Books and Desks: Summer Appeal!

This past week our school’s director, David, went to Haiti to purchase the necessary text books for the school. Because the school is serving the Haitian immigrant population, it is important that we blend together both the Haitian and Dominican curriculum. Our hope is that should our students eventually choose to return to Haiti, they will do so as educated individuals. For many, the Dominican Republic is their adopted home and by being able to needs if educated leaders to return, while the Dominican Republic also require

The total cost of books for the school came up to $978 (40,000 Haitian Gourd). Thanks to a donation in early June, we have been able to purchase around 1/3 of the books needed. The remaining cost we need to raise is $678.

Books purchased and ready for use! 

Providing each child with their own set of books, is one of the main reasons we have been able to register so many at-risk children. We have purposely selected children for the school who are the most desperate from the community. Most of them are street kids or restaveks. A restavek is a child who is a domestic servant. Most of these children were brought over from Haiti to work for families who themselves are quite poor. They “pay” the child by providing them a place to sleep (often a mat on the floor), and giving them their left over food. These children are frequently beaten, and they are not considered valuable members of society. By providing a completely free tuition and providing academic materials to our students, such as text books, many guardians have agreed to send their restavek child to school.

The following list is of all the books the school will be using.

Cahier de dessin et de coloriage pre-scolaire
Mon Nouveau Livre De Mathematique 1
Mon Nouveau Livre De Mathematique 2
Langage en Fete
Mwen Konn Ekri 1
Mwen Konn Ekri 2
Meux Parler No.3
Toi, Personne Humaine
Pre-Lekti 1
Pre-Lekti 2
Orthographe pour tous
Sciences Experimental
Ti Malice, Au Pays Des Lettres

Our other most pressing need right now is for desks and chairs. The total cost to meet this need is $1,000.  Each desk is $16, and for the younger students they will use group tables, a small table with four chairs.

Please consider helping us with this appeal by donating the cost of a book or a desk.  The average cost of one book is only $6, and each student requires 4 books. You can make a secure online donation by using our Chip In link on the right!

We have a school!

 I am very excited to say, that we have officially found our school house! It is only a few doors away from the previous one we were planning on renting. However, this one is around $90 cheaper (3,000 pesos) and is much bigger. It does require some fixing up, but we can take that on slowly. The most important thing is that the actually rooms are suitable for classrooms, and all the rest will come later.

Here's a sneak peak! (Ignore the dates on the photos. The camera was not set properly.)

The front entrance. 

The Bathroom. 

Here is the kitchen. Once funds become available, we will be serving a hot breakfast to all of the students.

Living Room # 1. Closest to the entrance, will be transformed into the nursery room.

Current Living Room #2. 

The first renovation project we are planning is to paint all of the classrooms. You can notice on some of the pictures, that the paint in all of the rooms is chipping and the colors are quite dull. In December, we plan be painting all of the classrooms bright colours making them more lively. We hope to track down an artistic volunteer who would be interested in doing a mural on a few of the walls.

June

Our fundraising campaign, From Trash to a Class, is slowly gaining more and more support!  This is very exciting, however we are still a long way from our goal… 498,052 bottles and cans away!

For the month of June, we’ve set up some goals that will hopefully get things running a bit quicker!

      Improve our flyers: We will be improving our door-to-door flyers by making them bilingual, in order to reach more people.

          

      Flyer Distribution: The more people we can reach, the more chances we have for collecting more cans. For June, the goal is to distribute 2,000 flyers throughout the West Island. This will include posting them up in public places.

       Please help us kick off our month in a great way! Donate your empty bottles and cans, and share this project.

Garage Sale Fundraiser

We have begun to plan our garage sale, which will be a fundraiser for Collège Amélioration Jeunesse!


To make this day a success, we are in need of all the things that you no longer want! Here are some examples:


Baby things (basinets, toys, blankets, ..)
Books
Clothing (for all ages and sizes)
Cook Ware
Dishes
Jewellery
Paintings
Small Appliances

ETC...!

While we do not have the exact dates yet, the garage sale will be held either the last weekend of June or the first weekend of July. Please contact us if you have anything you would like to donate.

youthupliftment@hotmail.com

Step by Step, Bottle by Bottle..

On the right hand side of this page, you will find a small section called "From Trash to a Class Stats". This is where I keep an update on how many bottles and cans have been collected, and how much that amounts to.

I am very excited to say, that today we have passed the $100 mark!! We currently have collected 2,160 bottles and cans, which equals exactly $108.00!

