Singing (in the midst of chaos): Haiti Educator and Leadership Institute Day 3 Update

Today was the start of the 3rd annual Haiti Educator and Leadership Institute.

And what a day it was!

We have a record number of participants, including more than 500 teachers and principals, as well as 230 children. Wow.

Teachers lining up for registration

There were some registration glitches but we were able to start our opening assembly around 9:30 with yours truly as the opening speaker including my favourite Haitian proverb:

Piti piti (little by little)

Ti pay pay (straw by straw)

Zwazo fe niche (the bird builds its nest)

The expression captures the essence of why we - Haitian and Canadian educators - do what we do: Whether in Canada or in Haiti, we want to build the foundation of our countries through the opportunities available through education.

Our Laurier and Haitian university students, with support from some high school students, got our Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM)  camp up and running. Leaders quickly re-arranged activities to accommodate the extra 100 students (no problem, we're teachers, we've got this!).


The Canadian instructors in the Educator and Leadership Institute developed new strategies and shifted timetables to accommodate the changing class sizes and dynamics. Haitian teachers were given many, many opportunities to learn about experiential learning, group work, and participatory classrooms. It was a beautiful thing to watch!

By early afternoon, when we stopped for lunch, both the camp and professional learning program had been a significant success. Haitian participants were already asking instructors if they were planning on returning the following year :)

How do you feed 550 people?

It was at lunch that I observed a special moment. Our host, Sr. Vierginat, had been running around all morning helping with registration, making announcements, coordinating activities, arranging busses, and being the "go-to" person for everything ... it was chaotic. But then she called a group of 30 kindergarten girls to the front and gave them each a microphone so they could practice their singing skills. In the midst of a chaotic scence, Sr. Vierginat modeled the kind of leader that I wish to aspire to: Even in the midst of challenging circumstances, she invested in the children and made them feel special. She took time to be with them.

The Laurier students shifted to an afternoon ESL program and the ELI instructors supported the Haitian participants as they implemented the things they had learned in the morning with the children now in their classrooms. At 4:30, with the work of the day completed, both groups returned to our hotel to debrief, relax, eat, and re-charge.

Rob McBride, a long-term leader of our work in Haiti, led our evening debrief. He asked specific Canadian participants to share key moments of the day and it is already clear that this inter-cultural experience is having a massive impact on both Haitians AND Canadians.

Now I just need to learn how to sing (in the midst of chaos).