Hearts for Humanity

101 University Students in Full Swing!

FrMed — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:14:19 +0000

101 University Students are in full swing at the University of Nouvelle Grande Anse in Jeremie. They are continuing into their 2nd year of university studies. Four scholarships have been obtained through donations. Nineteen professors have volunteered to teach the courses in Agronomy, Veterinary Science, Business Management, and English at no charge. All but a couple have their PHD’s. Enthusiasm abounds on campus!!

Anticipating My Thanksgiving Trip

FrMed — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:14:39 +0000

November 22nd, 2011.

I am looking forward to my upcoming trip to Haiti on November 25th. What a contrast I will be experiencing…. The day before I will probably eat too much turkey and trimmings at my Thanksgiving dinner table. Within 24 hours in Port au Prince I will be encountering countless people who have not had a nourishing or a staining meal in years. Down deep I always ask myself penetrating questions: Why? What if I was born here and they were born in America? W hat if I had to live my whole life on the edge of starvation with little or nothing that I could do about it? What if God had switched my birth around and I wound up in Haiti for my whole life?

I tell myself that I was born where I was born and when I was born for a reason. And it is that reason that has drawn me to Haiti. Where I was born and when I was born has given me every advantage in life. I will be with people who have had no advantages in life with little opportunity to pull themselves up and out of their inhuman condition. I know that if I work hard enough on the various projects, we can together make a real difference in their lives and in their future. And the poor can give me what all the advantages I possess in life can never bring me….. Their gift of Thankfulness, letting me know that I am not as self-centered as my lifestyle portrays. Their gift of Hope, because I tend to despair over the smallest of concerns. Their gift of Joy, so I am able to see that only non-tangible things can bring me enduring happiness. And their gift of Love, when strangers like us can go beneath the surface and bond over life and death matters.

I am heading to Haiti with our team of educators from South Florida to present workshops on Inquiry-based learning for Haitian principals and educators. I know I will return carrying so much more inside of me than when I left. I never go to Haiti for the souvenirs.

Fr. Med Laz

November 26-27 Seminar a Huge Success!

FrMed — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:55:52 +0000

The November 26-27, 2011 Seminar that was held in Port au Prince was a huge success. 48 principals and educators attended from all of the 10 regions of Haiti. Everyone was present both days at 8:00 Am and everyone stayed until the afternoon closing. The presentations on Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) were given bu Fequiere Vilsaint and Dominique Dumervil in Haitian Creole and Fr. Medard Laz gave 2 talks in English that were translated. IBL is a method of teaching and learning that has become very popular in the USA. Teachers and students formulate questions that pertain to the world around them. They then do reasearch to explore the answers to the questions. Finally a workable plan is put together and acted upon. With IBL the teachers asts as a guide to the students. IBL gets way from rote learning with a blackboard and chalk. The students are always involved and never bored. And they are working on issues and problems that pertain to their everyday lives. It was inspiring to see the 48 attendees respond whole-heartedly, participate, and interact with the presentations and with each other. They worked in small groups as do the students in IBL. The team introduced the technology on Sunday afternoon. They showed how valuable the computer is to doing the research. Using a new Kindle Fire tablet they were shown various lessons from a year’s curriculum as countless books that had benn downloaded. The attendees witnessed how the student could learn by interacting with the tablet in Creole or French. Everyone in the room wanted to purchase a downloaded Kindle Fire tablet. We said that we would be back on January 14-15 to train their 1st and 2nd grade teachers with IBL and we would bring the technology with us that they need. It was truly amazing to see the difference in the participants from Saturday morning when they arrived to when they left on Sunday afternoon. A new way of education had arrived in Haiti that will lead to a transformation of the country in the future.

Latest News About Women with Business Loans

FrMed — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:54:31 +0000

Ronel Delva who lives in South Florida has given us a report on the 100 women he met with in Raymond, Haiti from July 15-18, 2011. Despite the heavy rains, Ronel was able to train 70 new women and continue to work with 30 other women who already had started small businesses. The 70 new women who would work in small groups were given $55.00US loans. Hearts for Humanity supplied the $3,850.00US. As as result of these loans, the women have been able to invest in income-generating projects, such as selling eggs, corn, and beans, and small food carts from which they can sell a variety of products. It is too early to say that this initial loan that they pay back every month with interest will lift them out of poverty. Additional loans are almost always needed. But Ronel reports that there was great joy in seeing the women smile as they began their business.