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Saturday, May 31, 2014

Today I attended the Ordination of a friend I met in Haiti about 2 years ago, Seminarian Pierre Louis Joseph.  Pierre Louis was spending the year at the Emmaus Center in Papaye working with the director Pere Romel when I met him and I was able to get to know him during my stay.  Pierre Louis was learning English and wanted to practice speaking English with me and I was also trying to learn and improve my Kreyole so we spoke often throughout my stay both working to help the other learn the new language and gain practice.

Over the last two years Pierre Louis and I stay in touch through email and when I return to Haiti each time I try to schedule to visit with him during my stay and catch up on what has been happening since we last saw each other.  Last year during one visit Pierre Louis and I were asked to be Godparents to the niece of Father Romel, the director of the Emmaus center.  The Picture below is the three of us together in front of the guest house of the Emmaus center.






During a visit last October with the HEF Board members there was an ordination in Mirebalais that our group attended.  I saw Pierre Louis at the ordination as most of the seminarians and many priest attend all special celebrations, like the feast day of the Patron of the parish, an anniversary of the church or school, etc.  In Haiti these celebrations are events to celebrate in community and the Priest and seminarians want to be present to support each other in the celebrations in each others parish, there is a beautiful Mass and a big feast after for the occasion.  During my visit with Pierre Louis after the Ordination he told me it was nice that our group was able to share in the celebration of the ordination with the deacons, that it was a special day for them and it is very nice to have many visitors join in the celebration.  He then said I hope that you can come to my ordination to celebrate with me, I asked when it would be and he said when the Bishop decides that I am ready he will tell me and give me the date.  I told him if he sent me an invitation that I would do my best to come to Haiti for the ordination.  Three weeks ago I received the invitation and quickly began trying to make plans to attend, with such short notice I was not sure I would be able to attend but I was able to find a flight, there was a pastor, Pere Kesner from Cerca Carvajal, that I know from previous visits and had promised to come at visit on my next trip to Haiti who was in Richmond who would be returning the week before the ordination so I was able to travel with him and ride from Port au Prince to Hinche so everything fell into place and I was able to attend the ordination.  In Haiti many responses and comments include Grace a Dieu or Si Bondye vle, this is Thanks to God or if God wills, when you ask how are you the response is Very often Bien Bien, Grace a Dieu, (very well thanks to God) and when you say see you later it is Na we Pita si Bondye vle, (see you later, if God wills), I am able to make this trip to attend the ordination Grace a Dieu.

Pierre Louis with the other Seminarians entering mass for the Ordination


During the Ordination Mass the Deacons with the Bishop 



This trip has been a very good trip for many reasons, first because I was able to attend the Ordination of a friend in Haiti and celebrate with his family the special occasion, but also because it has been a very good time for me to attend meetings and training seminars with the Diocesan Bureau of Education (BDE) that are happening during this time.  I will also be present next Sunday for the graduation of the Preschool which is part of Ecole Normale d'Instituteurs Hinche Papaye, the 3 year teacher training school that I work with through the parish twinning program with Our Lady of Nazareth.  I was planning to make the trip later in June but changed plans when the invitation came and I have been very blessed to be here during this time instead of my previously planned time.  Each time I come to Haiti I learn more and more about Faith, Life, and Joy this time is no different and I am getting a strong lesson in trusting the will of God.





Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Computers Expand Resources for Schools in Haiti

Over the past two years the Parish of Our Lady of Nazareth in Roanoke has been working to update and expand the computer lab at Ecole Normale d'Instituteurs Hinche Papaye, a 3 year teacher training university in Papaye, Haiti less than 5 miles from Hinche.  During the last parish trip in January we were able to add 10 additional work stations so that the lab now has 28 computer workstations with a projector, printer, and internet.

