Wilson ... and other heroes

Wilson picked me up at the PAP airport Monday @ 7:30 am. Wilson has given me rides before and I love his driving skills. I would guess that he's in his 60s with a very distinguished beard (and no teeth!). He would appear to be quite well-mannered and gentle ... But put him in a jeep with a tight timeframe and he navigates the back streets of PAP like an Indy race car driver. We pulled into the conference @ 8:30 to the shocked expressions of everyone. We were ready to go right on time!

The past 2 days have been a whirlwind - 8 hours of teaching each day, primarily to 30 principals in a MEd class but also 150 lead teachers at the conference. Then mtgs with former and current MEd student and with participants in the digital mentoring project. Today I meet with the department director for the Ministry of Education who is a key partner in our CIDA grant application. It's been an excellent trip thus far!

On to PAP

After a long day yesterday, I'm on the first flight to Port au Prince this morning. I should arrive at 7:30 am, drive to Fermathe, and start teaching by 9:30. It's going to be a long day but it'll be good to be back in Haiti.

As Charlie Brown would say, "Argh!" - Flight Delay in Toronto (Haiti Trip Oct 2011 Posting 1)

My trip to Miami has started similarly to some previous ones ... with flight delays from Toronto!  Instead of arriving in Port au Prince today, I'll have to wait until tomorrow and will spend the night in Miami.  It's frustrating to spend months in preparation and then to experience this.  However, in keeping with the Haitian spirit, c'est la vie!

Fortunately, I can catch an early morning flight from Miami tomorrow which will get me into PAP by 7:30 am.  By the time we drive up into the mountain where I'll be located on this trip, the morning class I'm teaching should only have to be delayed by an hour or two.

I'll update the blog as frequently as I can over the next week.  It will be a jam-packed week of lectures, meetings with M.Ed. students and Ministry of Education officials, and completing the evaluation component of a research project I began on my last trip.

School Supplies for Haiti

This is a suitcase full of school supplies for Haiti.  Students from the Faculty of Education at WLU and from Victoria Cross public school in Mount Forest, Ontario (a former students of mine is a teacher there) collected the supplies including pencils, chalk, toothpaste, French posters and soccer balls!  I'll deliver these to a principal of a rural school when I'm in Haiti for distribution to children in his school.

Ride for Refuge

Our glocal team from WLU raised over $1000 in the Ride for Refuge event! Some of the riders are pictured above. We raised funds for Life Change Adventures, a Waterloo based charity helping to make a difference in the world both locally and globally. Despite the rain, wind, and cold weather, we had a great time!

A different type of mobile learning (India)

This is a great story about "mobile technology" in Delhi, India.  The video is approximately 5 minutes long:

India's Mobile Schools (from The Guardian, London)

Educational Training in the North Department, Haiti

The final touches are being put on our CIDA grant application to establish a comprehensive teacher and school administrator training program in the North Department of Haiti.  The North Department is in the north (ironic, eh?!) of Haiti, includes the 2nd largest city in Haiti (Cap Haitien), and is largely rural.  The director of education for that department (equivalent to a Minister of Education for a province in Canada) is partnering with Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Guelph to develop this educational training program. 

We just got news this week that the national Ministry of Education has also given the project its support!  Now we have to wait to see if CIDA provides the finances to make this a reality.  Unfortunately, this takes about 6 months so it will be some time before we find out.