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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Haiti Got The Better of Me Today!


Do you know the feeling of relaxing on your comfy sofa, in a beautifully decorated air-conditioned room, watching 220 channels of T.V., perhaps eating some Doritos, or peanut butter M&Ms?  Well, that is NOT the feeling that I had today living in Haiti!

Today was the culmination of gross.  3 weeks ago we began having power trouble with our inverter and city power.  It got to the point where we spent nights at a time without electricity, the kids having to use flashlights just to find the toilet.  Then the disgusting smell began.  What the heck was that smell!  Oh, it was coming from the batteries being charged by our inverter!  I asked our Residence Director if the smell was normal, and he said, “yea, it happens when the batteries get too hot.”  I said, “Call the electrician and make sure that the smell is ok, and won’t harm us!”  He called the electrician, and we were given the OK.

Finally, after 3 weeks of electrical problems the electrician came today, but not until 5:00 PM.  Fortunately we were occupied the entire morning and afternoon with nothing less than a cockroach infestation!  I had started to see a cockroach here and there, not alive, but dead, 2-3 times a week.  They would pop up dead in the kitchen, outside near the generator, even in my bedroom.  Then our cook said, hey, it looks like those cockroaches keep getting into the vegetables I put in the cupboard.  Hmmm.  So, I quickly purchased a can of something made in China to kill cockroaches, and started spraying the entire cupboards.  That’s when the war began.  They went left, they went right, they flew in the air!  2 inch cockroaches, trying to escape the napalm I was laying on them.  They could outrun the gas, but they couldn’t outrun my foot!  Together we must have killed at least 30 large cockroaches, the others hiding within the cupboards.  I purchased roach motels, more gas, liquid-gel roach killer: everything I could to win this war.  I promise you, that at 1:00 this morning, I will be sneaking up on those roaches, with a can of spray in my hand, with a promise of death.

Not to be out done, the smell was back, coming from the batteries of course!  Thankfully the electrician was available, so he came down and checked, saying that the smell was, “definitely not coming from the batteries.”  What!  Then we tracked the smell, from the batteries, to the back of our refrigerator!  Wouldn’t you know it a mouse had been crapping for at least 4 days in the water retention tray in the back of the fridge!  It was the most disgusting thing I had seen that day, well, other than the 30 cockroaches we killed in the morning!  The electrician took apart the whole fridge, we cleaned the tray, put it back together, and stepped back to ponder the day.

I honestly thought that we lived in a clean house!  The bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchen are cleaned daily!  The walls, windows, and doors are cleaned weekly!  We keep our food covered, we clean up after ourselves right after we eat, all dishes are done right away, and yet!  And yet we live, apparently in filth!  But, I will not lose this war!  I will fight every cockroach and mouse that lives in this house until it is dead, and we have won!  Now, that rat, the one the size of a grown man’s shoe that I saw the other day; well, that might just have to wait.

Sincerely,

Steven Kirby
President

Monday, August 22, 2011

Education in Haiti: Universal Education for No One


To Make a Donation Visit http://www.haitihero.org/

Haiti was recently ranked as having the 145th worst system of education in the world out of the 169 countries represented in the report.  As the country prepares for the 2011-2012 school year it seems to me, in my humble opinion, that the system of education in Haiti is progressing nowhere.  The original start date presented by the Ministry of Education was September 5th.  Now, however, I hear that it has been moved to September 12th, and the rumor mill has it that the schools will not actually open until the first week of October, at the earliest.  Why?  Why after more than a year since the devastating earthquake can’t schools open on time?  The answer is: POLITICS!

First, Haiti still does not have a Prime Minister.  President Martelly is more than 100 days into his presidency, and after having 2 candidates rejected by the Haitian legislative body, a third candidate has yet to be named.  With no Prime Minister in place, no one wants to make any final decisions about what direction the Haitian system of education should take.

