Category: Our Projects
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Making Strides in Haiti
In early March, I traveled to Jeremie, Haiti with volunteer Helen Heddens (her first trip to Haiti!) to see the construction progress on the new building for the St. Francis School of Technology (SFST). We also had the pleasure of sitting in on presentations by SFST third year students. I last visited Jeremie two years ago and it was great to see progress in so many areas.
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Construction is Underway . . . Watch Us Grow!
We have exciting news to share! Tek4Kids is in the process of building a new free-standing technology school which will house six classrooms, two labs, office space and a cyber cafe for students. Since its inception in 2015, St. Francis School of Technology (SFST) has functioned in leased space, but our new building will be permanently ours! SFST is a secondary education school offering an intensive three-year program with tracks of study in programming, database design, Microsoft server training and network design and management. The curriculum focuses on preparing students for specific jobs in the IT field, as well as guiding them in starting their own businesses.
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Thanks for Supporting Tek4Kids!
Thank you so much for your caring and generous support of T4K during the past year. With your help, we continue to build upon our programs and projects which impact the lives of more than 2,000 students in the community of Jeremie, Haiti. Through the use of iPads and laptops, we utilize hundreds of educational applications, iBooks, university lectures and other content specifically customized for the Haitian education system. Water purification and reliable electricity continue to be the cornerstones of our projects, helping to improve the quality of life for students and teachers in their learning environment.
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Good to Be Back in Haiti by Eric Hoffman
I had been talking with Gary Boice for the better half of a year about returning to Jeremie, Haiti but outside events kept arising to delay the trip. First, there was the onset of Hurricane Matthew in October, 2016. Then there was political unrest in January, 2017. Finally in late April, after a speedy road-trip across the country from California to Louisville, I found myself on the plane to Port-au-Prince, and then the small one traveling to Jeremie.
It was a little surreal to look over the same cliffs that form the Haitian coast as we approached Jeremie from the air. It had been almost a year and a half since I left in December, 2015, and I could already see some of the changes that had occurred. Most noticeable was the damage done by the hurricane. Many trees had been stripped of their vegetation and even blown over, while buildings were severely damaged or in ruins. Nevertheless, the familiar signs of life seemed more or less the same, with motorcycles and cars dodging the potholes in the roads as men leading mules laden with charcoal and women carrying their burdens on their heads made their way to the market. Still, it wasn’t until I began to see my old colleagues that it truly hit home that I was back. Their warm greetings assured me of what a good thing it was to be back in Jeremie volunteering with Tek4Kids again.
As usual, with Gary’s arrival a flurry of activity and excitement ensued, in part because Gary’s son, Michael Boice, gave a week long IT seminar at St. Francis School of Technology. This was received with great enthusiasm by the students who often continued to ask questions even after the allotted time. As for myself, I found a place in the classroom at St. Francis where I had the privilege to work with Mr. Reginal Remarais, Tek4Kids’ English language instructor. Together we prepared lessons and activities for the students at St. Francis, giving me the opportunity to know them on a more personal level, for which I am grateful. In addition to this, I also held English classes for the Tek4Kids teachers during the evenings, much to my delight as it is our quality staff of intelligent, hardworking individuals that is one of the best parts about working with Tek4Kids.
All in all, it was good to be part of an organization like Tek4Kids again. I know of few places where one can find such a dedicated group of people committed to helping others improve themselves as well as their communities. Truly, it was refreshing to be back.
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A Life-Saving Gift
Haiti National Director Maryse King recently visited with Sister Raymond, director of the Centre de Montfort, to learn more about the impact of Tek4Kids on the children who live there. Sister Raymond explained that before Tek4Kids came to Montfort, supplying water for the orphanage was a logistical nightmare, due to its location on a steep hillside. Sr. Raymond affirmed that Tek4Kids has truly given them a life-saving gift: a sustainable, potable water system.
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Tek4Kids Thanks Transparent Language!
Tek4Kids continues to recover from the crippling effects of Hurricane Matthew last October. Part of this effort involves replacing Tek4Kids laptops that were damaged in the storm. Many thanks to Transparent Language, who is providing replacement software for these laptops free of charge!
Transparent Language provided their Essentials program – a fun, engaging, and interactive environment which includes activities that teach all four core language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Used with the Tek4Kids laptops in the St. Francis School of Technology, Transparent Language Essentials allows students to advance at their own pace. Built-in assessments provide both teacher and students the means of tracking individual progress.
Our English language volunteer in Haiti, Rose Yunker, commented, “Transparent Language’s program for teaching English to French-speaking students was an invaluable aid to my Haitian students’ progress. It provided the backbone to my own classroom activities and kept my class productively engaged while I worked with individual students or small groups.”
Hats off to Transparent Language for this generous gift!
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Great Things Are Happening at St. Francis School of Technology
St. Francis School of Technology first opened it doors to 24 students in September of 2015. The school is currently located on the second floor of St. John Bosco, a partner school for which Tek4Kids provides clean water, electricity and computers. As a three-year program, the technology school offers its students different tracks of study in database, programming, Microsoft Network Server, instruction in basic business principles, English and French classes and well as Microsoft products such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher.
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Students Enjoy English Classes at St. Francis School of Technology
Tek4Kids strives to help students succeed in a global economy; English is a subject of particular focus at our school. Rose Yunker, a volunteer with Tek4Kids, is teaching English at St. Francis School of Technology from September through May. Rose helps students to learn English by using a program called Transparent Language which is taught on computers provided by Tek4Kids. She teaches classes for one hour per day. She states that the students see mastery of the English language as an inevitable key to a successful future. Rose also says many time students have said to her, “I am so happy you are here, I love English.” As a result of teaching English at our school, students may find employment more readily both within Haiti and remotely with other businesses.
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Clean Water Is a Stepping Stone to Success at St. John Bosco
Before Tek4Kids installed the water purification system, most families relied on rivers and pumps for their drinking water. Less than 8% of families in Haiti have access to clean drinking water and there are no sanitation programs to handle the sewage or trash in Haiti, which inevitably washes down into the waterways causing waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid.
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Electricity Is an Essential Foundation for Success at St. John Bosco
In Haiti, electricity is only available for a few hours each day. Tek4Kids has built the necessary infrastructure to provide a reliable source of electricity for St. John Bosco, improving the learning environment for both students and teachers. Reliable electricity helps students achieve academic success. In 2013, eight batteries were installed to operate the water purification system, which pumps 1500 gallons of water through the cisterns each week and provides clean water for more than 200 students. In 2014, an additional eight batteries were installed for a computer lab to improve student access to technology, opening the possibility of future job opportunities in the community. Providing basic infrastructure such as electricity is the key to a better future for the people of Haiti.
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Students Excel in Technological Learning at St. John Bosco
Tek4Kids partnered with St. John Bosco in 2013 to provide a technology-based learning environment for students, with the goal helping them excel in the field of technology and improve their opportunities for employment in the future. St. John Bosco serves more than 200 students in grades one through six. Currently, computer classes are taught in fifth and sixth grades. A computer lab was built for students to use the laptops to their fullest potential.