To reach our goal, we still have a very long way to go. We are 497, 840 cans away, to be precise! 

I believe that we can reach our goal, if everyone helps out. Please consider donating your own bottles and cans, putting up a collection bin at work or school, and spreading the word. Let's take the opportunity to turn trash into a school, for some very deserving kids.

Underwear Collection

We need need your help...

To collect 145 pairs of underwear for our students!

42 for the Kindergardent Class
42 for the Grade One Class
42 for the Grade Two Class
42 for the Grade Three Class

Total = 168 Underwear (sizes 3-10)

Our goal is to provide each student with 3 pairs of new underwear on the day they receive their school uniforms.

Please consider picking up a few pairs to donate! At the Dollarstore, you can find a pack of 3 for only $2.

CNN Video: Restaveks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_zMB1EGBXg

Restaveks in Puerto Plata

Child Slaves in 2012

I was first exposed to the plight of child labourers in Puerto Plata on my first trip to the Dominican Republic in 2008. It was then that I met William, a shy 12-year-old boy who was working as a shoe shiner. We made small talk, which often included elaborate signing with our hands when I couldn’t find the right words to say in my limited Creole vocabulary.

William and I.

It was never hard to find William. He could always be found around the Malecon(boulevard) carrying his shoe shine supplies, and trying to shine someone's shoes. Each shoe shine cost 10 pesos, the equivalent of 0.25 cents. Earlier in the week, I had brought him a large ziplock bag filled with small items such as underwear, peanuts, and school supplies. He was not at home, so I left the package with his aunt, who he lived with. His home was a tiny two room corrugated metal shack in a barrio called Aguas Negras, which translates into black water. An appropriate name for a community with no sewage filtration system and where poverty is rampant.

As we got to know each other better, William slowly started to open up more to me. He explained to me why he didn’t like staying in his neighborhood, when I wanted to walk around and meet some of his friends. He feared that word would get back to his aunt that he wasn’t working, and she would beat him. He showed me scars and burns on his belly and back, caused by his enraged aunt with anything she could grab, most commonly a belt. He also told me that his aunt took the package I had brought for him and divided it among her own children, leaving nothing for William. It was heartbreaking to know that on top of having to work everyday, he did not live in a home where he felt loved and wanted.

I lost contact with William, but I saw him in so many of the other young street boys working in Puerto Plata. His case of forced labor and abuse began to be an all too familiar story among many of the young children working on the streets.

In the summer of 2010 I met Jean, another shoe shine boy. He was smaller than William and much less shy from the get go. He would come to my apartment everyday for lunch and to talk. His family was in Haiti, and he was working and living with a woman he referred to as his aunt, although she was not. He would always ask to sleepover, but I always told him that he had to sleep at home, and that he was always welcome to come over the following day. 

One rainy night I put Jean on a motorcycle taxi, payed the 40 pesos fare (~$1)  and gave him a big hug. I remember that he didn't want to leave, but as always I told him that he had to and that he could come over tomorrow.

Jean over for lunch.

When the rain stopped, my friend and I decided to go down to the gas station a few minutes away from our home, which has a Burger King in it. To our surprise, on the other side of the road was Jean. Soaked from head to toe, looking like a lost puppy. I called him over and asked him why he didn’t go home, as he was suppose to. He told me that his "aunt" made him work all day. His punishment for not brining in his quota of 100 pesos($3) was a beating and to sleep outside. Like William, a beating consisted of a belt, kicks, and punches.  His plan had been to wait until everyone was sleeping, and he would sleep outside. In the morning, he would come back over to our home, avoiding his "aunt" all together.

William and Jean are two of the first restavek children I met in Puerto Plata. 

A restavek (; from the French language French reste avec,"one who stays with") is a child in who is sent by their parents to work for a host household as a domestic servant because the parents lack the resources required to support the child. Restavek may refer to a child staying with a host family, but usually refers specifically to those who are abused.

In Haiti, parents unable to care for children may send them to live with more affluent families. This is perceived as acceptable because in Haitian culture, it is ubiquitous for housing to be shared among members of an extended family, including distant relatives. (In contrast, the concept of a single nuclear family occupying each household is seen as desirable in other cultures.) Therefore, in Haiti it is acceptable for parents to send children to distant relatives to live. Often these relatives are living in more urban areas. The children receive food and housing (and sometimes an education) in exchange for housework. However, many restavecs live in poverty, they might not receive proper education and sometimes, the child could be abused, beaten or raped.[1] The United Nations considers restavec a "modern form of slavery".[1]

 -Wikipedia. 

