Learning Together: Volunteers, Principals, Teachers and Students
Written by: Abby Gwaltney, CCH Director of Communications & Outreach, and Wood & Emmy Parker, CCH Education Team Leaders
The call and response of the teacher and children’s voices rings in your ears with the singing and clapping of the next class’ enthusiastic “good morning” song. Through the window drift the sounds of roosters crowing and parents talking as they walk down the road. You feel the hot, sweaty bodies of your classmates crushed together on your bench and look up at the chalkboard to read today’s lesson, and find the teacher has written a morning message projecting the day’s activities.
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A typical Haitian school might have one or two buildings that house 4-6 classes each. There are likely 30-50 kids in each “classroom”, separated by plywood partitions. Teachers make do with very limited supplies and often lack formal education themselves. But with help, they can do so much more! With help, they can transform the lives of their students, one by one!
Teachers at CCH partner schools are learning skills like how to write and use a morning message, using math manipulatives for deeper understanding of math concepts and the importance of reading stories to students in Kreyol. CCH partners with 9 schools in and around Jacmel, Haiti (including a new partner school this year in the mountain town of Chabin!). We provide resources like teacher training, school supplies, hot lunches, and enrichment opportunities for students. We would love for you to pray with us for each of these CCH partner schools:
| Lavanneau School | EMEVO School | Mont Fleuri School |
| Vie de France Primary School | Vie de France Kinder School | Hosanna Baptiste Kinder School |
| Hosanna Baptiste Primary School | Chabin School | ADECA |
CCH also mentors and encourages educators through a community organization called AFDCS (Association de Fondation pou le Developpment Communautoire). AFDCS is a “train the trainer” organization that participates in seminars with CCH and then takes the lessons and tools they learn from CCH out into very rural areas, some 3-4 hours from Jacmel, where they work with teachers in 15 schools. This is very real example of the ripple effect of CCH’s Education ministry!
This past summer, CCH welcomed two teams of education volunteers to Haiti. In July, volunteers ran a Summer Camp for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students and teachers from 7 different schools. The camp was held at Lavanneau School, and all campers had ample workspaces and places to sit thanks to volunteers from Trinity Presbyterian Church in Herndon, Virginia, who built 5 new picnic tables on the school’s property!
The kids had a blast making paper lanterns and color spinners in art, learning to play recorders and lummi rhythm sticks in music (see video below), acting out the Biblical “fruit of the spirit” in drama time and exploring matter with science experiments and new resource books in Kreyol. Teachers learned new strategy games to play with their students and how to model and teach positive leadership behaviors.
In August, teachers and principals invited CCH to help prepare before the start of the school year. Education volunteers led a seminar to train teachers on art ideas for the classroom, teaching reading comprehension strategies, techniques to build vocabulary and develop number sense. The team helped teachers decorate their classroom spaces with colorful displays and choose appropriate books for each classroom. The teachers and directors also learned more about conflict resolution skills and explored the idea of developing mentoring programs at their school.
Because of wonderful volunteers on our education team and generous student sponsors, CCH is able to provide these wonderful learning experiences for students and teachers. Our emphasis is on developing new skills for teachers so the students can learn in a school with a positive learning environment. The teachers and students are learning. The volunteers are also learning how to maintain the momentum that has been achieved and to continue the progress by listening to what the Haitian teachers and principals say they need next.
If you’d like to help us do more, please consider volunteering in Haiti or becoming a student sponsor!
