Program Updates

February 2008

Circles of Change



This program provides an alternative to Haiti’s extreme authoritarian leadership and teaching practices that keep people from discovering their potential.  Through regular trainings, conferences and seminars, books, on-line resources, videos and a list-serve, open space and reflection circles, the two primary methods promoted, are reaching tens of thousands of Haitians. Our December Circles of Change committee meeting convened 30 of our network leaders from around the country for learning and planning. We will convene 30 people from over a dozen organizations this March for a three-day open space training. In June, we’ll convene over 70 teachers and leaders from around the country for the 7th Annual Open Space 3-day conference. The 3 and 6-month training program we developed is increasingly being used by other groups and institutions toward helping their people to work more effectively together. Other institutions and Beyond Borders programs regularly look to Circles of Change network to fill personnel needs.

Living Words

Bible Study Materials: We did a fourth printing of 7,000 new adult study booklets and 4,000 new children’s Bible study booklets, which are distributed along with training to churches, schools, literacy centers, etc. Theology Discussion Booklet: We completed our Theology Discussion booklet to be piloted around the country. Children’s Rights: We plan to develop a Children Rights Bible Study in cooperation with the Campaign to End Child Servitude program. Leadership Development: A dozen core leaders gathered for a day—and then were joined by forty more Living Words trainers from around the country for two days of prayer, singing, training, and planning.

Schools Alive!

Schools Alive! develops teacher training collaborations among teachers directed by teachers. Training focuses on participatory, non-violent, and learner centered methods. In Port-au-Prince we worked with a network of teachers and directors from 18 schools, focusing on student evaluation, classroom management, educational leadership, civic education, and classroom discussion techniques. In the South East we collaborated with Save the Children to build networks of teachers from 140 rural schools. We also provided training for teachers from a network of 41 Lutheran schools from across Haiti and a network of seven schools from Lagonav. Next school year we will add a network of 45 schools in the Central Plateau.

Campaign to End Child Servitude

The Campaign works to bring an end to a practice that enslaves tens of thousands of Haitian children. To help build a national consensus against child servitude, we produced nine radio programs that reached even remote areas, we organized marches, held news conferences and teach-ins, met with members of parliament and government ministers, hung street banners and distributed thousands of T-shirts. The coalition of organizations against child servitude that we founded developed a position statement and recommendations that the Prime Minister has invited us to present. We have begun developing four restavèk-free urban neighborhoods and will begin two model rural communities next year.

The Child Literacy Program

We are in the third year of our four-year phase out of support for the IRD/PAPE program. (We are currently supporting 22 PAPE centers.) We have been exploring new partnerships and intervention strategies. We will test these this school year in the village of Meno, pairing nine classes in Meno with literacy center partners. Our aim is to build a self-sustaining program that provides universal education for all in this remote community, stopping and reversing the flow of children into servitude. Children retrieved from servitude will be guaranteed a place in a special program that is part of this school.

The Adult Literacy Program

We continue to support 23 adult literacy centers on Lagonav Island. Participants just completed their first year of training in basic literacy. In their second year, students will put literacy to use, studying practical topics like sustainable farming and sexual and reproductive health, reading for enjoyment, and participating in text-based discussion groups to hone skills needed for the practice of democracy. We also trained literacy instructors and provided technical support for three different literacy programs this year—a peasant organization, a large urban women’s organization, and a theological extension program. We are seeking funds to support a new rural literacy program.

Project Kiskeya

Project Kiskeya is the name we have given to our new work in the Dominican Republic. In collaboration with the Circles of Change program, we work to foster dialogue and collaboration between marginalized Haitian immigrants and their Dominican neighbors. We collaborate with local organizations while also lending a voice to both national and international calls for justice. By sharing methods of participatory learning, exchange and leadership development, such as Open Space and Reflection Circles, we promote increased understanding. This fosters peace, empowerment and justice on the island as a whole (originally called Kiskeya by its native inhabitants).