Over the years of visiting the Dominican Republic, I have gotten to know many Haitian restavek children. The United Nations considers restavek children "a modern form of slavery." This is not an exaggeration in any way, shape, or form. Restavek children are almost always abused (emotionally and physically), not paid, over worked, and do not attend school. 

It is easy to distinguish the difference between a restavek child, and a child who is working under their own free will( even if it is something their parents or guardians are encouraging). While both children are working, the main difference is that a restavek child is truly working and living in slave like conditions.  They are frequently beaten and always given the worst the family has to offer. This includes having to sleep on the floor, eating the family's leftovers, and having to be the first person to wake up and the last person to go to sleep. 

When  a family decides to send their child to the Dominican Republic, it is because they believe that they are sending them to a life filled with more opportunities. In reality, many of the jobs Haitians do in the DR( i.e agriculture, construction, and domestic work) pay very little and offer no security. There have been numerous times where employers simply leave, not paying a single dime to the workers, often times for months worth of work.

All restavek children I have met, work for families who have very little themselves. Most earn between 75-200 pesos/day ($1.30-6). They live in simple homes made of corrugated metal, and eat once a day. Imagine what life is like for a restavek, a child slave, in a home where parents cannot always provide for their own child. Imagine how this child is treated, every single day.

The Way Forward

In the Dominican Republic, classes take place either in the morning from 8:00-12:00am or in the afternoon from 12:00 to 4:00pm. We have made the decision to run morning classes, from 8:00am to 1:00pm. This includes an extra hour, which will be for English classes. 

Many families who we have spoken to who have restavek children, have expressed that they will be more willing to send the child to morning classes. This will allow the child to  be able to work during the afternoon.

Educating and Empowering Disadvantage Youth and their Families

While we may not be able to completely stop the use of child labour, we will be able to provide children with the opportunity to receive a quality education to ensure that they have a brighter future. A future free from abuse and poverty. 

Collège Amélioration Jeunesse is a charitable school being set up to educate impoverished children who have been neglected and forgotten.  While the school's mission is to provide these children with a high-quality education, we are also actively committed to community development.  The school will be used after classes are finished , as a youth and community centre. One of the activities we have in mind is to provide a literacy class for adults who are illiterate, including those who use restaveks.

Encouraging positive change and educating adults who use restaveks on the importance of  education, is equally as important as educating the child. A safe school and a safe home is the ultimate goal!

Only with your help, can we turn this dream into a reality.

Make a Donation : Please consider making a donation using our Chip In' link to the right. Our goal is to raise $12,500 in online donations, which will allow us to open and run the school for 6 months.

Participate in From Trash to a Class: Collect bottles and cans from your home, work, and school. To learn more about this fundraiser, check out this page.

Collect Items Donations: Take a look at our wish list page, to see if you have anything you would like to donate.

Spread the Word: One of the easiest ways to help this cause, is to spread the word. Please share this blog on your Facebook!

Trip Report

On March 12th, I left for 9 days in the Dominican Republic. It was my Spring break and I was able to get time off from work to be able to go down.

It was a very short trip and the days seemed to fly by as I divide my time between visiting friends, interviewing future students, and running around the city by motoconcho (motorcycle taxi) to do errands. I was able to get in some beach days too, which were significant in more ways than one.

One of the families who I am very close with, is the Laguerre family. Three of their children will be attending our school in September, and I hope to provide another one with a scholarship. I first met Majembe and Bebi on the beach almost four year ago. They were trying to sell seashells to tourists, a common job among many of the kids from Padre Granero.

One afternoon, we decided to bring a total of 12 kids to Sosua beach, about 20 minutes away. None of the children are currently in school, so our beach day took place on a Tuesday. Most of the kids will be attending Collège Amélioration Jeunesse, so it was nice to spend some quality time with them. I had already been to this beach with two of the kids before, but for the rest of them it was their first time. We brought floaties, chips, soda, and peanut butter sandwiches. The kids had a great time playing in the water and snacking all day long.

Ibelina

Jhon

While we were drying up from swimming, a young boy selling mangoes approached us. It was ironic in the sense that had we not taken the kids to the beach, most of them would be on the b back in Puerto Plata doing the same thing-selling candy, shinning shoes, and begging. The reality for many impoverished children in the Dominican Republic is that they are denied an education because of the poverty they live in. They are forced to work in order to earn a bit of money, to help support themselves and their families.

