Carmen's class in the small town Pignon, Haiti: CJs perspective

Carmen is a person who looks after the camp we stayed at when no one is around. She is from Brazil and is doing missionary work in Haiti. Carmen is one of the nicest people any of us have ever met.

At around three o'clock in the afternoon yesterday Carmen held an English class for kids in the community who would like to learn more about English. As we walked into the classroom there were about ten kids sitting at desks. Carmen was at the front writing words from the Bible in English. Once we got a chance to sit down at one of the empty desks all the kids turned around to look at us. We were used to being stared at now because we were considered "outsiders" in Haiti. When Carmen finished writing we could see that the bible verse was Proverbs 28:13. We could also see the words when she was finished. They went like this.

"People who conceal their sins
Will not prosper,
But if they confess
And turn from them
They will receive mercy"

 
When Carmen and the others read through the verse together Carmen went to her desk and pulled out a giant boom box. She shuffled through a couple jazzy songs until she found one with a really catchy rhyme to it. She started snapping her fingers and then started singing the first few words "People who conceal their sins" then she pointed to the classmates to sing what she sang. Once they finished singing the verses it was time to put it all together. It sounded amazing with all the kids singing at the top of their lungs. When the class finished their song, we burst into applause and cheered for their amazing voices. I could see right away that their confidence was boosted after that.

I really hope that Carmen keeps on teaching these kids English because they really enjoy learning the language. In fact when we asked a kid why he wanted to learn English he said he thought it was a beautiful language and he could express his feelings easily through English.

The Soccer Games of Pignon, Haiti

Soccer in Haiti is one of the most popular sports here. Everyday kids start playing anywhere they can find even if its on dirt or tarmac. Today and yesterday were one of the most exciting soccer games I have ever been apart of.

Yesterday we had just pumped up a couple of balls and started heading to the dirty field. Behind the bamboo soccer posts there was a massive mountain (Mt. Pignon). I didn't even know if I was going to play soccer or just enjoy the view. Once we stepped on the field a crowd of Haitian kids started walking over. Some even had cleats and socks on. When they entered the field I knew right away that these kids were going to blow past me in the game.

Once we were warmed up it was time to pick teams. It turned out to be the Haitian kids versus the "Blanc" (whites or "outsiders" in french). They started with the ball for the first half and right away I knew that we were going to get schooled. Their foot work was incredible and all of us could see that some of these kids could make the national team in a couple years. With fast paced action and pace the final score came to be Hatian kids 10, Blancs 3. Yeah, you could say it was pretty hard.

Today was just as good as yesterday. But it was a little different as we played at a basketball court at the school and I was the only white boy playing. As we started playing I knew that this was going to be a close game. The teams were split up to be that it was blue and red, which was my team, versus peach shirts. They started with the ball and right away they got a shot off, but it was to easy for our 15 year old goaltender. The goalie rolled the ball to me and I passed it off to my teammate and he shot but it just soared over the net. Once the goalie came back with the ball he looked at the opposing team player and passed it to him. I moved to my left right away and immediately stole the ball. I was on a breakaway! I aimed for the corners and let my feet do the rest. I saw the ball soar through the humid air but I also saw the goalie move over to make an amazing save, but the ball went out to be a corner kick. All the opposing players went over to congratulate their keeper.

My teammate set the ball up for a corner and I moved from the back of the court right into the middle of the key. The teammate passed the ball to me and I kicked it as hard as I could. The goalie dived again but it was no use for my speedy shot. It soared right under the crossbar and it flew into the net! My teammates all started cheering and came over to give me a high five. The final score between the two teams was blue and red 4, peach 3.

Right now we are just sitting and waiting for the kids to finish their school days and play with them again soon.

CJ Sider, 13 years old

First day of Professional Development Sessions in Pignon, Haiti

Our first day of sessions in Pignon went really yesterday. Our Laurier students worked with three groups of College de la Grace students (gr. 11 and 12) in the morning while the rest of us led workshops for about 60 principals and teachers.

We had an amazing lunch and then the Laurier students spent some time debriefing the morning and planning for today's sessions. They did a great job adapting their morning session for the different English abilities of the students and seemed excited to see them again today.

The rest of us spent the afternoon continuing the workshops from the morning. They seemed to be well received with good feedback at the end of the day. There is a real hunger here to improve the educational experience of students and the workshops will play a role in this. We are doing some research on long-term impact of these types of PD sessions.

The place we are staying is about 10 minutes outside of Pignon in a camp. It is dormitory style accommodation (rustic by Canadian standards) but has an amazing view of Mount Pignon. We had a friendly game of soccer with about 15 kids from the community last night and then met with Caleb and Debbie Lucien, the founder of the school and the camp.

The Roadtrip: CJs perspective on our arrival to Haiti

We landed with tired faces and sore bottoms.We had just flown from Toronto to Miami and then Miami to Port Au Prince. We came out of the plane ready for a long road trip... but not a road trip that any of us would expect it to be.

