Programs
STUDENTS Program
Educating 1,000 students in 7 partner schools.
Your Partnership:
- Improves facilities and provides educational materials for students
- Trains teachers in participatory education methods
- Provides training and seed capital for school staff and local community to create social enterprises (small businesses) that can help pay for teacher salaries and other expenses
The Need
Nearly 50% of school age children don’t go to school. 90% of schools must rely solely on enrollment fees to support their work. Unfortunately, families – more than 50% of Haitians live on less than a $1 a day – can’t afford to pay much and schools scrape by just to survive. Teachers regularly go unpaid, facilities are dreadfully inadequate, and students lack even basic educational materials.
Partner School Strategy
Haiti Partners is following a sustainable model for education developed by a grassroots organization in a remote area of Haiti. This model has shaped our Partner School strategy. We select schools with strong leadership but lacking in resources. With them, we develop an accord and work plan for supporting them over the course of three years by providing seed capital to create a social enterprise, teacher training, and funds to improve their building.
Goals
To help students:
- Develop their God-given potential
- Cultivate their sense of character and personal responsibility
- Gain the know-how to support themselves
- Learn to educate themselves
- Become engaged citizens and community members
To help the school:
- Engage teachers, parents, and students to continually improve their school
- Become sustainable long-term
- Share their learning with others to replicate success
How you can help
- $3,600 ($300/month) supports a classroom for a year (more details)
- $20,000 supports an entire school for a year (more details)
Click here to download a PDF document with a more extensive explanation of STUDENTS Program.
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TEACHERS Program (Circles of Change)
Training 300 teachers (of about 6,000 students) annually.
Your Partnership:
- Supports individual teacher trainers
- Pays for books and videos
- Provides seminars and workshops for trainers and participants
The Need
Haiti’s history of dictatorial leadership is evident at all levels of society. The problems ripple through schools where authoritarian teachers, often with the best of intentions, squash opportunities for authentic learning and de-motivate students so much that they don’t learn and become profoundly discouraged. Of the about 50% of children that are able to attend school, less than half of these complete primary school. Two-thirds of teachers do not have professional or academic qualifications and many have not even completed high school. Gabriel Bien-Aime, Haiti’s previous Minister of Education, said of this program, “These are the types of approaches we need to help us re-think our work and to create curriculum and experiences that cultivate community.”
Strategy
Haiti Partners has developed a 6-month training program called Circles of Change. Circles of Change helps Haitian institutions and groups with limited financial resources—mostly schools, but also grassroots organizations and churches—receive training in participatory, liberating education and collaboration methods. Two key methods we teach are called Reflection Circles and Open Space Technology. They enable teachers to take approaches to education that create great learning environments and bring out the best in their students. Together, they create a Circle of Change: a group of 20-30 teacher/leaders who meet weekly for 6 months to practice these methods with two qualified Haitian trainers to guide them through the process.
Goals
To help teachers:
- Open their minds to new ideas and to encourage their students to do the same
- Learn to create a classroom environment that fosters each student’s love for learning
- Learn to cultivate their students’ gifts and to honor their accomplishments
- Learn to encourage students’ sense of responsibility for their own learning
- Nurture in their school a culture of respect for the dignity and worth of every person
How you can help
- $150 enables one teacher to participate in a 6-month training
- $3,000 sponsors a Circle of Change (20 teachers in a 6-month training)
Click here to download a PDF document with a more extensive explanation of TEACHERS Program.
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LEADERS Program
Training 40 strategic community leaders from around the country in an intensive 3-year program.
Your Partnership:
- Brings these leaders together 4 times a year for training and exchange
- Provides each leader with a laptop and training to use it
- Positively impacts thousands of lives because of leaders’ influence in schools, churches, communities, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), and government
The Need
Haiti has suffered most of its history under the misrule of autocratic and violent leaders. While the country has made fitful progress toward democracy on the national level, the model of leadership in local institutions still tends to be extremely autocratic. In local governance, leaders are taught to speak, but not to listen. In schools, leaders are expected to organize and control without engaging the participation of students and other stakeholders. In churches, leaders preach and interpret without inviting their congregations’ concerns.