Thin Client Workstation:




We made the decision to use a "Thin Client" system similar to many libraries and schools in the US to reduce the needed energy to operate the computer lab and try to ensure that the computer lab would not be a drain on the school resources but provide additional resources to the school.  The "Thin Client system uses a single server to operate up to 10 additional workstations, each workstation consists of a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse and the small box that connects the server to the monitor and creates an individual computer workstation.  Each workstation functions independently of the others but it is also possible for teachers of younger students to use the Server to monitor the 10 work stations attached to it to see how each student is progressing.  We installed Solar on the roof of the lab to power the lab and other equipment so the only additional cost to the school to operate this lab is the cost of the Internet, but we have been blessed to find a generous donor in the Diocese of Richmond who has provided the funding to pay for the cost of the internet service for the year.  The internet signal is used for the computer lab, the directors office and also for the teachers to have access in a teachers lounge.



On Tuesday I was able to visit the 2nd year student teachers while they were in the computer lab for class.  They were learning Excel and how to use the various functions for the management of their classroom files.  Since some students were progressed more quickly than others with the assigned projects there were times when I saw multiple students who had completed the assignment using the internet to search Wikipedia for various information.  This class had 42 students in it so some students were sharing a computer but a few had small ACER laptops of their own so most had their own computer to use.  I was happy to see the lab functioning well and the students progressing in their knowledge and abilities to use the computers.  It is good to see that multiple users can be connected and the internet still functions well.



Last Friday I also noticed the 3rd year classroom was empty and the door for the lab was open and walked over to find the 3rd year students working on final reports and projects in the computer lab.  I spoke briefly with the students regarding the computer lab and they all said it was a very good resource and a great addition to the program at the school.  The students are excited to learn about the computers, use them for their school projects and gain access to additional resources available on the internet especially since Textbooks are scarce in Haiti.

In addition the the materials available via the internet there are many organizations currently working for resource options available offline.  Last Friday morning I was able to visit St. Andre Episcopal school in Hinche with Richard Joseph, the Director of the Diocesan Bureau of Education (BDE) in Hinche and see the "Internet in a Box" (IIAB) system in use on both Dell Laptop computers and XO One Laptop per child computers.  The IIAB is simply an external storage drive that is loaded with books, wikipedia, the Khan Academy videos and some other maps and resources in French, Kreyol, English and Spanish.  The IIAB using is connected through a server to the computers and the students can search the resources without the need to connect to the internet.    Most of the Khan Videos are available in French or at least have French Subtitles and could be valuable in Haiti where resources and trained teachers in Math and Science are also lacking.  This topic of the need for additional formation, support and resources for Math was discussed in depth at the meeting of the 3rd cycle school directors that I attended with Richard Joseph,  and Sister Mamoune another BDE member last Saturday.

The director of the school was very pleased with the resources and they are currently using the computers for additional classes after the normal school day ends to augment the education in the classroom.  The school does not have a projector so the computers and resources in the IIAB are not currently being used in the actual classroom but for additional study and research after class.  They have 20 of each XO and Dell and the students are scheduled for 1 hour each throughout the week in groups of 20 so that each has their own computer.  The XO laptops are used for the younger students and do not have access to the Khan Videos but have additional educational content geared for younger students.  The Dell laptops are used for the higher grades.

There are a few other possibilities for offline resources available and I hope to visit a school that is currently using one of these options with the Haitian made Surtab tablets.  I am not sure I will be able to arrange the transportation to see the school since it is in Petit Goave but I will try.  Since there are a few schools in the Diocese of Hinche with twins in the Diocese of Richmond that now have computer labs I hope to be able to gather some information on this trip that would help these schools to find additional resources for their school computer labs.




Tuesday, May 27, 2014

The Diocesan Bureau of Education (BDE) in Hinche prepares "Pre-test" for the classes who will take state exams to assist the students in preparing for these test so that they are successful on the exams and can continue their education.  The 6th graders in the Diocese of Hinche took part of the test yesterday and are taking the final portion today.  On Friday I was able to travel with Richard to the office of the BDE in Hinche after a visit to St Andre Episcopal school, Hinche to see the "Internet in a Box" in use at this school with both XO One Laptop Per Child computers and also Dell Laptops and saw the supervisors preparing the packets of these test to be distributed to the schools in the Diocese.  This pretest is one of the many projects that the BDE works to achieve so that the schools in the Diocese of Hinche have the best possible support and preparation for success.





6th grade Pretest