Likewise,
classrooms are also often run by teachers who behave like
dictators. These teachers ask the only questions; each question
has only one acceptable answer—the teacher’s;
and any deliberation or open inquiry is seen by the teacher
as a threat and will be punished.
Haitian
society is also very stratified, with huge class divisions
that are reinforced by linguistic and educational divisions.
The educated and rich minority have historically used French
to distinguish themselves from the largely-illiterate
Creole-speaking masses.
Likewise,
traditional Haitian classrooms are also very stratified.
Each student is ranked by the teacher with a number representing
his or her class standing. The first in the class is greatly
rewarded by the teacher and envied by other students. Students
at the bottom of the class are often humiliated and ridiculed
by their teacher in front of their classmates.
Churches
also often mirror society. Church leaders in Haiti
also often have an authoritarian streak. Some churches are
also large enough to have internal class divisions.
More often, though, individual churches serve particular
social classes. French is spoken in churches for the elite.
Other churches with less educated pastors and humbler church
buildings attract poorer people. The pastors and people
of these poorer churches are conscious of their status and
often struggle to raise the social standing of the church.
Even
in very poor churches, pastors with little education will
make a show of their limited French when they can, especially
during prayers. They will use the French Bible when reading
scripture to their congregation, even though most of their
flock can’t understand French. And just as Haitian
society is greatly divided by political factions, so the
Church in Haiti is greatly divided by denominational divisions
and rivalries.
This
stratified, autocratic, and divided environment hasn’t
served Haiti’s people well. Citizens suffer. Students
suffer. And church members suffer.
There
is hope, though.
Haiti has been experiencing a fitful movement away from
dictatorship over the past two decades toward a more democratic
society governed by the rule of law.
To
support this movement from the bottom up, Beyond Borders
has been promoting change in the Haitian classroom over
the past ten years, working with Haitian teachers to rethink
their role and relationship with their students, helping
them make the classroom a better learning
environment by replacing the atmosphere of violence and
fear with one of mutual respect, curiosity, and discovery.
We
have been equipping them with new methods and materials
like Reflection Circles, Open Space, and the Concentrated
Language Encounter (CLE) that encourage student participation
and active learning. We have been helping Haitian classrooms
prepare students who are equipped to build a more democratic,
respectful, and non-violent society.
But
what about the Haitian church? Until now Beyond
Borders has had no systematic effort to bring change to
Haitian churches. That is changing now with the creation
of a new initiative called Living
Words. By promoting an ancient spiritual discipline
called lectio divina, the Living Words program
is working to break down the class and denominational divisions
in the church, to encourage greater participation from church
members who have been excluded and marginalized, and to
give everyone in the church greater access to the wisdom
and riches of the Scriptures regardless of their educational
level or ability to read.
It
is true that schools and churches often mirror society.
But it is also true that schools and churches influence
society. By promoting this kind of bottom-up or inside-out
change within schools and churches we are planting the seeds
of a more just and democratic Haitian society. This is our
way of working to make Haiti and our world a better reflecting
of God's glory.
