Haiti Bonjou

The latest!

It has been over a week since my last entry. Sorry for the lapse in communication. The focus of the past week has been four-fold:

• Finalizing arrangements for the upcoming visit of Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop of the National Episcopal Church, and creation/ translation of documents that are part of an information packet being prepared for her;

• Confirming details for the Diaspora of Hope Artist on Call art camp, scheduled for Nov. 24-28;

• Attending a three-day conference of Haiti Connection, a community of churches and non-profit initiatives who have committed themselves to work in Haiti;

• Beginning English instruction with the Seminarians.

My work on the visit by the Presiding Bishop and the Haiti Connection Conference have really helped me to develop a sense of the incredible work of the Diocese of Haiti in all critical arenas-education, environment, health and micro-finance. It is also clear that the clergy of this Diocese are stretched very thin and significant additional support is needed. I certainly feel as though I have a clearer sense of ways that I can personally be of assistance in education. For example, a newly formed Episcopal board has been created called the Bureau of Anglican Education of Haiti (BAEH). Though established in 2006, there is only one person in place thus far who is expected to oversee the programming and outcomes of the 250 schools run by the Diocese of Haiti. Funders of education who attended the Haiti Connection Conference are eager to receive more consistent information on the school they support and also learn of additional ways they can be of assistance. It seems apparent that enhancing the structure and staffing of the BAEH is critical. I am in the process of submitting a grant to request financial support for the strengthening of this leadership body. The funds could be used to bring experts in education from the U.S. for a brief residency. Only 8% of the teachers of the Diocese have training. Creating a training program through which one or more Haitian teachers in each of the key regions of the country could be equipped to serve as mentors or ‘Monitors/Monitrices’ (common terms for community leader in Haiti) for their fellow teachers. This could become a great way for Haitian teachers to serve their fellow teacher and significantly strengthen the education system in the Diocese of Haiti. I would welcome input from any teachers who read this blog and either have suggestions for this model or wish to become involved in this effort.

The Diaspora of Hope Artist on Call art camp is in the final planning stages. Members of the Guatemala, Haiti and Kenya teams who live in the Philadelphia area have participated in one training session. A second training is scheduled for this week. All training materials are on line, both in written and audio form. It will be nice to have the three U.S. team members here for a week. There are four Haitian artists who are part of the team. This is the first time that BuildaBridge has come to Haiti. I am excited to see how the program is received.

English classes with the seminarians began this week. There is a beginner group and a more intermediate group. The beginner group meets on Monday evenings. They were so excited about the experience that they have requested a second weekly class. We are also going to meet on Sunday evenings. The intermediate class meets on Wednesday evenings. You have already seen the pictures of some of the seminarians on my blog. More will be added through this coming week, along with excerpts from their biographies.

Have a blessed week.