. But, we need more (new, please) backpacks. Last September, we used every one we had in stock to replace the ones that students lost in the storms and flooding.

France Trip, Text Book Program
Rosenie leaves for France on Saturday (August 1) to attend the Peace Conference with Sister Rosemary and Nadege. When she gets back to Cap-Haitien, she will resume supervision of the text book repair program, and distribute texts according to students' school book lists, as well as stock students' backpacks with supplies. In September, Rosenie starts classes for her second year of teacher training for Kindergarten (Jardin des Enfants).

While Rosenie is in France, Marlene will manage (degaje) the Text Book restoring/distributing program, then return to Santiago, Dominican Republic, to start classes for her second year of university. Both girls are fortunate to have sponsors for post-secondary studies.

Working on the text book program with Rosenie and Marlene are Christamene, Sherline, Edwina, Modeline and Camios. Claudy has been collecting books in Sen Rafayel and will come down the mountain this weekend to deliver them.

As the volume of work grows, so will the staff: New additions are Micheline, Marie-Modeline and Marie Vonette, who is coming from Sen Rafayel to stay with friends in Cap-Haitien while she is working.

Although Jak is working night security at Lakay Fondasyon while I am in Canada, he still has to do our regular maintenance jobs. On Monday mornings, after being up all night, he stays to set up the weekly work schedule for Dieugrand, Gaby, Kenston and Stephen. Auguste oversees the work and prepares all salaries.

Sponsors for University
On the last blog I profiled Vincent and Plenitude. We are still looking for sponsors for university for both of them.

This week, I am adding Brunie Gilles (05/09/87) to the list of students needing sponsors for university. Brunie graduated from Philo last year, but she was unsuccessful when applying for the nursing program at the State University. She is anxious to reapply this summer.

Brunie has 3 brothers and 2 sisters (Marie-Vonette, who will work on our book program, is a younger sister). Brunie is one of the first students I met my second trip to Haiti so many years ago. Her father has been dead many years now.

Her mom, who worked as a seamstress in the village until arthritis set into her hands and back, and her vision deteriorated, maintains a small garden that does not produce enough food to feed the family. There is no money to pay for school fees. The younger children have never attended school, as the free primary school begun by Sister Cecilia, Sisters of St. Joseph, no longer exists.

Help Break the Cycle of Poverty
Unless change takes place, and these grads have access to higher education, they are destined to live the lives of their parents -- brief and filled with despair. I have been struggling with the reality that a sizable amount of money is needed to support the Haitian youth who have requested Starthrower Foundation sponsorship in post secondary institutions.

Our young people have worked so hard to get through the grueling state exams at the Philo level. Several have been sitting since last year, waiting and hoping -- Plenitude, Brunie, Alland, Wisly, Casimyr, Osman, Line, Johnley.

Vincent (entering 3rd year, and at the top of his class) is waiting to find out if he will be able to finish his Agriculture program. Ten more young adults are waiting results from state finals and all have expressed a desire to go on in post secondary.

Only Game in Town
We know that much of the time, these students have been ill and hungry. Having sponsored them through high school graduation, is Starthrower still 'responsible' for their continuing education? These young people are not just citizens of Haiti -- they are citizens of the world. Right now we are the 'only game in town'. There is just no other option (possibilite).

Starthrower Mission
"The mission of Starthrower Foundation is to raise and distribute funds for the education of youth in San Rafayel and Cap-Haiten, Haiti, who are unable to support themselves and/or who have no family support. All levels of education (elementary, secondary, university, apprenticeships) are worthwhile."

If Starthrower cannot sponsor these young people, and they are not able to attend university or college, then, if they are very lucky, with their high school diploma, they might be able to get a minimum wage paying job ($1.75 USD per DAY).

Sadly, it is not uncommon for daily wages to be paid in kind (crusts of bread, etc) instead of hard currency. However, a minimum wage job, though better than being unemployed, will keep these young graduates mired in the poverty - malnutrition - illness continuum on which they have lived all their lives.

Wages in Haiti
Currently, a Haiti parliamentary bill is on the table to increase the minimum wage to $5 USD per DAY. Given the cost of living (price of rice, beans, oil), those lucky enough to have jobs and receive a salary would still not have a living wage.

