Education

On the 23rd of June, the Future Leaders of Haiti Internship Program was launched. It took place in the National palace, where President Michel Martelly, accompanied by his wife, launched it. The ceremony of the Future Leaders of Haiti Internship Program took place in the presence of the Minister for Haitians Living Abroad, Francois Guillaume II. Also, the Ambassador of Haiti in Washington, Paul Altidor, was present. Jean Vernet Henry the Rector of the State University of Haiti also attended the ceremony, and there were other attendants from private universities in the ceremony.

The Leaders Internship Program is currently under leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since it has just started, it has been placed under the purview of this ministry for the purposes of reaching the Diaspora. The first promotion is called "Classe Antenor Firmin" and it aims to reach the talented students of Haiti together with the young professionals who are living in U.S. The aim of this is to reach the Diaspora so that they can also contribute towards developing the mother country.

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This was one of the best moments spent in Little Haiti in Miami. My family and I were all very satisfied for the time spent during the Haitian-Caribbean Book Fair in Little Haiti sponsored by Jean Mapou of Libreri Mapou and several other sponsors. We had the time of our live checking so many books written by Haitian authors in a variety of interesting topics.

More pictures taken at the Haitian-Caribbean Book Fair in Little Haiti

I am sorry that to watch that a lot more people could have attended the event in Little Haiti, but for one reason or another, many people decided not to participate. I would briefly estimate that there were close to fifty vendors on site selling or promoting their products from books to CD, etc. I brought my child who wanted to purchase more books than I could afford. But beside acquiring some to learn more about the Haitian culture, she ate some authentic Haitian dishes.

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Haiti's Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe, traveled to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge in early June to assist in formulating the next step of the MIT Haiti Initiative. He also met with MIT Sloan Executive Education Program (SEEP) management and faculty. MIT engineered MIT-HI to handle poverty relief, economic re-invigoration, and updating and democratizing education and reconstruction efforts. The MIT-HI was signed into action last year.

A multi-faceted program, it offers instructors professional development in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). SEEP has also given Haitian officials professional development as well. Executive Education Director, Pete Hirst, of MIT-SEEP explains innovation must become reality before real growth and recovery can happen in Haiti, and it can only happen from within the country.

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President of the Republic Michel Martelly visited the Ekam village in Caracol for the inauguration of the S & H School in the village. Along with him for the event was the Minister of National Education and Vocational Training Vanneur Pierre.

The school was built by the efforts of the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Foundation SAE-A. The 200 students at the school are children of the employees at the Caracol Industrial Park plants. The park, which opened in October 2012, was seen by some as a boon to the village as it is hoped to provide 65,000 jobs in coming years. The park came under criticism though after the first year of operations only saw 1,388 jobs, and some of them were not filled by Haitians.

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On Thursday April 3, 2014, Mr. Nesmy Manigat who is a professor and member of the Bipartite Commission of negotiation and Advisor to the Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, has been installed as the Minister of National Education and Vocational Training in place of outgoing Minister Vanneur Pierre. Vanneur Pierre congratulated his successor, the new minister in the presence of the Prime Minister and other senior officers and employees of the Ministry. The outgoing minister welcomed his successor and expressed his belief that professor Manigat's knowledge, experience and understanding of the Haitian economy and social reality will help him immensely to fulfill his challenges ahead.

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On May 17, 2014, President Michel Martelly, in the company of the First Lady, Sophia Martelly, and Altes Toussaint, the Deputy of St-Marc, participated in the inauguration of Lycee Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable of St-Marc, which is an educational institution that the Haitian government has decentralized to provide free education. The institution will mostly serve disadvantaged people and has space for up to 720 students.

The new institution will admit students from kindergarten all the way to terminale. The institution has a library, music, computer labs, basketball and volleyball courts, football field, and a 400-meter running track with six lanes. The Hand In Hand Foundation sent some of its members to the inauguration ceremony. The Head of State welcomed the new institution and says that its model will be replicated throughout Haiti.

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A discourse is taking place within the government of Haiti (GOH) concerning the quality of education. President Martelly recently spoke to a delegation of educators about the underdevelopment of Haiti's education system. His speech was delivered at the Royal Oasis Hotel with Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, Nesmy Manigat, present. It was the occasion of the National Assizes on the Quality of Education Conference.

Martelly dragged out old platitudes, ". . . that . . . education . . . will improve the economic and social conditions of the population." Martelly also used a new buzz word, "inclusion", to urge its application ". . . from kindergarten to university . . ." He added the way out of poverty is ". . . for all children to have a solid education." He called upon his government to commit to teacher training, more school textbooks, school construction and maintenance, and school lunch programs.

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A discourse is taking place within the government of Haiti (GOH) concerning the quality of education. President Martelly recently spoke to a delegation of educators about the underdevelopment of Haiti's education system. His speech was delivered at the Royal Oasis Hotel with Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, Nesmy Manigat, present. It was the occasion of the National Assizes on the Quality of Education Conference.

Martelly dragged out old platitudes, ". . . that . . . education . . . will improve the economic and social conditions of the population." Martelly also used a new buzz word, "inclusion", to urge its application ". . . from kindergarten to university . . ." He added the way out of poverty is ". . . for all children to have a solid education." He called upon his government to commit to teacher training, more school textbooks, school construction and maintenance, and school lunch programs.

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Within Ricardo Seitenfus' new book called "International Crossroads and Failures in Haiti" he details what went on with the 2010 elections. There were discussions that the meddling was to try to force the President, Rene Preval, from office by messing with the ballot box for the election. This was to ensure that the candidate Jude Celestin would not move on in the runoff election. The candidate that won the runoff election was Michel Martelly even though less than 1/5 of the eligible voters participated in the election.

The author of this book, Seitenfus, expressed his theory of the election meddling and was not afraid to explain what is going on with the government of Haiti and the corrupt NGOs. He confirms through his book that the United Nations was also responsible for cholera getting into Haiti and tried to cover it up. UN Special Representative, Edmond Mulet wanted to ensure that Rene Preval was out of office and even possibly moved into exile. Consequently, Michel Martelly was picked to compete in the runoff election and not Jude Celestin. And the former pop musician, known as "Sweet Micky", was selected as the president of Haiti.

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Louis-Philippe Dalembert is an award winning Haitian novelist and poet. He has received many awards and prizes, such as the Scripps College's Spring 2014 Erma Taylor O'Brien Distinguished Visiting Professorship award and the Prix RFO du livre, amongst many others. He writes in French and Haitian Creole, and his works have been translated into several languages, including Danish, German, and Italian.

Dalembert was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1962, to a school teacher and a principal. Within months, his father died and the family's situation immediately became more challenging. He and his mother moved to Bel-Air, where he was raised by multiple female relatives while his mother was away at work. His early years were filled with religious influences and later on, cinema, which was located behind his home. Although he could see the film from a distance, he could not hear it. During this time, he learned to create dialogue and tell a story. He learned how to touch emotions and draw the reader in. His work tugs at his childhood while weaving in his experiences as a traveler, taking the reader on a journey along with him.

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