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Hand in Hand for Haiti - Donations can be Made Here

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Hand in Hand for Haiti - Donations can be Made Here

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Here you can:
- Learn about the efforts that HHIH is making in Saint Marc, Haiti right now.
- Support one child with school supplies and meals for half of a school year.

Please Note that....
- All donations are tax-deductible
- Donations are accepted by all major credit cards and via PayPal.

- Clicking on the Donate Now button will direct you to the PayPal    website.

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French Ambassador, Monsieur Didier le Bret

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The "Taino" Indigenous people named this island Haiti. Here is a map of what the island looked like before it was discovered by explorers. The name Ayiti (Haiti) was used to signify the "land of high mountains."

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Travelling to Saint-Marc, Haiti was not that difficult from Ontario, Canada. In a little less than 5 hours on a plane we had arrived at the Port-au-Prince Airport located in Tabarre, a commune of Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The airport was busy that day. People are coming and going, and many people will offer to help you get to your destination.
I will not deny that some North Americans may find this type of airport situation to be a little overwhelming but I found the experience to have many familiar qualities.
Personally, the best part of getting out of the airplane and walking down the steps to the asphalt was the warmth and the sunshine.

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Here is what getting off an airplane at the Port-au-Prince Airport sounds like.. You get to breathe in the humidity. The heat was just marvelous.
I recommend it for anyone who does not like the cold...
*Reproduction of this video without my permission is prohibited.

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Two young film-makers created this wonderful short history of Haiti. I think it does a great of summarising what could be a very long story.

I would encourage you to click on the link below to watch their full 1 hour and 20 minute documentary on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoZ2DTeUCO8

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History of Haiti (short animation- "In Haiti: A roadtrip documentary")

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Watch the whole movie & check out the video interviews with the filmmakers: www.inhaitifilm.com Produced by: Fabian Bohnet- Waldraff & Florian Wiesner Associate Producer: Sacha Nelson Animations by: Moritz Esser www.messergrafik.de www.tovaley.de Illustrations by: Silke Jasper www.cafe-lala.com www.silkejaspers.blogspot.com Animation and illustration studio: Die alte Blechnerei - Freiburg Written by: Florian Wiesner & Fabian Bohnet-Waldraff Synopsis: An unique road trip.

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This poster was posted everywhere at the school. Henri Christophe's, Haiti's first president, monument is located in the centre of square in Cap-Haitien. He led the Haitian revolution in its fight for independence from France. Henri Christophe was Haiti's first President.

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Henri Christophe...in Cap-Haitien

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So many people came together to make this trip a success. I would like to thank all those who contributed to the donations which I brought down to the school.

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So many people came together to make this trip a success. I would like to thank all those who contributed to the donations which I brought down to the school.

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Lycée Jean-Baptiste Point du Sable, Saint-Marc, Haiti

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Lycée Jean-Baptiste Point du Sable, Saint-Marc, Haiti

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This is where we started our journey at the beginning of July. Upon arriving at the school, we realised that this is a place where magic happens. Students are educated in a full-immersion environment where the language of instruction varies from French and English every other day.
Below is a photo of the school bus which was donated to the school. The school has three buses available to them; however, one of the buses has had some mechanical problems this year and finding a piece to fix it has been difficult. It has slowed down some processes but the school is managing with the resources it has. They hope to find the part to fix the other bus soon and then, find the mechanic who can actually repair it... too.

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Here is a view of the school from up top a small hill near the school. You can see the field, cafeteria, residences, school rooms, administrative buildings and infirmary.
*Reproduction of this photo without my permission is prohibited.

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School property.. walking to the library.

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This is us on top of the small hill.

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The school has armed guards which monitor the property and all those who come and go.
(This is a photo of Johnny and Bertoli, two of the guards here.)

NB: The guards often played Football with us in the evenings.. but I know that they let us win.

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This long cafeteria hosts over 1,000 students, their teachers and all the school's staff for breakfast and lunch. The kitchen staff make delicious meals every day.

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Cafeteria hands... all the students at camp added their hands to trees which we used to decorate the cafeteria.

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Cafeteria hands... all the students at camp added their hands to trees which we used to decorate the cafeteria.

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Beautiful Skies at Night in Saint Marc, Haiti

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Beautiful Skies at Night in Saint Marc, Haiti

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I love this photo of the Lycée Jean Baptiste school as the sun set.
*Reproduction of this photo without my permission is prohibited.

