Faces from Haiti: Portraits of a Country’s Hopeful Children is a 32-page softcover book featuring faces of children from Jacmel, Haiti. It will be available in late August 2010 for purchase, with proceeds going to ACCESS education projects in Haiti.
On a volunteer mission to Jacmel, Haiti from July 26 to August 4 2010, we witnessed and experienced a lot of the poverty, inequality, and problems that exist within this devastated country. We as students, along with the inhabitants of Haiti, can agree upon the notion that providing accessible education to children and young adults will have an impact on the way Haiti’s future will pan out.
ACCESS Charity will officially launch ACCESS U at Wilfrid Laurier University in the Fall 2010 school term in hopes of expanding our chances of mitigating the dearth of education in extant Haiti. The ACCESS U webpage can be visited here.
Interested in joining ACCESS U at Laurier? Email jon@accessu.ca to learn how to get involved today.
One of the very strong, main messages of the trip was that Education is the key to a better future for Haiti. Despite the incredible devastation and continued need for even food, Haitians (from the Bishop to the mothers living on the tent camps) respond with Education when asked about the important elements to their country’s success.
On behalf of ACCESS, Daniel and Jon had the had the opportunity to meet 4 high school students that our organization will be sponsoring for the year.
If you would like to contribute to fund years for these students, or sponsor additional students, please email us at info@accesscharity.ca.
Through various fundraising at local Toronto-area schools, ACCESS sponsors a university student in Haiti named Phanuel. We were able to meet Phanuel in person during the trip, with his parents, who came to Jacmel all the way from Port-Au-Prince.
With faith such a strong part of Haitian people, our Canadian group had the pleasure of being guests at the 100-year anniversary of Jan Batist Church in the mountains of Jacmel, Haiti. Jon’s vlog takes place outside the church after Mass.
Aminah provides an update on our group’s progress in preparing food packages with rice, beans, sugar and powdered-milk for families of the tent communities in Jacmel, where little and inconsistent aid has been going.
My most memorable part of our afternoon visit to Trinity House was the chance to view and buy the çhildren’s artwork.
Created by the boys who live in this group home (built for street children in the community of Jacmel, Haiti) the artwork was all original and colourfully created, each piece an expression of the young artists’ experiences and life in Haiti.
A few pieces really caught my eye, but one stood out and I was proud to be able to purchase it and support this talented young man. His painting is about a child dreaming and captures various visions, set in Haiti, that he experiences.
Andrea shares an update on our visit to one of the smaller tent communities located downtown Jacmel, where we spent time playing with the local children and distributed some much-desired soccer and basket balls.
After packaging the Nutrition Program donations, I noticed that two guys were playing bongos and drums so I went up to them and tried talking to them. It was a little difficult at first because they spoke Creole, but one knew a tiny bit of English. His name was Billy and he started talking about music and what instruments he plays. His friend brought out some sheet music and they asked if I could sing it (in solfege). I sang it for them and they were very impressed. Billy then asked me if I could teach him how to read music, and I was so excited to show him. I told them I had to eat lunch first, which I ate as fast as I could, and was given a quick French-word music lesson. I wrote otu a sheet for him, hoping that he could read, which he could. Mina and I went out, and she was there with the dictionary looking-up how to say certain musical terms.
It was the best lesson I have ever had to teach. He just kept wanting to learn more. Even his friend was understanding how to read the music, and I taught them some English as well (they even taught me some French musical terms). After the lesson, he told me in English, “God bless you, you are a great teacher” with a huge smile on his face and gave me a big hug.
That has been my best experience here so far. That lesson will help their church so much, because now they know how to read the sheet music they have. I will never forget this day!