Our humongus van was waiting for us as we left the airport luggage in hand. But in the way of us and the van was a big crowd. There were many people wanting to give us rides in their own taxis but our leaders just told us to say "No merci." Once we were out of the large group of people it was time for the next step... dodging other vehicles.

It was mad chaos with all the cars trying to get through. But we weren't backing down from these bumper cars. We drove our feet into the parking lot and started heading for our van. We weren't stopping for anything. Once our van was in sight it was time for a challenge, putting the luggage on top of the van. Back in Canada this would have been a huge shock to see luggage on the top of a person's car but in Haiti people do what they want to do. With fifteen people on this trip it meant that everyone had two pieces of luggage. You do the math, that's thirty pieces of luggage that had to sit on the top of the van!

The strong men that were helping us put about eighteen our nineteen pieces of luggage on the top. But that still meant that there had to be some more luggage in the car. We somehow made it work and it was time to be on our way. Our driver climbed in and instantly started honking his horn at other drivers around him. They all stopped and waited as the massive van came out of the parking lot. Once we were on the main road I was really impacted by how many people were trying to sell items to anyone. From candy to medicine to clothes they had everything. I wanted to help everyone that I could but I knew it would just be too hard to do. 

Once we were about two hours away from our destination (Pignon) we stopped at a Hospital named Hopital Universitaire de Misrebalais. A man named Dr. Paul Farmer built this hospital a year or two ago and it's famous for Tb treatment. We went in and I was shocked at how beautiful it was in there. 

Now we are in Pignon we are staying at a camp. We are also going to have a chance to play football (soccer) with the kids that are also at the camp. I am really excited for the up coming days and hope that we have a great time in the next week.

CJ Sider, 13 yrs old

Sak Pase: Greetings from Miami in transit to Haiti

Sak Pase? This Creole expression is a common greeting in Haiti. Our 2014 Laurier Faculty of Education team has been practicing it, and other Creole phrases, for weeks in preparation for our May service-learning experience which starts today! This year’s team is made up of 15 people including Laurier teacher candidates, Bruce Alexander (principal in the WRDSB), Laurier faculty (Steve Sider), and staff from BlackBerry and the Ontario Ministry of Education. 

The team is engaged in a number of projects in Haiti, for four days in a small town called Pignon and then for a week in Haiti’s second largest city, Cap-Haitien. Laurier teacher candidates are delivering a conversational English language program in multiple schools. In addition, the other members of the team are leading workshops for principals and teachers, conducting two research studies on special education and uses of mobile technology, and are engaged in networking meetings as Laurier increases its presence in northern Haiti. 

Laurier has a well-established reputation with the Haitian Ministry of Education as well as in many schools and universities. Piti piti (Creole for little by little), Laurier is working with our Haitian partners to help build the social capital of the region.

Laurier Haiti service-learning trip: Follow our route from Port au Prince to Pignon

It looks like all of our Laurier service-learning team members are excited and ready to go to Haiti! There will be 14 of us who will leave early Wed morning, flying from Toronto @ 6:15 am to Miami. In Miami, we will meet up with Rob McBride from BlackBerry who is our 15th team member. We are scheduled to arrive in Port au Prince early that afternoon. We will then load up our vehicle and start on a four hour road adventure to Pignon in northern Haiti.

If you want to have some fun traveling vicariously with us, you can follow our route on the following map:

Click here to view a detailed map of Haiti

Start by finding Port au Prince and then look to the north-east to find Hinche. You are 2/3 of the way to Pignon! If you are familiar with Dr. Paul Farmer's work (Partners in Health), you will also be interested in locating Mirebalais, home to his hospital which is now the largest solar powered hospital in the world.

Click here for a 1 minute video about the hospital

Keep going north from Hinche and you will find Pignon where our first day is scheduled to end.

Meeting with Ziauddin Yousafzai, Malala's father

Last week, I was delighted to be part of a meeting with Malala's father, Ziauddin Yousafzai. The meeting was to discuss ways that the Laurier Faculty of Education and University of Waterloo's Conrad Grebel College could "educate for peace."

If you are not familiar with Malala's story, you can read her book I Am Malala. Click below to watch a 16 minute interview with Malala:

Malala on The Daily Show

The conversation provided insight into the challenges of education in a context such as Pakistan, particularly for female students. As Mr. Yousafzai stated, "You don't know peace. Until you have experienced the absence of peace, you cannot really know what peace is." Both he and Malala see education as fundamentally important to an engaged and active citizenry.

My research and teaching is largely built around how we can help teachers develop a perspective that connects local and global realities so that their students might become active global citizens. Conversations with people such as Ziauddin Yousafzai help shape my own perspective in this area and I am honoured and humbled to be part of this type of dialogue.