Haiti High School Exams, Sewing Machine for Grad, Contracts, Programs

Greetings from Orangeville, ON

Lakay Fondasyon, our centre in Cap-Haitien, is very busy these days as many students have finished writing exams and have begun to return their text books to us.

Rosenie, who directs our summer book restoration program, has finished writing exams and has now started to work full time at the centre.

Foto: Claudy packing the trusty hockey bag with food for distribution in Sen Rafayel, Haiti

It will be a rush for her to sort books, purchase supplies, hire and train staff as she leaves for the adventure of a lifetime mid August -- a trip to France for 10 days to attend a Youth Conference sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph (see earlier post).

She manages this with the occasional assistance of Auguste, our Director Of Education. He is busy with logging report cards, tracking and paying salaries, the food and water distribution programs, and last minute tutoring.

Meanwhile others continue to toil for State finals:

• Certificat (high school entrance) on June 25, 26
• 9e AF (third year high school) on June 29, 30 and July 1
  
• Rheto and Philo (baccalaureate, the final 2 years of high school) July 6-9

We are continuing to distribute food sacks to those who are writing exams. For the Philo exams, students must travel to another school district, find a place to stay and write for 4 consecutive days.

In Sen Rafayel (the mountain village inland from Cap-Haitien), one of our students has successfully completed the 3 year sewing program at College Sen Jozef and has made a special request.

Her name is Rose-Youdeline, and she wants to start a business making school uniforms. Sr. Fernande, who is the founder and director of the school, can acquire a treadle sewing machine for her for just under $100 USD. This is NOT a new machine, but would be suitable for her needs.

As our meagre resources will now be diverted to the text book refurbishing program, as well as continue to pay for the water distribution, medical and dental referrals, it would be wonderful if someone could help her get started in business.

She will also need supplies, such as needles, thread, buttons, etc., all things that are available in the Cap-Haitien market. For those of you not familiar with how we handle such start-ups, here's what we do. When we receive funds in response to a special request such as this, we make a contract with the student, asking that they repay a portion of the money when they get on their feet.

This model has worked well for us: Those asking for help recognize the contract as a commitment. The small amount that we ask to be repaid to Starthrower is then done so with great pride and accomplishment, and they know that this repayment will be used to help someone else (see Social justice).

Happy Father's Day to all the dads who read this blog. Designated special days like Father's Day, Mother's Day, etc., always put me in a reflective frame of mind.

The reality for many hundreds of thousands of young Haitians is that Dad (and often Mom) died at a very early age, leaving these young people filled with unexpressed grief and very few role models on whom they can rely.

At a hospital visit last week, when I expressed dismay at my slow recuperation, a health care professional said to me, "I don't know why you are so stressed. You're retired, you have no ties, no time commitments."

I didn't tell her that at least a hundred and fifty people were anxious to see me again, to make sure I was all right. I didn't tell her that I wanted to be helping with the book restoration, to be monitoring their progress, that I wanted to celebrate their good exam results or commisserate with them over failures. I doubt she'd have understood.

I admit to being stressed. These young people need and deserve so much -- not just the basics but some joy and comfort as well. They have built Starthrower into more than a community, they have become a family. And we all like to be with our families.

Thank you so much for supporting our family. May you and yours be blessed!

Sharon

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Here is an email in kreyol from Auguste, and my English translation:

Bonswa Manmi

Dieugrand te achte epi Mme Carmene, Martha, Modeline ak Gaby te prepare sak yo. Mwenm et Dieugrand te distribiye nouriti, dlo potab ak vitamin osi. Paske premye semen te gen konje pou fet drapo et profese.

Gen mirak! yo repare pon-an machin yo pa pase nan dlo-a anko. E y'ap repare wout la, y'ap mete gravye sou tout wout la.(men, pou yon ti tan).

4 jenn fiy -yo pa anko vini.

Mesi, Bondye beni-w.

Auguste

Good Afternoon mother

Dieugrand bought food supplies in the market and Carmene, Martha, Modeline and Gaby prepared the sacks. Dieugrand and I distributed food, water and vitamins (sent by Mme Cindy).

(Students were availabe to help because of holidays: May 1st Fete de l'agriculture et du travail [ Agriculture and Labor Day] and May 18 Jou de Drapeau or flag day)

We have a miracle! The bridge (to Sen Rafayel) has been repaired and the buses no longer have to go through the river. Also they repaired the road by putting down fresh gravel. (that won't last long)

The 4 new students haven't come yet.

