The new school in Grande Saline is almost ready to welcome students. Construction is continuing and students should be able to attend school in the new classrooms next month. Thank you so much to those who donated so generously to help provide school supplies for the children. Because of your generosity, we should be able to provide each child with some supplies. This will mean so much to the children! We are also looking forward to having our 2016 Health for Haiti class provide education programs for the community in the new school. Please see the pictures below to follow the progress of construction.
Meanwhile, even though it is summer, computer classes continue at Don Bosco Ecole Informatique. Classes are offered for children and young adults. All of the students are working on developing their computer skills, using the Internet, and making PowerPoint presentations to share with students in New York. The students are working hard and looking fantastic in their new uniform shirts! They are looking forward to working on some new activities with our 2016 students.
One special program that was sponsored by Health for Haiti donors this summer was a special week of activities that included lunch for the children. The summer program was created and run by our computer teacher, Tida. He designed several fun activities for the kids to do from 8am until noon. Tida asked if we could provide lunch for the kids for one week. Members of the local community pitched in to cook the food and the children thoroughly enjoyed their meals.
Health for Haiti would very much like to help to support a lunch program for the children after school begins. Many of these children do not have nearly enough to eat, and it is hard for them to concentrate and learn when they are so hungry. Supporting the lunch program will not be an easy task as there will be about 130 children to feed, so we are looking for creative ways to help with this program. One exciting 2015-2016 Health for Haiti class project is to help to create a community garden. We think that the community garden could be used to grow peppers, beans, corn, bananas and other produce that could contribute to the children’s lunch. We have identified a suitable piece of land next to the water system and we are doing some research into developing a plan for the garden.
There is a lot going on in Haiti, but we are busy in New York too. Now that the SUNY Broome fall semester is starting, we are very excited to continue recruiting and welcoming our 2016 Health for Haiti students! This January, in addition to our work in Port au Prince, our students will have the opportunity to engage in the following projects in Grande Saline: assist professionals with medical and dental clinics, teach art and computer lessons, perform maintenance on the Health for Haiti Pall water filtration system and help the operators to distribute water, finish construction of the first bathroom in this community, help to establish a handwashing station (with clean water and soap!) near the school and bathroom, provide education on nutrition and hygiene, help to establish the community garden, and work on the solar equipment that powers the computer school.
So….we are looking for some adventurous and creative students who are willing to donate their time and talents to Health for Haiti. The Endwell Rotary will once again provide a generous scholarship to help cover the expenses of one SUNY Broome student who participates in the course. So please spread the word! We need all kinds of students with all sorts of interests and backgrounds to be part of our 2016 Health for Haiti team!
And once again, thank you for continuing to support the Health for Haiti projects! We could not accomplish any of these initiatives without the generous support of our SUNY Broome family and the surrounding community.
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
―Charles Dickens
SUNY Broome Health for Haiti 