Published Sun, Aug 02, 20.
Written by Rebecca Honorat.
Hasannah went to preschool in Haiti, but since then our family has participated in BC’s Distributed Learning program. It’s a great program and has allowed our family to travel freely between Haiti & Canada.
One of the topics I had to cover with Hasannah & Jelani this year is teaching them their rights. We used a book called ‘A life like mine - How Children live around the World’ and it broke the rights down to four categories: Survival, Development, Protection, and Participation.
What I thought was going to be a simple unit of just reading a book and checking off a topic, became the hardest topic we covered this year… much harder for me than for them... and I’ll confess - I only covered two of the categories, leaving protection and participation for next year.
I was not prepared for their questions, nor their astonishment that it was a child’s right to have what they needed to survive (water, food, home, access to healthcare), and develop (education and play). They peppered me with questions about why the children in Haiti don’t have the same rights, and how unfair it was that they have different rights only because they were born in a different country. Wow. Those were some hard questions to answer, and for every answer I tried to give, the kids threw something else at me. I know it’s not as simple as they saw it, and there are many factors that contribute to children living in poverty and being able to go to school, yet… hearing their rationale and following their line of questioning made the tragedy of the topic very simple. We ended that first lesson by Hasannah saying, “It doesn’t matter why, it’s just sad that my friends and family in Haiti don’t have the same rights as I do, and I want that to change.”
When Renel got home from work that night, Hasannah and Jelani showed him the book and I’m so glad that they did. He was able to add great insight and perspective. He talked to them about being a child in Haiti. He told them that many of his friends didn’t have the chance to go to school at all, especially the girls. Of those that did, few of them made it to graduation, and only a handful had the chance to pursue a trade or post-secondary diploma. Renel told Hasannah & Jelani that he never felt education was his right… he was privileged to have the opportunity. He was especially grateful to be able to learn to weld as that allowed him to make an income, help his younger siblings go to school and eventually buy the property in Haiti where we now have a home. He also told them stories about what happened to some of his friends that didn’t have the same opportunities he did, and their stories were a stark contrast to his own.
When the kids questioned what we could do to help, I was relieved to finally have an answer that I felt confident giving! We looked at Alongside’s website and I read the vision statement to them:
“Our vision is for all families in Haiti to have access to education and have sufficient income to be able to provide for their family’s essential needs. We will work towards our vision by coming alongside families, and family units, in practical ways.”
I told Hasannah & Jelani that it may still feel like we’re not doing enough but every child we help to get an education will have a good story to tell, like Daddy does, and the ripple effect will carry on to future generations, like them.
The conversation that started sad, ended with hope!
We have some students that still need sponsors, and many more students that we’d like to accept into our education program. Will you help share the hope by sponsoring a child?
For the cost of eating one meal out ($30/month) you can change the outcome of a child’s story and give hope to their family. If you combine efforts with three of your friends ($100/month) you can help a recent high school graduate like Carlencia get a 4-year Nursing Diploma and set the stage for her future generations to have a different mindset about education, and expanded opportunities.
During Carlencia’s interview we asked her what post-secondary programs her friends were pursing and she instantly became somber. She doesn’t have a single friend that thinks post-secondary is an option for them. Most of the girls that she went to school with dropped out and already have a family of their own, and many of the boys are looking for manual labour jobs.
While we don’t want to put a negative spin on Calencia’s friends stories… we do see the determination & aspiration in her story, and we want to help her reach her potential!
Rebecca Honorat
Executive Director, Alongside Families in Haiti Society