Being back in Puerto Plata was amazing. Being able to see everyone and preparing for the school's opening is not only motivating while I am there, but it inspires me to work harder when I am back in Canada to make sure that this dream can turns into a reality for so many deserving children.




Throughout my trip I was constantly reminded of how desperately the school is needed. Almost everywhere I went children could be found- outside of gas stations, near restaurants begging for leftovers, etc. No child deserves to be working instead of in school, and it is only with a quality education that they will be able to break the cycle of poverty they were born into.

How "From Trash to a Class" Started

It was spring time and I was at the dentist's office for my yearly teeth cleaning. As I was coming out of the building, I noticed an empty Pepsi bottle on the ground. Before then, I had thought about the idea of collecting bottles and cans as a way of earning money for charity. I always ended up coming to the conclusion that it would be a lot of effort and not much gain. After all, a can or plastic soda bottle only brings in 0.5 cents.

On this spring day, I decided something different. I thought to myself that I might as well try it out, and would start with the empty Pepsi bottle in front of me. After then, I started to become more aware of the empty cans all around, left on buses or on the sidewalk. I carried a plastic grocery bag in my pocket and picked up whatever was on my trail. 

To date, I have collected 1,948 bottles and cans, which is $97.40. Considering that I thought I would collect 100 cans, and become discouraged(since it would only be $5), I am very encouraged at how well I have done so far! This was only possible because of friends, family, and neighbours who decided that this was an important cause and help me out by donating their empty bottles and cans.

The success of this fundraiser really depends on everyone, which is why I think it is so great. I have set my goal high, to collect 500,000 empty bottles and cans. This would not only provide start-up costs for Collège Amélioration Jeunesse, but it would allow the school to run for an entire year without the need for outside donations.  

As of today, we are 498,052 bottles and cans away from our goal. Can you help lower this number? 

E-mail Us!  youthupliftment (@ ) hotmail.com 

Chip In'

You may have noticed that we now have a chip in gadget on this page. Chip in is an easy way to collect donations, and donors are able to continually check up to see how close we are to reaching our goal.


If you check out our budget page, you can see our basic budget. This budget does not include the cost of uniforms, school supplies, and furniture(desks, chairs, etc). Based on what we have seen these items sell for, we have made an estimate budget. A complete and detailed budget will be available by March 20th, after I return from the Dominican Republic.


$12,500 represents half of the money we need to start Collège Amélioration Jeunesse. This is the start up and running costs for half a year. There are many things we will need to purchase for the school only once, such as cook ware for the breakfast program, a freezer to store food, desks and chairs, and other such items. 


Please help us reach our halfway mark and chip in what you can to see this school turn from a dream, into a reality!

We Need Your Bottles and Cans!

If you do not already know, we are trying to raise the necessary funds to start and fund Collège Amélioration Jeunesse for an entire year, by collecting empty bottles and cans.

Donated Cans !

To open and run the school for an entire year, we will need $25,000. This is a lot of money for any person or project to raise, but if many people help out it we believe it can happen. To reach our goal, we will have to collect 500,000 (yes, half a million) bottles and cans! While it won't be impossible, it will (and has been) difficult.


That's why we need your help. The only way Collège Amélioration de Jeunesse can open it's doors, is with your help. The school will provide a quality education to some of the most deserving but desperate children from the poor community of Padre Granero.


The boy on the left is named Grabiel, and is just one of the amazing kids we want to provide with a quality education. We want to be able to provide this in a school where he can learn and feel safe. 


He is 11 years old(small for his age) and comes from a very large family. He works selling fruits and selling seas shells to tourists and  begging on the beach. He has gone through many painful events in his young life, but remains one of the sweetest kids I know.


About a year ago, a tourist committed to paying his school fees, but only paid them for four months. As his family was unable to continue to pay, Grabiel was thrown out of school. Since then he has attended a Haitian grassroots school, but rarely attends classes anymore. He says that the kids in his class are "fou" (wild/crazy) and the teachers are always beating the kids. Grabiel is extremely polite, opinionated, and smart. Being in a class that teaches the same thing consistently (because kids come and go) does nothing for him. Once he has learned something, he has mastered it and needs to go to the next level. He needs to be challenged. In just his four months of attending his former school, where he received basic English lessons once a week, he is able to hold a basic conversation in English with confidence. He told me that he would frequently  get in trouble at his former school for going ahead and completing pages in the exercise book in advance. 

To know that Grabiel is now not in school, but instead on the streets working and begging, is heart breaking. There are 30 other kids in similar situations as Grabiel, and your empty bottles and cans can help bring us one step closer to helping change this. 


