Erol is holding a copy of the Haitian Education Curriculum. There is a book for the grade levels of 1ereAF to 6eme AF. Janise took a look through the curriculum and said that it is similar to the Canadian curriculum. With teacher training it is possible for Haitian teachers to perform at the same level as their Canadian counterparts. The curriculum is there for the education system. It just needs to be properly applied by Haitian teachers.
Teachers take pride in their work. Haitian parents place their hope and confidence in these teachers to educate their children.
40 teachers took place in the seminars from various schools and locations. From the mountains of Kenscoff, the Leogane area, here in Port-au-Prince and a handicapped school, they came to learn how to be better teachers.
The older guys here at Coram Deo peeked over the classroom walls to watch the activities taking place.
Jn. Eddy Alexandre is in his 2nd year of university. He is studying accounting.
His younger brother Herode is a teachers assistant here at Coram Deo. He recently wrote his Rheto exams (Grade 12).
Node is a handicapped woman who works well with our kindergarten students. She has a neuromuscular disease that is making her progressively weaker over the years.
At the end of each seminar a meal was provided for all the teachers who attended the seminars. Marie cooked a big pot of food.
Every month we are part of the food distributions of Love A Child. We receive 25 cases of Feed My Starving Children Manna Packs. This lasts through the month and helps to keep our food costs down.
A view of the curious bystanders looking into the classroom.
Each group of teachers formed into teams to answer questions.
They were excited and got right into games. This activity showed the teachers how they could make their classrooms more fun and learning friendly :)
The Coram Deo teachers won the competition :)
It will be interesting this year to see how the teachers interact with the students with these new activities.
At the end of the last seminar day, certificates were handed out to the teachers who participated in the seminars.
These certificates mean a lot to them. To their employers it shows their initiative in professional development.
Janise put a lot of work into preparing these seminars. A few of the guys here at Coram Deo worked at translating the seminar outlines into Creole.
Pastor Napoleon is one of the pastors who we sponsor to participate in the Pastor Training Seminars at the Christian Reformed Ministry Center. He brought a group of his teachers from Leogane to the teacher seminars.
A couple of the teachers posed with their seminar certificates.
Pastor Pierre came down the mountain with 7 of his teachers from the Kenscoff mountain region.
This teacher participated and brought her daughter along with her.
Joanna is a teacher's assistant in one of our kindergarten classes. She never completed her education but takes pride in being a teachers assistant. When she comes to work here and even attending the seminars she always dresses up nicely. She is proud to have received a certificate.
Gelia is one of the teachers in our kindergarten program. She is an amputee due to the earthquake. She has a lot of determination and doesn't let the fact that she lost a leg stop her from doing anything.
Thank you Janise for all your hard work in preparing the seminars and taking on the challenge of training 40 teachers. Thank you too to Erol for his translating skills at making the seminars a success.
Through these seminars I was able to set up contact with these teachers from a handicapped school in Tabarre. We hope to visit them and see what we can do to encourage and support them in their work with handicapped children here in Haiti.
Neal Hegeman stayed here at Coram Deo for a couple of nights on his way to and from the Dominican Republic. His uncles started Double Harvest around 30 years ago. Neal hadn't visited Double Harvest since 1985. A couple of his cousins were at Double Harvest when we drove out there.
It was good too that Jake and Adrian could see this mission farm project.
Double Harvest brings American agricultural techniques to Haiti and tries to show the Haitian people how to grow more productive crops.
A couple women are shown walking through the fields with a load of spinach on their heads.
It is always nice to make a visit out to Double Harvest.
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