Second.  President Martelly wants to implement a program that selects, at a minimum, 100,000 children that cannot afford school fees (charged by both public and private schools) and provide scholarships for these students to attend school.  Unfortunately, from what I can understand, and maybe others can bring enlightenment to what little I do understand about this proposal, there has yet to be a determination about how these students would be selected, what schools they would attend, and where the teachers would be found for this additional rise in student enrollment.  So, while the government tries to figure out how all this will work, the rest of the student population in Haiti is waiting.  We are sacrificing the education of millions of children, for that of 100,000.  There must be a balance here, and this certainly is not it.

I strongly advocate for universal education for all children in Haiti, as stipulated in the Haitian Constitution.  However, there is nothing worse for a system of education than to flood it with students, putting them into schools that are ill-equipped to house them, or placing them with teachers that are ill-equipped to provide instruction.  I disagree that it is better to have students in school, even if they are not learning, than to have no school at all.  Instead, a comprehensive approach to reaching universal education for all must be created whereby a system of educating teachers, creating seats for students, and selecting communities where government-run schools are most needed are the priorities.  Read this article by Charles Kenny that elaborates on this topic and argues for the creation of a quality system of education prior to implementing universal education for all.

Until schools finally open we continue to make preparations for the Education Program for Street Children and the orphans in our care receive daily instruction in Kreyol, French, and English.  We wait for the day that they can return to school for another successful academic year.

Sincerely,

Steven Kirby, Ed.D
President

To Make a Donation Visit http://www.haitihero.org/

Friday, August 12, 2011

Saving Street Children and Orphans In Haiti, YOU Make the Difference!

To Make a Donation Visit http://www.haitihero.org/

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  As a result of the kindness and generosity of H.E.R.O. supporters across the nation, and the world, we raised $20,156.00 towards the continued operation of our programs that benefit the street children and orphans of Haiti!  I cannot thank our donors enough for their bigheartedness and willingness to donate to H.E.R.O., even during the worst economy since the depression.  Your contributions are greatly appreciated!

There are those in our H.E.R.O. family, however, that are much more appreciative than I.  These include the 5 orphans in our H.E.R.O. Transition Home for Orphans and the over 70 children in the Education Program for Street Children.  Every day, the five children in our H.E.R.O. home show their appreciation for what has been provided for them.  They say please and thank you at all times, put games back where they are supposed to go, study hard every day during their tutoring sessions, smile at every meal they receive, and most importantly, help others when they are in need.

It is our goal to raise our children to understand the importance of giving back to their family, their community, and their country.  Our children don’t have a dime to their name, but are intelligent, and where one is lacking academically, others can help.  If Robenson doesn’t know how to count from 1-100, it is not solely my responsibility, or his teachers’ responsibility to help him, it is also the responsibility of the other children in the H.E.R.O. home, to help him.  If Franky doesn’t know all the letters in the alphabet, then it is our responsibility, all of us, to help Franky achieve that goal.  Too often we think of success as singular, becoming a doctor, a lawyer, having one million dollars.  At H.E.R.O., however, we don’t believe that you have truly succeeded until you use your talents and good fortune to help others.  When I help you to learn how to count or how to read, I am not doing this for you to become successful.  I am doing this so that when you do become successful, in the future, you will do the same for others.  In this manner we change the definition of success from being about me, the individual, to being about the success of others.  I am not successful until we are successful.

Which brings me back to how thankful I am for our donors that went above and beyond during the month of July: to help H.E.R.O. raise the funds necessary to continue helping the orphans and street children of Haiti.  Thank you for making the decision to share your success with our organization, so that we may continue to provide housing, education, and rehabilitation for the children of Haiti.  The United States is facing the worst recession since the depression, unemployment is nearly 10% and our economy is weak.  Yet, through all this, our donors make the decision that supporting H.E.R.O. and helping Haiti is a priority in their lives.  I cannot thank you enough for your dedication.  Thank you!

Sincerely,                                                             

Steven Kirby, Ed.D
President 

To Make a Donation Visit http://www.haitihero.org/