Education instead of Ignorance.


School instead of Work.


Love instead of Hate.




If you are in Montreal and would like to donate your empty bottles and cans, that would be amazing. Please e-mail youthupliftment@hotmail.com


If you are not in Montreal, or don't have any cans to donate but still want to help, please consider making a donation using Paypal.

Hunger's Disguise

Before my last trip to the Dominican Republic, I ordered copies of Canada's Food Guide in French and Spanish.


The Dominican Republic does not frequently come to peoples minds when we think of malnutrition and hunger. Most of us have seen the devastating images during famines in Africa, the most recent being Somalia. Clearly visible ribs sticking out, protruding bellies, saggy skin, and orange tinted hair are all signs of severe malnutrition.


On my very first trip to Puerto Plata, I clearly remember thinking that malnutrition was not a problem, even among the poor. As a collective society, people are always sharing. When I first brought William ( a shoe shine boy) for lunch one day, he ate one-third of his meal packed one-third for his friend, and the other third to bring home to his baby brother. His friend and brother were no where near us, yet that didn't stop William from thinking about them. I have since seen this situation repeat itself over and over. While there is visible poverty, I did not think that hunger was one of the biggest problems that the poor, especially children, of this beautiful island were facing.

Ibelka, curious about her guests.

My view on the 'food situation' slowly started to change as I got to know the children and their families on a more personal level. When I had my purse stolen on the day I was suppose to leave(which had in it my passport and wallet)  I was in a very tough situation. There were three particular street boys who I had gotten to know very well, and I went to them first for help. When their step mother, who they live with, found out what had happened to my friend and I, she invited us to stay the night with them. Although we were initially hesitant, the hotel was no longer helpful and we decided to spend the night.


The night turned into a week, and while I am saddened mostly by my camera being stolen, I think there was a reason that I was made to stay. Living with a local family in a local barrio(Padre Granero), is most definitely the most eye-opening experience I have ever had. I plan on writing a post dedicated to this in the near future, as it brought up many different emotions including sadness, anger,  but most of all pure happiness. 


With this particular family, it was obvious that hunger was a direct link to their poverty. The step mom would take out a loan to buy a rice, beans, chicken, and seasoning. This would then be divided among her children, youth that were staying with her, and us. Being guests, she went out of her way and gave us a huge pile of food that we had trouble finishing. 


The next day, their was no money for food.  Everyone shared a small amount of sweet coffee and bread for lunch. I have soon learned that this hot-dog like bread is extremely popular. It is cheap and offers no real nutrients, but it is filling. Sugared coffee and bread was what everyone ate had, for the entire day.


According to the Canada Food Guide, children between the ages of 4 and 8 should eat the following everyday:


Fruits and Vegetables = 5 Servings
Grain Products= 4 Servings
Milk and Alternatives*= 2 Servings
Meat and Alternatives**1 Serving


*Alternatives include evaporated, dairy, and soy products.
** Alternatives include beans, eggs, tofu, peanut butter, 


From my observations, many children are not even meeting the half way mark of the food guide's requirements. This was also confirmed in a study which was recently published by the Observatory of the Rights of Children and Young People (ODNA), it says that 22.7% of children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition across the Dominican Republic.


Because of this, it is extremely important that the future students of  Collège Amélioration Jeunesse, be able to receive one nutritious meal everyday. We have chose that breakfast will be the meal the school serves, as it will be greatly beneficial to the students to be able to learn with a full stomach. While we will purchase most of the food locally, we are collecting peanut butters to bring down with us.


Peanut butter is full of protein and vitamins essential to a healthy diet. Two tablespoons of peanut butter equals one serving of "meat or alternative" in Canada's Food Guide.  In Haiti, they have developed a therapeutic food called "Medika Mamba" which translates into peanut butter medicine. It is simply fortified peanut butter, and is the reasons that many malnourished children are saved. It has been nicknamed the miracle cure.


Thanks to a response to my craigslist post, a generous woman gave me tons of peanut butters to bring to the Dominican Republic. I gave them out to children who I felt were most in need. 


One of the happy recipients was a two year old baby..Thank you Kimberly!

Making white bread more nutritious by adding in some delicious peanut butter...

Peanut butter lips! 

If you would like to donate peanut butter, please e-mail youthupliftment@hotmail.com.

We are also in need of donations to be able to start our breakfast program at the school. If you would like to make a donation towards providing the students with a nutritious breakfast, please consider making a donation! You can do so on the right hand side of this page.