Edem spring2014 newsletter

EDEM NEWS

SPRING 2014

EDEM NEWS Printemps 2014 | Nouvelles d’EDEM | Ile-à-Vache, Haiti

EDEM’s Mission EDEM Foundation is a nonprofit organization supporting the education of children and delivering community-based, integrated, and sustainable development assistance to Southern Haiti by partnering with local communities, municipalities, and international institutions.

EDEM is Haitian Kreyol for Help Me.

Fro m Pa t r i c k Lu c i e n , Founder

Photo Credit: Edem

Welcome to the first issue of EDEM’s newsletter. EDEM is proud of what it has accomplished over t h e p a s t s e v e n y ea r s . We , members of the Ile-à-Vache community, friends and supporters of Haiti, wish to give you an account of our work on the island and share recent news with you.

EDEM first became active on Ile-àVache in 2006 when it took over

PhotoCredit:VBS Photography

École du Village École du Village offers elementary education to underprivileged children in the small community of Canobert in Ile-à-Vache. 135 boys and girls receive free education from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade, and are taught basic reading, writing, and mathematical skills by 7 elementary school teachers.

The school is entirely funded by Edem, its donors, and partner organizations.# Over the last several years, Edem was able to build four new classrooms and hire more teachers to serve the growing number of students, thanks in part to Paris Keane, a young high-school student from Nashville, and to the fundraising efforts of Flying High for Haiti, a nonprofit organization focused on children’s education and art in Haiti.#

PhotoCredit:VBS Photography

Boys and girls have also benefited from the generosity of Tailored for Education, in the form of beautiful blue uniforms. Tailored for Education, is a nonprofit striving to increase school enrollment in impoverished areas by PhotoCredit:VBS Photography

donating uniforms that families could not otherwise

EDEM Foundation is a Project of United Charitable Programs, Inc., a Registered 501(c) (3) Public Charity PhotoCredit:VBS Photography

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EDEM NEWS

École du Village, a small elementary school with 23 students. Since then, our main focus has been to make education a path to sustainable livelihood by partnering with both local and international organizations. Today, EDEM’s projects include École du Village, with more than 130 students; the Kay Anne Center, teaching youths critical thinking, entrepreneurship, and art; and Alpha, which provides basic literacy to over 30 adults. Besides e d u c at i o n , E D E M s t r i v e s t o improve the local economy by assisting in the creation and operation of small businesses by local people.

We would like to thank all our partners—advisors, collaborators, and donors—for making EDEM a reality on Ile-à-Vache. We wish to thank Anne Anninger who has t i re l e s s l y s u p p o rt e d v a r i o u s projects in Haiti over the past 16 years and who is bringing you this newsletter today. A special thankyou goes to my wife Bernadette and to my two daughters, Sarah and Isabelle, for their continued support.

Do not hesitate to send us feedback, suggestions and criticisms, and help us move forward.

Jean Patrick Lucien, Founder www.edem2.org Au nom de tous ceux qui ont participé à la croissance d’EDEM depuis 2006, Jean Patrick Lucien est heureux de présenter ce premier bulletin qui expose la mission d’EDEM et en donne les dernières nouvelles. Il remercie sa famille pour son support inconditionnel et Anne Anninger pour le bulletin.

SPRING 2014

afford. Edem is most grateful to all who contributed or who will contribute to support the school. #

PhotoCredit:Flying High for Haiti

“The children are cheerful, well-behaved, and very creative. They love contact with the outside world and enjoy enormously interacting with foreign visitors,” says Ines Lozano, founder of Flying High for Haiti.#

