Today my friend Becky Newlin, a teacher at Oakland Catholic HS in Pittsburgh who has been working as a volunteer in Fondwa since September 2006, invited me to visit her 9th. grade English class at the College St. Antoine. ("College" in Haiti signifies a secondary school. The community of Fondwa is one of very few rural Haitian communities to have not only a good primary school, but also a good secondary school.)
The St. Antoine School is supported through grants from Partners in Progress (PIP) and Family Health Ministries (FHM), a collaborating organization based in North Carolina. This year there are about 600 students attending classes from kindergarten through the last year of secondary school. The academic year 2006-2007 marks the first time EVER that young persons in Fondwa can COMPLETE their secondary education without leaving their home community!
Becky Newlin is teaching English at the St. Antoine School to seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth graders. I had the delightful experience of meeting her ninth grade class this morning! At first they were shy or maybe a little bored, but Becky and I had conceived a project that won their interest. I've brought 6 disposable cameras with me to Haiti with the intention of inviting students at the school to take pictures. Becky and I asked the class to divide into 6 groups of 3 students each. Each group gets a camera and can take 27 photos that tell a story of their lives in Fondwa. The group decides what pictures are important to them. Becky will return the cameras to me next week and I'll have the pictures developed (with lots of "dupes") so that I can bring them back when I return to Fondwa (with a group of 10 "reverse mission pilgrims") during the first week of March. Each group will compose brief "captions" for the pictures and together the class will prepare a book of photos to share with the schools in the US that are "partnered" through PIP with the St. Antoine School. The students got excited about the project and their excitement was infectious! I'm excited to see the fruits of their efforts and learn from them more about life in Fondwa! Below is a photo of the class together with Becky their teacher.
Comments:
I am looking forward to seeing and reading the St.Antoinne students' photo project. What a great idea!! Your blogging reminds me how much I miss everyone especially with all the snow and cold here in the US. I am so looking forward to joining you all in just a few days. (Save a Prestige for me Rich). Kenbe la.
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Wed, Jan 24, 07 @ 22:19 Permalink
Wed, Jan 24, 07 @ 22:31 · http://www.PIPHaiti.org Permalink
Wed, Jan 24, 07 @ 23:29 FYI -- just in from shoveling 2" of snow. :) Thought you'd like to know that.
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