Partnerships and Friendships: Investments in "Global Perspective Capital" in Haiti and Canada

Our Laurier team returned to Canada early this morning. By all metrics, it was a successful trip including:

1. Conversational English classes with approximately100 high school students at two different schools.
2. Multiple math, science, and technology workshops for approximately 80 teachers in one urban and two rural school settings in northern Haiti.
3. Support of micro-credit and other developmental programs for a Haitian NGO.
4. Special education support and training at one school involving approximately 30 teachers.
5. A cultural exchange involving 20 Haitian and Canadian university students at the Citadelle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

But this doesn't provide a complete picture.

The foundational reason we engage in each of these projects is to form relationships that help Canadian and Haitian students and professionals to learn more about "the other." By learning about the joys and challenges that we experience in the various places in which we live, we also learn about the greater human experience.

What that means is that I become more aware, more sensitive, more willing to question, and more eager to engage in developing a global perspective.

It is difficult to measure these "mores" but the anecdotal evidence is strong ... we are building the global-perspective capital (i.e. the social and emotional structures to better understand the world in which we live) of many Canadians and Haitians.

In this sense, this past week does not end today but continues to pay dividends long into the future.