Children From Advocacy Program Go On Field Trip

By Nadine Augustin Paul, Child Advocate

“Nadine, please take a picture for me so I can show my host
family how well you treat me.” 

This is just one of the quotes I heard after a recent
visit to the Haitian Historical Museum (MUPANAH) with the children from our
Advocacy Program.  During our monthly
meeting with the Accelerated Learning Program teachers in January, we talked
about how encouraging the kids to be motivated in school is the work of a
village. Many times, they do not come to school or do their homework because
they have too many chores and get discouraged, or because they are told so many
negative words at home that they just feel down and stay home.

As our goal is to free them holistically through education,
we build them up with positive words and actions. In collaboration with the teachers,
we planned to visit the Haitian Historical Museum with the kids from our
Accelerated Learning Program.  However,
we told them that only the most regular and consistent students would go with
us.  Amazingly, the teachers told us that
since the announcement about the trip in January, it is rare they not do their
homework, and even the ones who often used to miss school are consistent in class.
Some students have even preferred to be late rather than miss school. This has
been a great success for the second trimester.

In the middle of February, Marie Yolaine and I planned every
detail related to the trip, in order to be ready to take the kids in March. On
the day of the trip, we had a bus ready pick the kids up, and we left the
school at 8:25am to get to the museum at 9:30am. We could see the excitement
all over the their faces.  Farah*, one of
the girls in 1st/2nd grade rarely smiles when I see her, but on this day her
joy was uncontainable.

We provided a snack for the kids, as we had asked them to be
at the school at 7:30 am. The museum visit was a wonderful, educational
experience for the kids, as they learned a lot about Haiti’s history from the
period before Columbus to the period after Haiti’s independence. “I was happy
to know the names of the slaves who resisted the slavery system and fought for
independence,” said Djennie*, one of the 5th/6th grade students.

In addition to the history museum, the kids were also able
to visit an art museum where they saw beautiful paintings by great artists.  At the end of the visit, the kids were very
happy and were singing on the bus back to the school. When I asked for their
feedback, many of them said, “I was happy to go because I learned a lot of
things that I can share with others!”

This visit was such a great initiative for the kids, more
than anything because they felt secure. In addition to Marie Yolaine and I, all
of their teachers were there, as well as some of the other Restavek Freedom staff,
including Pastor Mendelson, Robenson, Frantso and Natacha Desir, and we were
all there to support them.