Blessings
Auguste

Haiti News - Christmas Dinners, School Sponsors, Food Distribution, New Bridges to Potoprens

Hello Everyone!

Many thanks to those who phoned and sent cards, flowers and get well gifts over the past few weeks. Your support is very encouraging. The healing process continues and will involve further surgery and recovery time. I hope to have more information after tomorrow's (Monday, Dec. 15) appointment at St Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

Sister Rosemary, who flew to Canada with me on the medivac flight and stayed on to help me, has now returned to Haiti and will continue working with our staff until I return. She will work out of our center two days a week as she did before our rather abrupt departure. Her presence, wisdom and knowledge of the Haitian culture and language provides a link for our staff.

As I am able now to enjoy short walks outdoors in this wonderful Canadian weather, I am taking advantage of the proximity of the library and its internet service. Auguste informs me that school exams finished Friday, December 12, and schools will most likely resume classes the second week of January. Report cards will be ready at that time and our tutoring programs will begin mid January. The date is fluid at this point in time.

The biggest problem in Haiti continues to be malnutrition. Although prices in the market place have levelled off, they are still too high for us to reopen the food distribution program. Thanks to the generosity of Mme Cindy and her community in Pennsylvania, our young people will have rice, beans and oil for a Christmas meal. But that is one meal. Other than that Christmas meal, our young people have no food and no options to get food -- no food bank, no government food distribution program. We continue to purchase and distribute potable water.

The good news is that the bridges between Cap-Haitien and Potoprens (Port-au-Prince) have been repaired and bus service has resumed. Bus fare has increased however.

We are still looking for sponsors for post-secondary students. Vincent Robert is in 2nd year agriculture in Limbe, and Plenitude is in first year telecommunications program in Port-au-Prince. Vincent's sponsor in unable to continue and Vincent desperately wants to finish his 4 year program. Plenitude borrowed the money to register and he is staying with friends to minimize expenses. Both are hard workers.

Marlene has returned from first semester in the Dominican Republic. Elorge has stayed behind for a few weeks. We await their reports.

Will close for now - energy tends to depart without advance notice.

Thanks again, everyone!

Pi ta (later)

Sharon

Life in Haiti, Water, Food, Work Programs, and Loren, our orphaned neighbor

Hello, Everyone,

It is midweek and we have (gras a dye) ELECTRICITY. That deserves capital letters. Quite possibly it will be a memory by the time this sentence is completed, but at this moment, it is cause for celebration!

Haiti Culture and Customs
Auguste was thrilled (byen kontan) to see his stories on the new Haiti Culture page of the Starthrower website. When I asked Auguste to write about his life in Haiti, I had forgotten that of course he does not have paper and pen in the ti kay (little house) that he shares with the 2 sisters he is putting through school.

Auguste told me he wrote all weekend. His stories are written on many scraps of paper, each one numbered for my benefit. I will find a plastic box (to keep out rats, mice and cockroaches) and give him writing supplies. (FYI Electricity just went out -- running on solar now.)

Summer Jobs in Haiti
Summer has arrived in all its glory (heat, heat and more heat). That means our student work force is with us. It also means heat rash and vision constantly compromised by salty perspiration. Although our employee numbers are pared down for financial reasons, I was still shocked on Monday morning when 18 young people walked through our portail; Usually, we have 5.

These kids live in the most unsafe, unsanitary conditions imaginable, yet they show up here chattering and laughing, happy to be with each other, knowing they are among the few lucky enough to have work. They keep me grounded. (There are times however, when the introvert in me counts down to the end of the work day and their departure.)

Sponsored Students, Report Card Fees. Wait List
Starthrower had 359 student visitors come through our portail (door) in June. That number will escalate this month as many students are finding themselves unable to secure the release of report cards (kane-yo) due to unpaid fees. Until these fees are paid, no reports or exam results are released to the students.

Unfortunately, we are rarely able to help play catch up; however we do add their names to our wait list in the event of a windfall -- ours or theirs! (Electricity is back -- unplug the inverter- welcome to our world!) When these students are not able to provide us with their reports (mandatory to be considered for Starthrower sponsorship), Auguste does a preliminary interview, and takes down some information.

Then at the second interview (if and when they are able to provide us with their report cards), he takes all their family history and appropriate papers are shared. Auguste does the preliminary screening, and together we interview as we get closer to 'offering a contract' that all our students sign before being accepted for Starthrower sponsorship. Because our work is about doing justice, nothing is handed to our youth. We share this journey, Starthrower and students both having responsibilities.