Ines is in a good position to know. She and teams of volunteers have come regularly to Ile-à-Vache over the last few years to work with the children, entrusting them with cameras, and allowing them to document their lives and their environment through their own art and photography. The results are remarkable, unique images of Haiti. Ines mounted a series of acclaimed fundraising exhibitions in Miami, at MOCA and in the Wynwood neighborhood, in the midst of its growing art community.# Ines, her son Mikey and 15 young volunteers are planning yet another trip from March 21 to 27. They will focus on basic English skills, arts and crafts, soccer training, and just plain fun with the children of École du Village.# Grâce à Edem et ses partenaires, 7 professeurs éduquent à présent 135 jeunes élèves à l’École du Village. Les beaux uniformes bleus portés par les enfants sont le don de Tailored for Education. Durant les dernières années quatre nouvelles classes ont pu être construites grâce à la générosité de Flying High for Haiti et le travail de Paris Keane, un jeune étudiant de Nashville. Ines Lozano, fondatrice de Flying High, son fils, et des équipes de jeunes font de fréquentes visites à Ile-à-Vache, enseignant aux enfants la photographie, l’art, des rudiments d’anglais, et partageant avec eux les joies du foot.

PhotoCredit:Flying High for Haiti

Kay Anne, a New Training and Production Center Edem is proud to announce the opening of Kay Anne, a new training and production center on Ile-à-Vache. Most young people on the island have no job to look forward to, even with a secondary education. Edem is hoping to create new opportunities for them with the opening of the Center.# In February, 28 students were admitted to Kay Anne. Under the direction of Jerome Genest, Jean Dany Blaise and Enold Thanis, these students will pursue a three-year program leading to the acquisition of business skills, including language learning, market research, development of products and services, and production and sale of arts and crafts destined for the tourist population of Haiti and other Caribbean venues. Kay Anne will also function

EDEM Foundation is a Project of United Charitable Programs, Inc., a Registered 501(c) (3) Public Charity

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EDEM NEWS

SPRING 2014

as an education center offering visitors to the island an opportunity to share their skills and knowledge with the local population.# Four of Edem’s partners have already invested in the program: The Photo Credit: Edem Ansara Family Fund provided the funding to set up the center. In January, Mass Maritime Academy brought furniture and educational material for Kay Anne aboard its training ship, the USTS Kennedy. Next July, trained educators among the volunteers of Elevate Destinations will work with Kay Anne students on presentation and English language skills. The new green uniforms proudly worn by recent Kay Anne recruits were provided by Tailored for Education.# We are grateful to these organizations for partnering with Edem in developing Kay Anne and its programs. We wish also to acknowledge the support of the Gannett Family and the Shane Family who provided funding to hire some of the trainers.#

Photo Credit: Edem

Kay Anne, le nouveau centre pour jeunes adultes, a ouvert ses portes récemment grâce au support de l’Ansara Family Fund et avec l’aide également des familles Gannett et Shane. 28 étudiants, sous la direction de Jerome Genest, Jean Dany Blaise and Enold Thanis, étudieront entre autres les principes du commerce, les analyses de marché, le développement et marketing d’artisanat de création, et les langues étrangères, se préparant ainsi à un futur commercial et hospitalier.

Alpha, A New Venture for Adults 2014 marks the beginning of Edem’s third educational venture. Alpha is a new adult literacy center serving 30 students at the moment. The program operates in the community of Kaykok under the supervision of Enold Thanis, a well-known local school teacher. Alpha offers classes at two levels: for adults who have never attended school before, and for those who attended school as children but need to improve their basic reading and writing skills. Edem is grateful to the Ansara Family Fund and to the Gannett Family for supporting the creation of the center.# Edem vient de mettre en marche Alpha, un nouveau programme d’alphabétisation pour adultes. Déjà 30 adultes sont à l’étude. Certains sont exposés pour la première fois à la lecture et l’écriture. D’autres travaillent à augmenter leurs compétences. Edem remercie l’Ansara Family Fund et la famille Gannett de leur support financier.

An Interview with Fritz Cezar, Mayor of Ile-à-Vache

PhotoCredit:@BureauTourismeSud

Ile-à-Vache is situated some 7 miles from Les Cayes in Southern Haiti. It is 20 square miles and has a population of 15,000 inhabitants. It is remarkably beautiful but suffers a lack of infrastructure, and a from paucity of water and other resources.

A native of the island, Fritz Cezar was well aware of this situation when he was selected Mayor in October 2012. His outlook however is optimistic: “The island and its population have witnessed major improvements in a matter of a few years, in great part thanks to the collaboration with EDEM, and the partners it brought to the island.”

