Greetings!

Hi Everyone,

We are a group of university graduate students planning to go to Haiti this winter to lead an education conference for Haitian English teachers!

Why?

Initially the founding members of this team were part of a club geared towards increasing awareness of Haiti, and they wanted to directly reach the youth.  They thought that English instruction is a necessity for Haitian students because it

• makes them marketable in the Haitian labor market
• prepares them to respond to the demands of an increasingly global economy
• increases their chances of getting jobs at the international NGOs based in Haiti

But then, they thought a little longer and realized that rather than simply reaching a finite group of students, they could make a larger, more sustainable impact if we reach the teachers in Haiti!

Unfortunately, their plans could not be supported by their school because of the UN travel restriction on Haiti. However, the teachers and groups with whom they were in contact were still eager to have them, and the group was still eager to go.

So, instead of canceling the trip, the group decided to go anyway and opened up the trip to more people.  Now, we have 8 people on the team (5 graduate students, 1 undergrad, 1 Haitian-American community leader, and 1 professor).  We will be writing our own curriculum and distributing practical teaching resources as well. Won’t you help us reach our goal?  We want to raise $5,500 to help subsidize travel costs, resource materials, and living and food expenses.  Let's make this happen!