STARFYSH

EDUCATION ALL AGREE THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL THING THAT MUST BE REPAIRED IN HAITI IS HER BROKEN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. ONLY HALF OF PRIMARY SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN IN HAITI ARE ENROLLED IN SCHOOL. ONLY 22% OF CHILDREN IN HAITI ATTEND SECONDARY SCHOOL. FEWER THAN 2% OF CHILDREN IN HAITI FINISH SECONDARY SCHOOL. 70% OF STUDENTS IN HAITI FAIL NATIONAL TESTS. 40% OF ADULTS IN HAITI ARE ILLITERATE. 90% OF ALL SCHOOLS IN HAITI ARE PRIVATELY OWNED AND RUN BY CHURCHES AND OTHER NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS. 10% ARE GOVERNMENT-RUN. IF THE PEOPLE OF THE DESTITUTELY-POOR ISLAND OF LA GONAVE, HAITI ARE TO EVER RISE FROM THEIR MISERY PERMANENTLY, IT WILL NOT BECAUSE OF OUTSIDE HELP, BUT BECAUSE HER OWN PEOPLE DO THE RAISING. WE RECOGNIZE THIS, AND HAVE PLACED A HIGH PRIORITY IN EDUCATING, TRAINING, AND DEVELOPING YOUNG LEADERS. OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS, STARFYSH HOPES TO IMPACT THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF LA GONAVE AT MANY LEVELS. CREOLE LANGUAGE RESOURCES SINCE THERE ARE VERY FEW BOOKS AND RESOURCES IN THE HAITIAN CREOLE LANGUAGE, WE WILL WORK TO PRODUCE THEM. THUS FAR WE HAVE PUBLISHED THE PRESCHOOL READER, AN NOU LI (LETS READ) AND VWAYAJ YO AVEK TWIGA (TRAVELS WITH TWIGA), A CHILDRENS STORY WRITTEN AS A MENTOR TEXT THAT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS CAN FOLLOW IN WRITING STORIES THEMSELVES. IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING THE BOOKS TO CHILDREN AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS ON LA GONAVE, WE ARE HOPEFUL THE BOOKS WILL ALSO FIND THEIR WAY TO CHILDREN AND SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT THE REST OF HAITI. STARFYSHS VISION IS TO RAISE THE ISLANDS LITERACY BY NOT ONLY TEACHING CHILDREN HOW TO READ, BUT INSTILLING IN THEM A PASSION TO LEARN AND INSTILLING IN TEACHERS A PASSION TO TEACH. TEACHER TRAINING WE HAVE EXPERIENCED AN OVERWHELMING EAGERNESS AMONG THE ISLANDS SCHOOL TEACHERS TO LEARN THEMSELVES, TO IMPROVE THEIR TEACHING SKILLS. WE SPONSOR AND CONDUCT SEVERAL TEACHER WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES EVERY YEAR AND ARE CONTINUALLY AMAZED AT THE ENERGY AND RECEPTIVITY AMONG THE TEACHERS WHO ATTEND. IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING TEACHING TECHNIQUES, OUR TEACHER TRAINING CONFERENCES ARE A TIME OF MOTIVATION AND TEAM-BUILDING. THE REPUTATION OF OUR CONFERENCES QUALITY IS SPREADING TO SCHOOLS ACROSS EVEN THE FAR REACHES OF THE ISLAND, TO THE EXTENT THAT IT IS HARD TO TURN AWAY VILLAGE SCHOOLS WHO WANT TO SEND THEIR TEACHERS TO OUR CONFERENCES. SPONSORING A TEACHER OR EVEN AN ENTIRE CONFERENCE IS A GREAT WAY TO INVEST IN THE LIVES OF NOT ONLY TEACHERS, BUT IN THE LIVES OF CHILDREN FOR YEARS TO COME. SCHOOLS HIGH PRIORITY IS PLACED ON MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR CHILDREN TO ATTEND SCHOOL. WHERE SCHOOLS ALREADY EXIST WE WILL RESOURCE THEM. IN VILLAGES WHERE THERE ARE NO SCHOOLS, WE WILL DO WHAT WE CAN TO SEE THAT THEY HAVE ONE. OUR PILOT EXAMPLE IS MAKOCHON, A VILLAGE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF LA GONAVE WHO, AS OF A FEW YEARS AGO, HAD NEVER HAD A SCHOOL FOR ITS CHILDREN TO ATTEND. TAKING OUR TIME, WE DEVELOPED RELATIONSHIPS WITH MAKOCHONS PARENTS, CHILDREN, AND LEADERS AND SET INTO MOTION THE VISION OF STARTING A SCHOOL. TODAY, THERE IS A VIBRANT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WITH PASSIONATE TEACHERS AND ENERGETIC STUDENTS WHO EAT A NUTRITIOUS MEAL EVERY DAY AND PASS THEIR NATIONAL TESTS AT A RATE THAT FAR SURPASS HAITIS NATIONAL AVERAGE. PRACTICAL LIFE SKILLS READING, WRITING, AND ARITHMETIC ARE FUNDAMENTALLY IMPORTANT, BUT ONLY SO FAR AS THESE TRANSLATE INTO IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR OURSELVES, OUR FAMILIES, OUR VILLAGES, AND OUR ISLAND. IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT WE INFUSE LEARNING WITH THE THINGS THAT WILL BE USEFUL NOT JUST FOR SURVIVING, BUT FOR THRIVING AND PROSPERING, TOO, AS EACH FINDS HIS/HER PERSONAL ROLE IN RAISING LA GONAVE UP TO WHAT SHE CAN BE. TOPICS LIKE NUTRITION, GARDENING/FARMING, SOIL MANAGEMENT, HEALTH AND HYGEINE, BUSINESS CREATION/MANAGEMENT, SKILLED TRADES, LEADERSHIP, ETC. MUST BE INTEGRATED INTO THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE SO THAT STUDENTS ARE READY TO TAKE THE IMPORTANT NEXT STEPS AFTER GRADUATING.