The projects Fritz Cezar is referring to are, among others, the 2011 construction of a bakery, allowing women to make their own bread rather than having to travel to the mainland to purchase it; the establishment of the Banque du Village and of micro lending, allowing women to start their own businesses; the development and administration of École du Village, which offers free education to

EDEM Foundation is a Project of United Charitable Programs, Inc., a Registered 501(c) (3) Public Charity

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EDEM NEWS

SPRING 2014

135 elementary school students; the support given to the agricultural community in developing new crops; and last but not least, the partnership, among others, with Mass Maritime Academy, its faculty and students, who now visit the island annually to perform onsite assessment of infrastructural needs, and who deliver equipment and supplies.

From Karen Ansara of the Ansara Family Fund Karen Ansara recently came back from Haiti, upbeat about her visits to Mirebalais and Fond-des-Blancs, and impressed by the reconstruction and the improved state of cleanliness of Port-au-Prince. Karen was not able to visit Ile-àVache this time but she plans to return to Haiti during the year. She looks f o r w a r d to v i s i t i n g t h e i s l a n d a n d s e e i n g f o r h e r s e l f E d e m’s l a te s t accomplishments.#

Karen has been a long-time admirer and supporter of Edem. In her words,“ “I greatly appreciate the support EDEM ranks high on my list of organizations working in Haiti. It meets the given me by EDEM and its partners,” standards I look for in an innovative and trustworthy organization.”# concludes Mayor Cezar. “Together we are investing in, and working with the community, in a way that both respects its culture and its ecology.”

Fritz Cezar, Mayor www.ile-a-vache.org Fritz Cezar, Maire d’Ile-à-Vache, se montre heureux du développement de l’ile durant ces dernières années. Il exprime son appréciation pour les travaux d’EDEM, mentionne les projects locaux issus de cette coopération, tels la Banque du Village, le four communautaire, l’École du Village; et apprécie les partenariats facilités par EDEM, tel celui de Mass Maritime Academy.

First and foremost, Karen explained, Edem is embedded in the community it serves. While it benefits from the support of outside organizations, Edem is rooted in Ile-à-Vache, in the unique needs of a given place as voiced by its people. Edem’s close collaboration with the Mayor of the island for example, ensures that its efforts are coordinated with, and complementary to other local efforts.# Second, Edem is very successful at leveraging partnerships with outside organizations. It welcomes and accommodates the ideas and projects of others.

This open-minded, flexible attitude assures that Edem, rather than duplicating the work of others, is able to benefit greatly from the collaboration of such organizations as Elevate Destinations, Flying High for Haiti, Mass Maritime Academy, and Tailored for Education.# Thirdly, Karen and Patrick have long been exploring the idea of creating a vocational school for young adults in Haiti. Kay Anne is a first step toward the realization of that goal. Since the project is initially small in scale, it will be easy to observe, measure, and closely evaluate its progress. Wouldn’t it be great if Kay Anne could become a successful testing ground, leading eventually to the creation of a larger educational venture for young adults?#

Karen Ansara de la Ansara Family Fund exprime son admiration pour EDEM. EDEM, à son avis, personnifie les standards qu'elle recherche dans une organisation innovatrice et de qualité. Le travail qu'effectue la fondation est tout d'abord local. Il répond aux besoins de la communauté et est effectué par elle et avec elle, telle que le montre sa collaboration avec le Maire, les femmes et leurs entreprises locales. EDEM n'essaye pas de tout faire par soi-même.

EDEM est ouvert aux idées des autres et sait établir des partenariats bénéfiques avec d'autres organisations, tels ceux établis par exemple avec Mass Maritime Academy and Elevate Destination. EDEM essaye d'évaluer qualitativement et quantitativement ses travaux afin de créer des modèles qui peuvent être reproduits. Karen Ansara et Patrick Lucien projettent depuis longtemps de créer un internat pour jeunes adultes. Il serait particulièrement souhaitable que Kay Anne puisse servir de terrain d'essai à une telle initiative.

