In Haiti Next Week

October 22, 2009

I (John Engle) go to Haiti early Monday morning. It’s exciting as there will be a group of 10 of us going to a remote village on the island of La Gonave to begin filming.

We’re creating a short documentary–with funds provided by Vista Hermosa Foundation–about Haitians in very difficult circumstances who are working together successfully to provide their children with a quality education. While the final DVD will have subtitles in English, French and Spanish, the target audience is Haitians. We hope that this gets aired on national television and we’ll also use it in our trainings all around the country. It’s an inspiring story and deserves to be told.

I will be a host on the second half of my 8 days in Haiti. Co-worker Kent and I have a great group of 5 friends joining us from Friday, October 30 through Monday November 2nd. The group includes two Haiti Partners board members along with our senior adviser. Our itinerary is relatively typical when we have a group for a quick visit. We pack a lot in and will make it possible for visitors to meet with a combination of leaders from four distinct sectors in Haiti: government, business, ngo (international non-governmental organizations) and grassroots leaders and educators.

We will break up into small groups–each having an interpreter–and spend one night in the countryside with Haitian families hosting us who are involved with a community school that we’re partnered with. Click here to download in PDF our full itinerary along with bios of visitors and people we’ll be meeting with.

We are excited about these friends coming to see the work that they are helping to make possible. In fact, they will help us carry 12 laptops for participants in our LEADERS Program, a three year training with 40 strategic community leaders and educators. Below is a video of Haiti Partners board member Johanna Jones and my wife Merline helping test and prepare laptops with necessary software for their recipients.