Programs and Projects
I realize I often talk about programs and projects but neglect to inform you about the difference. When I began to travel to Haiti on a frequent basis, many years ago, I was drawn to the area of education, most likely because I had been a teacher for 20 years, and education seemed of primary importance.

By supporting those first few youngsters in Sen Rafayel, I gained the needed insight into the reality of Haiti. It is a country of orphans, so education by itself wasn't enough. They needed the care a parent provides -- food, medicine, housing, clothing, school supplies, etc.

As we settled into the centre, and more and more young people began coming in to ask us for help, I hired Auguste. And hiring Auguste -- in effect, creating for him an internship program in Administration -- also gave me some much needed time for reflection.

As these "parenting needs" presented themselves, Auguste and I talked about possible solutions. For example, the text book reclamation project was so successful the first year, after discussion with those who had participated, and making tweaks to job descriptions, we hired Rosenie part time to continue throughout the year. A project had become a program.

Project and Program Development
Similarly, as Auguste tutors, counsels, makes home visits, liaises with all school administrations, prepares all lists for Sen Rafayel and Cap-Haitien, and creates displays for both locations, he had insufficient time to oversee those who were in need of medical/dental referrals. And so, we hired Jhennie for a 6 month project -- January to June.

We did the same with food distribution: Hiring Dieugrand full time and Erzilia to assist him with purchasing, packaging and distributing food sacks and potable water. Both projects ended in June and we sat down in separate groups and discussed the pros and cons, successes and failure.

Consequently, the Potable Water project, Food Distribution Project and the Good Health project are now permanent programs. Erzilia has replaced Jhennie, who has gone to help a sister in the Dominican Republic. Erzilia continues with food/water distribution, though they are scaled down for the summer months.

Throughout the summer, we are providing potable (safe) water to everyone, but providing food only to those attending summer school. Thanks to a donation from the UK, Alland and Wisly will begin the premed summer school program next Monday in the hopes of gaining entrance to a Haitian university.

Rosenie and Edwina will travel back to Sen Rafayel on Monday to implement the book reclamation project for 2 months. Claudy has already hired the 3 students we decided upon. We will meet in September to discuss, review and decide on future actions.

Apprenticeship Program Under Review
We continually examine what works and what doesn't. Our apprenticeship program is now on temporary project status as we had four students who were left without work when the "bosses" we had contracted left town in Oct/Nov. We had just paid for the new year, so that money was lost.

The affected students were told to find a new boss in the same field and we would again interview and contract starting in January. They didn't come back until June, saying they were now ready. We never make decisions for someone's life choices. We offer support, discussion, perspective, and the young people know this. We are not scrapping the idea of apprenticeship with a master craftsman; however, we are leaning more toward supporting trade school training.

Escalating Costs for Rice
Erzilia and Rosenie just returned from the market, purchasing supplies for our summer school students. A large sack of rice is now $500.00 Haitian (and rising) or $71.50 USD. If we were to restart our full program in Cap-Haitien now, and begin a similar project in Sen Rafayel, it would require $700 USD per week. Lets hope things settle down by September.

Meet Loren . . .
In closing, let me introduce you to another of Haiti's children. We have a recently arrived neighbour. His name is Loren and he is 4 years old. He began coming to our portail a few weeks ago asking for mangoes. He is quite loquacious -- what some would call an old soul. He told us that his parents were dead -- both killed in a bus accident.

His grandmother was his "paran" now. He loves to colour, skip rope (as only a 4 year old can) and 'read' books. Then 2 weeks ago, he came over for a visit and told us that his gran had been killed in a flood. We had a storm go through and the water near Gonaive flooded (lamer te plen -- literally, the sea was full). His gran was in a tap tap going to visit her son to ask for help. She and many others drowned.

I spoke to the daughter-in-law a few days after the funeral. Like most Haitians, they have no money to cover funeral costs and are at a loss as to what to do with Loren because they do not have 'moyen ekonomik' (economic means) to raise him.

Variations of this story happen day after day here. Every statistic you read is about real people, real children who laugh and cry and just want a chance.

One at a time. . .

lape (in peace)

Sharon

Greetings from Cap

Greetings from Cap

I arrived Tues. 20th about 3:30 pm. Auguste was there to meet me with a taxi and we were home in 20 minutes. This was the first time the house has been left open for staff. Shortly before leaving, I finally had the locks changed on the 3 front doors. This provided 3 keys for each lock. The antique lock we inherited had only one key and could not be duplicated.

