"Education is the work of your entire life."

Trainer and Educator, Manache, leading his colleagues

"Edikasyon se travay la nan tout lavi ou."  This is Creole proverb that means, "Education is the work of your entire life."  It is humbling to realize that the desire to learn and advance one's life is a universal characteristic.

As I reflect on our first teacher training and the interviews and conversations I have had, it is clear that education is the primary focus of most Haitians.  In a conversation with a dozen women at Rebuild Globally each one mentioned that their primary role as a mother was to try to find a way to educate their children.  In our preparation meetings for the Williamson teacher training the teachers acknowledged the fact that education is the key to the future of Haiti.

In Haiti, 95% of schools are privately run.  The Ministry of Education has a national curriculum for all grades and nationwide exams for 6th grade, 9th, 12th and the equivalent of 13th grade.  Private schools tend to be run like a business unless they are affiliated with an aid or faith based organization.  Since many of the public school regulations are not specifically enforced in all private schools, there are several teachers working in classrooms with very little professional training.

20 teachers joined us for the Williamson training

Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I had the pleasure of hosting a teacher training in Williamson.  It was an amazing experience!  We all learned a lot from each other and I was impressed at how eager the teachers were to learn more about education and their jobs as teachers. 

This experience started as a dream of mine in the U.S. as I prepared for this summer internship.  I have realized in my many trips to Haiti that the greatest need here is access.  People are interested and willing to improve their lives and to help their families and communities succeed.  Often the barrier is finding ways to access information, education and the ability to sustain such programs. 

The teacher training is a good example of just this.  At the end of June I met with all of the teachers that work in Williamson.  After sharing our teaching joys and challenges, we started talking about professional development.  Most of the teachers working in Williamson want to teach, enjoy teaching and recognize the importance of a quality education.  Most of them have no official training in the field of education.  Everything they know they have learned through experience. 

From L-R: Karissa, Manache, Pastor Joussaint, Lexius

Thankfully, there was one teacher, Manache, who has a teaching certificate from a university and is connected with a man, Lexius, who works for FONHEP and is contracted out from the Ministry of Education to lead trainings.  What an amazing connection.  I came to Haiti wanting to learn more about the education system and to offer Haitian to Haitian teacher training.  Last Thursday and Friday were an answer to these prayers! 

small group lessons

The teachers learned, some of them for the first time, about a yearly curriculum, general and specific objectives, how to make your content fit your objectives and how to successfully manage a classroom.  It was like trying to cram my entire undergraduate degree into 2 days!  The teachers were so appreciative to have this information and participated fully in small and large group lessons as well as some “student teaching” opportunities. 

I learned a lot too.  Mainly, education, at its core, is the same no matter where you are.  Class size matters, quality of teacher matters, a supportive administration matters, access to materials matters, love of teaching matters, teacher-student relationships matter.  The National Curriculum of Haiti is not that different than our national standards in the U.S.  The difference is the accessibility to learn about and put these foundational ideas into practice. 

Hymn of Haitian Teachers
Roughly Translated: The education and future of
the nation is resting on our teachers.

Everyone walked away from this experience wanting more.  The teachers in Williamson want trainings every three months.  I want to investigate the possibilities for more professional schools or certificate programs for Haitians who want to pursue education as their career.  I want to continue learning and sharing with my colleagues here about the future of Haiti and the role educators, not just education, has on its potential.

Thanks so much to everyone who sponsored, prayed and supported me through this process.  It truly could not have happened without your generosity!!