Caterina Di Tillios Haiti Story One never knows where life takes us, but one needs to be open to listen and then follow. I woke up one morning and heard a quiet voice say: “ I want to go to Haiti”. I have been to Dominican Republic at least a dozen times but never to Haiti, the country that shares the island. Rather than quiet the voice, I allowed it to repeat the message, and finally I decided to listen to it. I searched for group travel and found the perfect boutique travel agency, My Haiti Travels, and eventually, in January 2014, left cold NYC headed to Port-au-Prince. As we landed, immediately all my senses were surrounded by colors, sounds, and aromas that were not exactly tropical. Streets full of energy and dust. Tap Taps loaded with people barely hanging on… The next morning we visited a school, Zoranje’. As our busses arrived at the school, we were greeted by dozens of smiling children’s faces. Big black eyes, ribbons in the hair, and clothed in cheerful uniforms. I joined the group that was to observe the Kindergarten classrooms. As I went from one classroom to another, one pattern emerged: Beautiful children sitting in rows, quietly listening to the teachers, who stood in the front of the room, instructing. The walls were bare, and there were no shelves full of books. I kept thinking about Reggio Emilia, and their learning spaces full of natural objects, “provocations”, and a teacher as the co-facilitator of knowledge. I felt compelled to share my thoughts. The progressive staff at PRODEV were not only receptive to my thoughts, but actually asked me to help them. Maryse, the co-founder of the PRODEV schools, told me she wanted to cause a “quiet revolution” in Haiti through education. I told her “I am your soldier”. So I did go back, in February, March, and April. I visited more classrooms, shared the tenets of the Reggio approach, conducted teacher/principal workshops, and planned for organizational /structural changes. The amazing thing is that, back in the States, whenever I shared my story, people would immediately tell me that what I was doing was wonderful. Surprisingly, many of them told me they wanted to join me or help out somehow. I, on the other hand, with each visit, felt more and more committed to do more. So, now I find myself at a turning point in this journey. I have planned a first time, two-week teacher/principal academy in August, focusing on the principles of effective teaching and its impact on students’ learning, learning environment, culture, standards and curriculum. I am fortunate to have a few volunteers traveling down with me, ranging from assistant principals, administrators, and a school psychologist. I feel this is the beginning of the “quiet revolution To support us go to: https://indiegogo/projects/nyc-educator-to-facilitate-first-teacher-principal-academy-in-haiti
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 18:22:07 +0000
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