AGRICULTURE FEW DISAGREE THAT AGRICULTURE WILL PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN THE OVERALL DEVELOPMENT PICTURE OF HAITI. RE-ESTABLISHING THE STRENGTH AND PRIMACY OF THE FAMILY FARM MUST BE AN EMPHASIS IN ANY THOUGHTFUL STRATEGY TO BRING TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE TO THIS LAND. MUCH IS HEARD ABOUT HAITIS ECOLOGICALLY DISTRESSED LANDSCAPE. BUT IN OUR EXPLORATION OF LA GONAVES 387-SQUARE MILES, WE SEE GREAT AND EXCITING POTENTIAL FOR RESTORING HER LAND. INDEED, MUCH OF LA GONAVE IS MOUNTAINOUS, BUT THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF PARCELS OF FERTILE GROUND, SOME LARGE, SOME SMALL, JUST WAITING TO BE CULTIVATED. SOME SAY THE TOPSOIL IS GONE, BUT WE DISAGREE. MUCH OF THE LAND, INDEED, IS BARREN, PARCHED, AND NON-PRODUCTIVE. BUT THE SOIL IS THERE, JUST WAITING IT SEEMS, TO BE REJUVENATED, PLOWED, AND PLANTED. STARFYSH HAS BEGUN THE GREAT TASK OF RESTORING THE LAND BY SUPPLYING FARMERS WITH SEEDS, TREES, AND LIVESTOCK. THIS INITIAL STRATEGY WILL, OF COURSE, BE AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF OUR ONGOING WORK. BUT WE MUST ALSO BE ABOUT THE HARD WORK OF MAKING SURE OUR WORK LASTS. WE MUST TAKE THE LONG VIEW. IN ADDITION TO SUPPLYING SEEDS AND PLANTING TREES, WE MUST TRAIN FAMILY FARMERS AND AGRI-BUSINESSMEN AND WOMEN TO CARRY ON THE WORK AS WE MOVE ON TO OTHER ISLAND LOCALES. FOOD STORAGE, SEED SALVAGE, COMPOSTING, PEST CONTROL, FERTILIZATION, RAINWATER HARVESTING, AND IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES MUST BE TAUGHT. IN SOME CONTEXTS, SUCH AS HOMES WITH NO TILLABLE LAND, NON-TRADITIONAL (E.G., CONTAINER AND ROOFTOP GARDENING) TECHNIQUES WILL BE TAUGHT. WE HAVE ESTABLISHED A GROVE OF APPROXIMATELY 1,200 MORINGA TREES. THESE TREES ARE BEING USED FOR A) SOURCE OF SEEDS, B) TRANSPLANTING, C) LEAF HARVESTING, PROCESSING, AND PACKAGING. MORINGA, OUNCE-FOR-OUNCE, ONE OT THE MOST NUTRITIOUS FOOD SOURCES IN THE WORLD, GROWS WELL EVEN IN THE MOST TROUBLED SOILS AND HAS GREAT POTENTIAL HERE AS SOURCE OF NUTRITION WHERE DISEASES STEMMING FROM MALNUTRITION ARE SO PREVALENT. MOUNTAIN CAMPUS STARFYSH HAS RECENTLY SIGNED A LONG-TERM LEASE FOR ANOTHER 4-ACRE SITE IN THE MOUNTAINS. THIS PARTICULAR SITE IS OBVIOUSLY FAR DIFFERENT FROM OUR SEA-LEVEL CAMPUS, ITS SOIL BLACK, FERTILE, AND ROCK- FREE. HERE WE WILL BE ABLE TO PROPAGATE TREES TO GREATER MATURITY BEFORE RE-PLANTING, ENHANCING THEIR PROBABILITIES FOR SURVIVAL. THIS CAMPUS WILL LEND ITSELF WELL TO PROPAGATING SPECIES THAT THRIVE AT ELEVATION (E.G., COFFEE, CACAO, ETC.)