In Haiti, staples cost more than they do in the U.S. and Canada. In Canada, the new minimum wage is $10 CAD per HOUR; in the U.S. it's $7.25/HOUR.

Having been privileged to live and work with these young people, I know first hand that they truly are resources and investments in a brighter, healthier future for Haiti as well as themselves. Post secondary training would make the BEST use of the talents, education and experiences of these young people. An educated citizenry is the best hope for Haiti.

To those who have supported and continue to support them, I can only say Thank You, again, from the bottom of my heart.

To those who ask What can I do? Know that every dollar makes a difference when it joins with other dollars.

Working together, One at a time . . .

Thank you for keeping them in your thoughts and prayers.

Kenbe pa lage
Sharon

Haiti School News Sen Rafayel successes, post secondary sponsors needed

Hello Everyone,

This week, staff from Sen Rafayel hand-delivered 5 typed letters from our students there who are finishing Philo (high school) this year. That Sen Rafayel, a poor little village in the mountains, will have high school grads is unheard of!! We should be proud of our part to make this happen, and I thank you all for your support!

Each of these graduating students went to see Guilene (our blind student) and asked her to type on their behalf a request for assistance so that they may attend post secondary schools.

To Don and Cindy and everyone in Pennsylvania who secured the Brailler and typewriter for her, thanks! Guilene has become the village secretary! Bon dye va beni-w. (see website for pictures of Guilene)

The requests for financial assistance are from these students:

• Danius and Jhonley want to become master mechanics, and so will have to go to Port-au-Prince to study study Genie Mecanique.
• Brunie wants to become a nurse, so will have to leave Sen Rafayel, as the village has NO post secondary offerings.
• Casimir and Osman want to study agronomy, so they will need to move to either Limbe or Port-au-Prince to study La Science de l'agronomie.

As well, other students need help with post secondary education:

• Deles and Vincent, our first 2 university students, are completing their first year at the University in Limbe, and will need financial help to continue. Although we can spread our limited resources further for secondary support if we pool the funds, these post grad requests really require one-on-one sponsorship.
• Jhennie is still waiting for a sponsor to send her to study Tourism Administration.
• Frantzy needs a sponsor so he can study Medicine.

Sponsored students Elorge and Marlene will go the Dominican Republic to study intensive Spanish, and then Medicine. Both of their sponsors have approved their out-of-country study.

If we expand our mandate to see these young people through post secondary institutions, they will truly be in a position to affect change their country. The elite 1% still has a stranglehold on the country. That must change for Haiti to flourish.

For example, Marlene finally had breast surgery yesterday. We have been waiting for this surgery for almost a year. I received a phone call at 8 pm last night saying she had arrived home (by taxi; we had sent Daniel and Jackson to bring her from Milot back home to Cap-Haitien). The hospital in Milot was unable to keep her, as it is on short staff due to the Easter Holiday.

We recently purchased beds and mosquito nets for 3 of our young people -- Dieunet, Jean Ricot, Nandecie -- as each of them had suffered multiple bouts of Malaria this year. We do what we can one person at a time.

We will try to meet the demand, if possible, but housing, of course, is another, great challenge. Often in their ti kay-yo (rented rooms), there is insufficient space for a single bed. Dieumane moved into a new room this week, so she is next on the list for a bed. Auguste and I visited it last week with some of our Canadian visitors.

Her new room is just a cement box without windows, but at least it is out of the swamp she was in before this. Houses are available for purchase in Haiti, but (again) red tape and lack of funds make this virtually impossible.

These are the stats courtesy Paul Farmer, writing in his book The Uses of Haiti

There are 1.2 doctors, 1.3 nurses, 0.04 dentists for every 10,000 (Haitians), in the U.S., there are 27.9 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants; in Cuba, there are 58.2 doctors for every 10,000 inhabitants.

If you haven't yet read Paul Farmer, I highly recommend getting a copy of the Uses of Haiti. Another good book about Haiti and Paul Farmer is Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. If you buy more than one (get one for a friend) you may get special shipping rates in the U.S.

Sharon

Valentine's Day in Haiti : Cookies, roof repairs, new vehicle,

Hello Everyone!

