The land is dry with scrubby vegetation, much like our Southwest. We’re in Babaco, the small village in Haiti where we found our friends, 54 children and three teachers. We arrived in mid-morning, May 8, 1998, on a hot, humid, sunny day. We were soon perspiring heavily even in the shade. The children greeted us with the traditional song, Bienvenu, a vous.
The students recited their lessons--math and writing for the youngest, French for the oldest, and a science lesson for the middle age group.
All this was accomplished in a metal building about the size of our music studio or art studio.
We met the parents, the school committee that was elected by the community, and the liaison with the church that owns the school building.
After this visit, where we distributed school supplies for Babaco, we returned to Port-au-Prince and met with Parole et Action, the Dutch-funded development agency that has handled our contacts with the Babaco school.
During our five days in Haiti, we visited four other schools, attended a concert and a church service, and toured Port-au-Prince and saw some of the countryside east of the capital where Babaco is located.
--Sheila Lunger and Taci Styer
The Background
For the past several years, GFS has been establishing a relationship with a small, rural elementary school in Babaco-Hatte Cotin. Our ambassadors took to Haiti a variety of school supplies, gifts for the children, and educational tools for the teachers.
We hope to make more trips in the future and to have an open exchange with the school in Haiti.
In a letter to the GFS school community before she went, Sheila explained the background and goals of the trip.