So Mme Carmene worked 2 days a week and Mme Joceline 1 day a week keeping things clean. What a treat not spending the first 3 or 4 days trying to get rid of layers of dust, new families of mice. Unfortunately the ravets (cockroaches) felt the need to stay and greet me. Instead of layers of dust, I was greeted to sparkling windows, clean screens, fresh curtains and beds made and ready not only for me but for visitors as well.

Then 24 hours of straight rain. It is the rainy season and I didn't really need the reminder as the previous 3 weeks of steady rain plus cyclone Noel had left high water marks on the security wall and mold and mildew covering every surface. Then followed two days of glorious sun (about 85) - currently rain out of nowhere after a sunny morning in which Dieugrand, Rosenie and I worked on the grass and in the garden. They are now preparing sacks of rice and beans, small bottles of oil which will be distributed tomorrow (Sunday).

We have been so busy each day we have not had time to eat lunch, go into town to the bank, visit the nutrition centre and say hi. We have a steady stream of kids with illnesses. 5 with eye infections and there are no eye drops to be found. There are apparently so many infections after the storm that meds in stock are depleted.. We try to make them comfortable, but drops would really help. Eyes are very swollen, red, streaming and sometimes burning, sometimes hurt to touch.

We also have had 8 cases of malaria however 4 were diagnosed without blood tests. That is another problem when there is a shortage of doctors and only a nurse practitioner. Although they are very ill, I am sending them to a second clinic for blood work as Malaria meds are so hard on the body. Also if used and Malaria is not present you have a problem when it does appear.

3 more cases of typhoid. Jak's daughter did not respond to the Malaria meds so he took her back to the clinic. No malaria this time but symptoms still presenting. She is only 5 and has lost so much weight she looks like a little skeleton. I had brought some Rice Protein Powder for personal use, and that seems to be giving her an appetite.

Sherline arrived Thurs am at 7 as she had a rendevous at the clinic to check on her Malaria. I asked if she had finished the meds and she said no she wasn't able to because the nurse told her to take them with food . When I asked how often she ate she said once a week - the sack she picks up from us on Sunday. She told me there were 5 in the house and they each depended on that little sack for their weekly meal. Auguste and I conferred and we are going to provide her with a weekly stipend which she will pick up on Sunday with her food sack. She will be able to purchase a sandwich, juice and water and take her meds. This is a temporary solution for one person.

As I talked with everyone who came over the last 3 days ( and the weekend staff today) I realized that for most our sack is the only food they have in a week. If staff did not have work here, no daily meal. Enough for a day or 2 (if others are not eating from it.) Staff and I agree that we need to double food distributed and begin distributing charcoal for cooking. It is $100. H a bag in good weather and goes up to $500. bag in the rainy season (now) This means we will need more donations .

On a another note, our university students are enjoying the experience although Vincent is ill. He has blood in his sputum, so tests are being done. Thank goodness there is an infirmary on campus. One of the computers (ordinateur) donated by Seton Hall has gone to Limbe with the guys as they were paying to use the schools computers. This gives them one to share. Thank you again Seton Hall.

We set up one of the printers which arrived courtesy of Steve in New Jersey and it works like a charm. The staff all stood around watching as it printed test pictures and letters. We have set up the gallery table and bench inside the front door so that only those with permission may enter and have access to the "cybercafe".

On that note I will close. We have visitors arriving the first week of December. The men will help us install the solar panels they donated and the women will spend some time getting to know our students and programs and hopefully make some home visits with us.

Alal pwochen - (until the next time)
Kenbe pa lage (hang in there)
Sharon
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Hi again

It is 1 pm Sunday. We have already had 30 in for food sacks, keeping Erzilia and Dieugrand very busy. Of those 30, 10 needed medical referrals (meaning we need another staff member to work Sunday ) Of those 30, only 2 ate on a daily basis (brother and sister. However, he has malaria) Hopefully Rosenie will be able to work Sunday instead of Saturday and we will replace her Saturday.

This leads me to send a request for items we need:

Ensure supplements

Protein bars - good quality with high protein percentage

Antiviral Kleenex

Vitamin C (Esther C if possible - easier on stomach)

Multi vitamins (chewable if possible)

Protein powder

Herbal teas for colds, sore throat etc. (Traditional Medicinals< makes a very effective line.

Money to purchase mosquito nets and beds - could be a single campaign.

I'm sure something else will come to mind but this is a good start.

Beni-w
Sharon