Electricity this morning (Wednesday) -- the first in many days. Lately, we have been having a bit oif hydro between midnight and 5 a.m. Carmene is baking chocolate chip cookies as a treat for tomorrow -- Thursday -- which is our busiest day, as it's food distribution day, which means everyone comes and reads, plays, rests, studies, asks for consults etc. Mme Cindy in Penn. sent us packages of cookie mix in our Christmas boxes. Carmene loves the mix as it is so time saving. So today we bake in bulk.

Last summer, I asked the rental agent to fix the roof properly as kitchen, dining room and first bedroom leak every time it rains. He has been sending the same mason to make the same patchy repairs for 4 years now. I made the same request in November. He insisted patching was sufficient and supervised personally. The next week the rains came and again everything leaked.

So M. Franck (Mme Carmene's marye) is a mason whom we hired to complete our staircase addition -- you have to see to understand. I asked his advice on the roof and he said break up all patches with a pick, carry off garbage and resurface. (As we originally requested) So we are paying out of pocket yet again to make the house safer. Monday and Tuesday, M Franck and Jack worked 8 hours each day breaking up the cement. What a din! Also, under the cement was a small swimming pool for bacteria. It dried quickly in the sun but had been there since the last rain many weeks ago.

This morning Jack and Franck arrived with sore backs and fingers. I have always told the staff to change jobs when the body complains. So today we have some relief from the noise and will finish the addition (hopefully). This is more backbreaking work as it means mixing cement by hand (actually by shovel) and carrying upstairs by bucket. It also means reconstructing a rickety scaffold (for which I always ask reinforcement and its never enough). I have suggested hiring students to complete the pick work on the weekend. They can always use a little money and it will save a couple of aching backs. Also means we are working 7 days again.

Thanks to amazing generosity, we received a Christmas present of funds to purchase a new vehicle. Now that my health is improving -- what a gift to have enough energy to work a full day! -- we will continue the process to buy a vehicle. This is the background.

Two years ago, I secured what, at that time, were the requirements for purchasing a vehicle in Haiti:

• a Canadian police check
• fingerprints
• bank statement
• cash payment
• letter of request
• passport & photocopy for a permis de sejour

When we travelled to Port-au-Prince last summer to look at vehicles, the sales agent said the government was phasing out the requirement, just needed a Kat d'identite (Haitian identity card) and a declaration Des Impots Generals -- which means 'pay taxes'. With the news of this donation, I travelled to DGE in Cap-Haitien to be told that:

• a) now the permis IS necessary and
• b) the requirements have changed. I now also need my original birth certificate and
• c) I must return to Port-au-Prince as the director in Cap-Haitien has disappeared (apparently with funds) and has not been replaced.

So I have contacted a friend at home in Canada, and asked her to locate my birth certificate, copy and send to a friend in the States who will visit Cap-Haitien at the end of February. Then I can go to Port-au-Prince and see if they will accept official documents which are outdated. However, if my friend in Canada is unable to find my birth certificate, all will wait until I return to Canada in mid-April.

So many hoops to buy a vehicle. Not enough to have the funds. We have been without a vehicle for 10 years. This is the first time it has been viable, so a few more months is quite doable.

To those who have items they wish to send, customs is still at a veritable standstill. One container was processed and the rest sit on the dock. This is why we face a food crisis -- both human and feline. Anything sitting on the docks month after month will certainly suffer some damage if is doesn't end up with feet (Kreyol expression meaning 'walking away with someone else'.)

Adelyn (male) just came in from the clinic with a diagnosis of scabies and sepsis. Jhennie is out trying to find the meds. We are still unable to make an appointment to test Magalie (female) for microfiliares and Marlene travelled to Milot by kamyonet today to once again see about a surgical appointment to remove the lump on her breast. This started last summer. It is always a wonder that these young people stay alive.

Two religious communities have approached me here, and asked if they can send young people here to the center as we do such a fine job of providing 'soutyen' (support). The communities continue to pay the schools and we do the rest. Both the young men they are sponsoring are orphans with family responsibilities. They were shy at first but are now fitting right in.

On the upside - the sun is shining and there is no snow in the forecast !
Ala pwochen
Sharon