Photo Credit: Mike Fouiny Ilmo

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EDEM Foundation is a Project of United Charitable Programs, Inc., a Registered 501(c) (3) Public Charity

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EDEM NEWS

SPRING 2014

Massachusetts Maritime’s January 2014 Trip to Ile-à-Vache Massachusetts Maritime is the second oldest state maritime academy in the United States. The Academy prepares students for careers in the maritime, engineering, emergency-management and environmental fields. It operates a training ship, USTS KENNEDY.# Mass Maritime’s yearly visits to Ile-à-Vache began in 2010 when the Academy set up a cooperative educational program on the island. Under the leadership of Professor Tom Lennon, students began performing engineering, waterquality and emergency-management assessments of the island’s infrastructure.

From the start EDEM and Mass Maritime established a strong and mutually beneficial partnership: EDEM facilitated relationships with the community, the Mayor, and other local organizations; it played a major role in establishing teams with locals, and it accommodated the students as they worked on site.

Mass Maritime students’ efforts, for their part, produced comprehensive engineering drawings of schools, clinics, wells and other public infrastructure, as well as reports on how to improve and upgrade these facilities and systems.#

PhotoCredits:Mass Maritime Academy

Mass Maritime est une des plus anciennes académies maritimes des Etats-Unis. Ses élèves se préparent à être marins, ingénieurs, gestionnaires d’urgence et de l’environnement.

Depuis 2010, Mass Maritime et ses étudiants,

Since last summer, a student team of 8 Mass Maritime cadets, EDEM Foundation, and Soul of Haiti, a local Haitian organization, prepared together for the transport on the USTS KENNEDY of humanitarian goods and equipment from Boston to Ile-à-Vache. These included a saw mill, well-digging equipment, and several hundred containers of donated or purchased supplies.

Those intended for EDEM contained books for the library, educational materials, computer and sports equipment, bicycles, and furniture for the new office of Kay Anne.#

sous la direction de Professeur Tom Lennon, ont

In January, EDEM’s director, Patrick Lucien, Professor Lennon and the students flew to the island and waited for the arrival of the ship. Delivery of the supplies and materials was particularly difficult because of bad weather.

The initial offload plan, which included using a group of small boats from Ile-à-Vache, had to be abandoned because of rough seas. Instead, a large barge was rapidly secured and, thanks to the support of the US embassy and Haiti’s national government, the goods and equipment could reach shore and be distributed to various PhotoCredit:Mass Maritime Academy organizations.#

Haïtienne locale, ont collaboré et organisé le

établi un programme éducatif visant à recenser écoles, cliniques, puits, ainsi qu’à produire des plans d’amélioration de l’infrastructure de l’ile.

Dès le début, EDEM a collaboré avec Mass Maritime, facilitant les rapports avec le Maire et les locaux, assistant à la formation d’équipes de travail, et hébergeant les élèves durant leurs séjours Depuis l’été dernier, 8 étudiants de Mass Maritime, EDEM, et Soul of Haïti, une organisation transport sur le USTS KENNEDY de quantités de denrées humanitaires et équipement lourd destinés à l’ile. EDEM pour sa part attendait la livraison de livres, d’ordinateurs, d’équipement sportif, de bicyclettes, et de meubles pour Kay Anne.

Patrick Lucien, Directeur d’EDEM, Professeur Lennon et les 8 élèves s’acheminèrent sur l’ile en janvier dernier pour attendre l’arrivée du bateau en provenance du Massachusetts. Le débarquement fut difficile à cause du mauvais temps. Finalement, avec l’approbation de l’Ambassade des Etats-Unis et du gouvernement Haïtien, une péniche réussit a décharger les

EDEM and the community of Ile-à-Vache are proud of, and grateful for their partnership with Mass Maritime and its students.#

denrées.

EDEM, Ile-à-Vache et Mass Maritime se félicitent de leur partenariat et de ses bénéfices mutuels.

