BRATTLEBORO — In 2018, I traveled with a Florida-based United Church of Christ delegation to Pétion-Ville, a community on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Haiti Partners, a remarkable organization that is changing lives multigenerationally - primarily through education - hosted us.
I immediately thought about Brattleboro's interest in sister communities and wondered if Pétion-Ville might be a natural fit.
Having studied southern African history for two decades, I'm aware of the brutality that can result from a society's having been colonized.
A dynamic exists in the form of a compulsion to repeat injustices. (“It was done to me, so I'll do it to others,” or in the case of Kenya, “It's our turn to eat.”) This dynamic is made manifest in an abuse of power and a reckless use of violence when new leaders assume power. Those who were earlier abused can easily become abusers.
In addition, neocolonialism can create a dynamic in which foreign aid is often distributed in a controlling, patronizing - and, thus, demeaning - manner.
A third dynamic that emanates from colonialism and neocolonialism is dependency - materially, spiritually, and culturally - whereby one's own resources are usually viewed as “less than,” while those that come from abroad are favored and absorbed.
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I discovered in Haiti something else I'd seen frequently in southern Africa: that of all the sectors in a violence-prone society, education is likely to suffer the most.
The pedagogical tools found in Haiti's schools too often are rote memorization, corporal punishment and humiliation, and the teaching of prejudice, conformity, and passivity while stifling the critical and creative thinking that the country so desperately needs.
So it's no surprise that I was impressed with Haiti Partners, an organization that seeks to counter all of these practices with innovative, quality education - an education that empowers children to develop their potential, to think outside the box, and to engage in improving their communities.
I also was impressed with the manner in which Haiti Partners operates: collaborating with local communities, giving them a real sense of ownership.
The result is a liberating, community-based model of collaborative leadership, innovative educational methods, and collective change-making that provides students and parents with the skills and knowledge needed to move toward a brighter, more loving, and more sustainable future.
All of this got me wondering about the possibility of sending some of our community's own French students (who ought to also learn a bit of Creole) to witness firsthand this extraordinary work as they discover a new country.
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Let me tell you about an amazing experience I had while interacting with Haiti Partners. The organization had been encouraged to operate a bakery as a means of raising money for the school. However, multiple problems emerged:
• intense competition from other local producers;
• a low profit margin, often inevitable when selling a staple to locals with limited means;
• the product had a brief shelf life;
• the product required imported ingredients;
• the production was energy intensive; and
• the product required costly transportation (delivery trucks requiring maintenance and fuel).
But then, after much anguish and painful deliberation, an idea emerged. Why not convert the baking infrastructure to one that makes paper?
With organic material (banana tree stalks and trunks) readily available for pounding into pulp, and with the ovens used for drying, massive amounts of paper could be produced at low cost.
Because it is non-perishable, is easily stored, and weighs little, the paper could be shipped inexpensively to the United States as homemade cards, envelopes, and art pieces. Only one hydraulic press would be needed to remove excessive moisture and flatten the paper to ready it for cutting and design.
Haiti Partners and some dedicated friends assembled and installed the press. The only thing I could do was plug it in!
So the next time you see beautifully decorated, handmade stationery from Haiti in your local gift store or craft market, please support Haiti Partners with your purchase, and, in turn, support the education of a new generation of learners in that country.