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Back: Caroline, Brittney, Francesca, Hannah, and Alex.
Sitting: Michelle-Renee, and Dr. M. Ciminelli.

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Day One - This is us.

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Our first night heading out to dinner

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Waiting for the driver the first night.

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I made friends with some of the children in Grade 5. They told me stories in the morning on the way to the beach. Yolguens and Dennison were two of these children. I was happy to hear about their weekends.

They asked me for a soccer ball to take home. However, with over 100 campers, it would have been impossible to give a soccer ball to each child to take home.

NB: Anyone have 1000 soccer balls, they would like to donate to this school, so that every child can take one home?

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Dealie and Vasley

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The school has a three level pre-school program. It was amazing to see the younger students dance and sing.

One day, I completed an activity with them and the sat patiently waiting to work on the craft. I read them a story and then we created wooden-stick stars.

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Valentina from the pre-school class.

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Making crafts with the pre-school students.

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In the mornings, we would play games or sports with the students on the field.
Some mornings to escape the heat, our low-medium intensity activity would involve some yoga. Francesca took charge and with some creativity, she made yoga fun. The students were really enthusiastic and they asked her for more yoga exercises.

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Yoga Part 2

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I spent time dividing up the students into groups to start our sports on the field.

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Caroline taking it up a notch, playing soccer with the students.

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Hannah teaching tennis.

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Alex and Brittney running soccer drills.

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In the mornings we would ride the bus to the beach. The students would sing.
It was so much fun and I learnt a great deal of new French songs.
From the heat and the sun, many children would be tired on the bus ride back. Some children would sleep on the bus. I know that some of the adults would get a few minutes of rest as well.

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Adam making the students laugh. He liked to rap...

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More Bus singing...

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The students would sing each morning. Grade 4 students sing Gregoire's song Toi plus Moi.

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Grade 5 singing Valerie....!!!

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On the way back people fell asleep....

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One morning drive to the beach was slowed down... not by market traffic but by a UN truck stopped in the middle of the street.

In April of 2017, the UN announced their slow removal of UN aid from Haiti. This is disappointing since the country still has strides to make. The UN is a controversial presence but overall as a Canadian, I believe despite the problems associated with the sex trade.. that NOT all UN workers need to leave.

SO UN, please remove the ones which need to leave and leave those who are doing their job.

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So the students had rotational beach time throughout the week. Grade 3 having fun in the water. Francesca is holding up our buoy line and their camp counsellor is playing a game with them.

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Caroline and the Grade 2 students had a blast splashing around in the water.

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Playing at the beach.

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Swimming at the Beach and French Regulations

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Swimming at the Beach and French Regulations

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So on a daily basis, we accompanied the students to the beach. Students had a great time at the beach every day. Student would play and ask for help to learn to swim. Many of the students managed to float. They were very proud of themselves.

NB: Hannah is hardly visible for the number of students around her in the water. Savanah (in the centre) is getting ready to swim towards me.

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Patrick supervising at the beach

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Wendell supervising at the beach.

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Everyday fishermen would be at the beach collecting fish to sell and to cook.
*Reproduction of this photo without my permission is prohibited.

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In the afternoons, we would work on activities that were related to different stories. Grade 2 enjoyed listening to this story and building their own dictionaries using French, English and Haitian Creole words. Caroline read the story and built pages of a dictionary to help students recognise that sometimes words are not the same in each of the languages.

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With the Grade 2 students, Brittney captivated audiences by reading very animated versions of stories. One day when she read "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein, they started reading the story to us.

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Alex and I helping the Grade 1's with a Jenga game.

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One of the activities that I brought to camp required some work.. but I still did it. The Grade 5 students came into the library and listened to a Robert Munsch story. Then the students built and painted their airplanes on day 1. On day two, the students, worked together to recall the story and add details of what they remembered... Wow, they remembered a lot. Lastly, they needed to tell me what would happen NEXT!
As you can see there are some creative versions of what would happen to Angela once she started her career.

NB: Many of the students mentioned that Angela would bring donations to Haiti to help improve their country... I hope International Airlines and the world can keep that promise to their country.

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Students getting a lesson on how to behave before they watched a Nickelodeon video on behaviour at school.

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Camp Afternoons - Friendship Bracelet Making

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Camp Afternoons - Friendship Bracelet Making

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So this was probably one my least favourite activities, however, the Grade 4 students asked if they could make them. Vilner was one of the camp counsellors who was always participating in our activities even if his English was not the greatest. This is one of my favourite photos. He is helping Anne, Deborah and another student work on their bracelets.

