We’re currently working with a group of local students through a series of weekly workshops and cultural exchanges which build the students’ confidence and help them develop new skills.
We’re currently working with a group of local students through a series of weekly workshops and cultural exchanges which build the students’ confidence and help them develop new skills.
The students first approached us during an open community meeting at a local church. In response to the students’ interests, we’ve worked with our partner organisation here in Haiti, GrassRoots United, to develop meetings, exchanges and workshops which are taking place between international volunteers and Haitian students.
These events provide a space where the Haitian students can both learn and teach. Giving the students a chance to set the agenda for the meetings and to instruct international volunteers not only gives the volunteers a chance to learn, but lets the Haitian students build confidence in their abilities as leaders.
We’ll also work with students during these meetings to provide vocational training, help them learn other practical skills, and provide space for the students to develop their interests.
By building the skills and confidence of Haitian young people, this student network gives us a way to build not only physical strength in our community, but social strength as well.
Read the project synopsis here.
We’d also like to thank all GRU staff for lending their base to this ambitious group of students during the first weeks of the project. Read more about GRU here.
With the generous help of Give Love, students and other community members attended a workshop on how composting toilets can meet both sanitation and agricultural needs. 
Our first few weeks with the students focused on trainings, but this week was a little different. Working with Kleiwerks international and GrassRoots United, the students engaged in a creative bamboo workshop. 
After several weeks of discussing a community garden, we took our first concrete steps toward starting a nursery in this final planning meeting. 
After several weeks of great activities with the students, this week we pursued a comprehensive health training in which students and community members learned about basic first aid. The training also covered fifteen things any Haitian can do today to improve their health. 
During our second week, we pursued a more ambitious schedule of an Internet training led by Canadian volunteer Arndell LeBlenc and then discussion of a community gardening project. 
For our first meeting with the community group, we started with an English/Kryole exchange between ten Haitian students and five international volunteers. 
After repeated requests from the students in the group, we’ve started running language exchanges every Wednesday. This will give us a better opportunity to help students improve their grasp of English, whatever their level. 
After several weeks of organising, the community garden is up and running! Community volunteers will be coming daily to water and weed the garden. 