EDEM Foundation, a project of United Charitable Programs, Inc., a Registered 501(c)(3) Public Charity

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EDEM NEWS

Elevate Destinations is Bringing a Team to Ile-à-Vache in July 2014

Photo Credit: Elevate Destinations

Elevate Destinations is a small grouptravel operator specializing in awardwinning transformative travel. It connects participants to nonprofit international initiatives, allowing them to volunteer on projects that make a difference. Elevate Destinations has been running volunteer trips to Haiti since the 2012 earthquake.

This summer, Elevate Destinations will partner with Edem and bring to Ile-àVache a team of ten volunteers and two trip leaders from July 11 to July 20.

Their focus will be twofold: bolstering students' leadership and English speaking skills at Kay Anne; and helping to build a wind/solar system to supply electricity for the education center.

We are excited by Elevate Destinations’ team visit and by its contribution to the sustainable future of the island.

Elevate Destination est une compagnie de voyages organisés qui permet à leurs membres de faire du volontariat dans un pays, et pour une organisation à but non lucratif, de leurs choix.

Cet été, Elevate Destinations collaborera avec EDEM. Un groupe de 10 voyageurs et 2 organisateurs viendront à l’Ile-à-Vache du 11 au 20 juillet. Ils pratiqueront l’anglais avec les étudiants de Kay Anne, et aideront à construire un système solaire et une éolienne pour alimenter le centre d’éducation.

Nous souhaitons la bienvenue à l’équipe d’Elevate Destinations et apprécions sa future contribution. au développement durable de l’ile.

SPRING 2014

We Would Like to Thank You We would like to thank all of you—volunteers, donors, and supporters, big and small—who helped us build EDEM over the last eleven years and realize, step by step, its educational mission. Whether you volunteered your time working with us on the island, made donations in kind such as educational material, computer and sport equipment, or supported us financially, you are the ones who made it all possible. We could not do without you. # Every penny counts for the children and youth of Ile-à-Vache. There is no administrative waste at Edem: it is just a few of us, working directly with the schools, directly with the people on the island.# Are you an educator who has a few weeks to spare? Please come to the island and teach art, craft, English, or business skills to our students. Do you ever think that a $25 donation will make too little difference? Think again: a $25 check means three full months of schooling. It takes $100 to send a child to school for a whole year at École du Village. Are you able to afford a bit more?

Several donations will add up in no time to pay for a $1,000 a year teacher’s salary. Every helpful gesture will be appreciated.# The children and youth supported by Edem thank you for their brighter future.# Un grand merci à tous ceux qui ont aidé Edem à réaliser sa mission éducative durant les derniers onze ans. Que vous soyez venus travailler avec nous sur l’ile, que vous ayez donné des livres, des ordinateurs, ou de l’équipement sportif, ou nous ayez aidé financièrement, nous n’aurions pas pu accomplir ce que nous avons fait sans vous.

Il n’y a aucun gâchis administratif chez Edem. Nous sommes une petite équipe qui travaille directement avec l’école et les centres éducatifs, directement avec la population de l’ile. Chacun de vos dons, petits ou grands, vont directement là ou le besoin existe. Êtes vous un éducateur et avez vous un peu de temps pour enseigner sur l’ile ? Vous êtes les bienvenus. Pensezvous que votre contribution serait trop modeste ? Aucun don n’est trop petit. $25 constitue trois mois de scolarité à l’École du Village. $100 payent pour une année scolaire entière. Les dons de cinq ou six d’entre vous peuvent constituer les $1,000 nécessaires au salaire annuel d’un professeur. Chaque don est apprécié et utilisé à bon escient. Grâce à vous les enfants et les jeunes d’ EDEM sont assurés d’un meilleur futur et vous en sont reconnaissants.

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PLEASE DONATE To donate online, go to www.edem2.org and click on the yellow donate link# If you prefer to send a check, mail it to EDEM, P.O. Box 3313, Framingham, MA 01705# YOU CAN REACH US AT contact@edem2.org 508-395-4768#

EDEM Foundation, a project of United Charitable Programs, Inc., a Registered 501(c)(3) Public Charity

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