Strategy
Haiti Partners has developed the LEADERS Program in close collaboration with the leaders who are involved. This three-year training provides 40 Haitian leaders with the skills, methods, and ongoing support to accomplish the goals below. Each participant signs a covenant agreement detailing what he or she can expect and what’s expected in return.
Goals
To help leaders in local organizations, schools, churches, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), and government to:
- Lead in a way that inspires others and helps them discover their potential
- Increase their organizations’ effectiveness at engaging the talent and energy of their stakeholders to accomplish their mission
- Use computers and internet to educate themselves and increase their personal effectiveness
- Nurture spiritual growth and a culture characterized by mutual respect, trust, innovation, dedication, and compassion
How you can help
- $3,000 per year for 3 years enables an influential community leader to complete this intensive, empowering training
- $1000 provides one leader with a laptop and the training to use it effectively
Click here to download a PDF document with a more extensive explanation of LEADERS Program.
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DISCIPLES Program (Living Words Christian Education Program)
Providing 10,000 people each year in churches and literacy centers with Bibles and training, in partnership with the Canadian Bible Society
Your Partnership
- Provides 10,000 individuals with Bibles, who otherwise wouldn’t have them
- Provides children and adults with empowering approaches to Christian education
- Prints and distributes dynamic Christian education materials in Haitian-Creole
The Need
95% of Haitians identify themselves as Christians and the church is one of Haiti’s key institutions. This program answers several needs:
- Bibles for Christians who can’t afford one when a Bible costs about $10 and 80% of Haitians live on less than $2 a day.
- Approaches to Scripture accessible to the 50% of Haitian adults who are illiterate.
- Quality Christian education materials in Haitian-Creole that are relevant to people’s daily lives.
- Models of servant leadership where too often the leader dominates instead of serves.
And as the Bishop Desmond Tutu says, “If you want to keep people subjugated, the last thing you place in their hands is a Bible. There’s nothing more radical, nothing more revolutionary, nothing more subversive against injustice and oppression than the Bible.”
Strategy
Provide 10,000 people a year with Bibles in churches, schools, and literacy centers. Each distribution is accompanied by training in lectio divina-based approaches to Bible study, as well as other materials. This approach invites those who are illiterate to participate, and encourages servant leadership that deeply values the voice of each person. Profound things happen as the group listens to Scripture for God’s direction for their personal lives and for their community.
Goals
To help people in churches, schools, and literacy centers continue to:
- Have access to God’s living Word
- See their spiritual lives grow through our four Haitian-Creole books (Bible studies for children and adults, the Prayer of Examen, and a Theology Discussion Book)
- Foster unity within their communities and between different churches
- See their spiritual practices lead to practical efforts to improve local communities
How you can help
- $250 per month provides a trainer’s salary and expenses
- $300 (a month?) provides a church or literacy center with 2 training sessions and a follow-up visit, which includes about 50 people receiving Bibles
Click here to download a PDF document with a more extensive explanation of DISCIPLES Program.
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CONNECTING
Building relationships and understanding among Haitians and Americans for mutual growth.
Click here to learn about our trips to Haiti with Haiti Partners ADVOCATE Program.
Haitians to US
We bring about a dozen Haitians each year to the U.S. for meetings, conferences, seminars, exchanges, and to work on their English.
Haiti Partners Youth Choir and Dance Troupe
We support a 22-member choir in Mariaman, Haiti. We’re building into these children’s lives; they’re learning to sing and dance, while they grow in self-confidence and get leadership opportunities. We look forward to this choir coming to tour in the U.S. Until then, people who travel to Haiti with us get to see them perform. Click here to view a video of the choir.