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I made three friendship bracelets when I was there but more often then not I preferred holding the bracelets.

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Kenap is something we found at the beach and it was a great refreshing snack.

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Soup... with a hint of spice... Tete de cabrit, pasta, carrots and white yams, etc. I highly recommend it. It was one of my favourite meals, even when it was hot outside.

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The Cafeteria staff tired to make us feel at home by making omelettes and bacon. All Americans love this food... right?

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Francesca's American Cookies.. made in a CLEAN Haitian oven...

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The view from the Fish Market was often disappointing. The land was covered in garbage and animals would rummage through the scraps to find food.

*Reproduction of this photo without my permission is prohibited.

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Most days the students would sing all the way to the beach. It was through this activity that we learnt about popular music in Haiti. Here is just one of the popular songs which most of the students knew all the lyrics to ...

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Baky feat J. Perry - Haiti pam nan Diferan (Video Officiel)

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lead single off Baky's new album, "Haiti Pam nan Diferan" feat J Perry. Produced by Magic Touch and mixed and mastered by Big T Music. A social and engaging collabo. Hop on Itunes or CD Baby and get the album. click here to get it on itunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fos-yon-black/id952407904

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Freedom is Haiti's Uncovered Musical Secret

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Freedom is Haiti's Uncovered Musical Secret

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Freedom is a rapper who sings for Unity. His music is beautifully arranged, inspirational and undiscovered.

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Inspirational video to uplift my people in Haiti's journey towards brighter days. Follow Freedom on Instagram and Twitter @freedomrecordz

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Yasser worked for Lycée Jean Baptiste for 5 years as the school social worker. I think the role of the social worker is a quite a big job since you go to families homes to see how their children are doing in their home life, work with behavioural issues and communicate with the families on behalf of the school. This work bleeds into the evenings and the weekends.

Yasser was transitioning the new social worker into his role, as he was moving on to a new role in Port-au-Prince.

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Maccénat is the school's new social worker.

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On a home visit with the social workers, I was able to learn about home life. Students and their families go through a lot to get to school every morning. Michaelson is a student Lycée Jean Baptiste.

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The Grade 5 students learnt this dance and attempted to teach me. I tried my best but I could not keep up. It was a lot of fun trying.

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The students learnt songs and they sang them to us at our farewell ceremony.

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One of the Grade 5 students was crying on the last day of camp because she was sad to see me go.

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Yolguens is a great student and he asked me to come back and teach him for a while. I would be delighted to teach for this school and the foundation for a few years.

Not to mention... the second best part would be that I would get to miss a few Canadian winters...

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As a group, it was great to head into town. Using our private "Tap Tap" operated by Mr. Jean-Osner, we were chauffeured into town.

NB: Mr Jean-Osner was the best driver ever. He let me practice speaking in creole with him. He was a devote Baptist and proud father of three independent women.

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Patrick, Michelle-Renee and Mr. Jean-Osner

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Boss was someone we met a few times on the trip. He was the best barber in Saint Marc... He is a great guy.

His haircuts are precise and probably some of my favourites.

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Need a haircut in Saint Marc... Call Boss! +509 3612 0177

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What can I say about Patrick and Wendell... There is so much. Without their smiling faces every morning, we may have been lost.

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Patrick

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Patrick and Wendell

Literally two sides of a perfect coin. They complimented each other well. They were wonderful guides.

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Patrick, Maccénat and Wendell

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Patrick, Wendell and Maccénat

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The Mill on the Sea is a former Sugar Cane Plantation. There are many mills all over Haiti.
This is a Bull powered sugar cane mill. Before animals worked this mill, the mills were powered by African Slaves.
http://www.moulinsurmer.com/
*Reproduction of this photo without my permission is prohibited.

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Visiting Cap-Haitien. This is a busy hub where people are on the go. The city is clean. They have beautiful hotels and boutiques.
*Reproduction of this photo without my permission is prohibited.

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Palace Sans Souci was built by King Henri I (Henri Christophe). Construction was started in 1810 and completed in 1813.

*Reproduction of this photo without my permission is prohibited.

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Looking out over the city.

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Visiting the Citadelle Laferrière, which was also built by King Henri I (Henri Christophe).

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Visiting the Citadelle

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Visiting the Citadelle