Tim's blog

Top row: Dressed for the stage, students of Louverture Cleary School act out the epic play The Odyssey.

Bottom Row: LCS students and THP Volunteers use some muscle to operate the new manual rock crusher to breakdown rubble so it can be used for future building.  

You know that work is going well when you have time to play—or, in this case, have a PLAY. Thursday we had a GREAT, epic play: The Odyssey. Odysseus's journey makes a great metaphor for Haiti's constant struggle to stability. This struck me as I heard the student body's reaction of "Oh,oh!" to Odysseus final entrance line, "Home. I have been away for 20 years!"

THP Volunteer Emily Marquet directed a Kreyol interpretation of The Odyssey with a cast of more than 30 students.  Rehearsals ran for eight weeks culminating in a weekend retreat at LCS where the theatre troupe perfected their lines, told stories around a bonfire, and watched O Brother, Where Art Thou? On the day of the performance, the actors “played big,” as Emily says, wowing the audience with comedy, dancing, and, just in time for Halloween, a frightening Cyclops mask made with scissors and a deflated basketball. The performers thoroughly enjoyed the experience; Edwine, a senkyem (8^th Grade) student, was so thrilled to be cast as the princess that she ran to thank Volunteer Abi Roznowski for encouraging her to audition.  Rumor has it that Louverturians will be tackling Shakespeare next. Again, congratulations to Emily Marquet.

Nick Carter (THP Volunteer and Brown University Medical Student) and Nelly Drouinaud (2005 LCS graduate and medical student in Haiti) reunite at LCS after Nelly’s trip to the US to study at Brown University through their medical exchange program.

It is easy to show progress in the form of buildings--and we have built a lot of those. However, the real building blocks of society are people. In our case, we require specific blocks at this point in Haiti's development—Volunteers.  These Volunteers provide witness to freely choosing to dedicate oneself to the betterment of others.  Our developing Junior Staff, Louverture Cleary School graduates who participate in a work-study program at LCS, are also excellent examples of this civic ethic for our students. 

As a point of reference, most of the education provided at LCS comes from excellent Haitian teachers. 

First row: Opening week for the 371 students at Louverture Cleary for the 2011-2012 school year.  Second row: (Bottom left) Although they hail from different countries, THP Board Chair Patrick Brun and Bishop Tobin unite in the same mission. (Bottom middle, from left to right) THP Honorary Trustees and Former THP Board Chairs Brian Moynihan and Charlie Wharton converse with THP President Deacon Patrick Moynihan and artist Harley Bartlett. (Bottom right) Honored guest Bishop Tobin remarks on his portrait, painted and donated by artist Harley Bartlett.   

On Monday during staff Morning Prayer, having already seen students lined up outside the gate and waiting to enter Louverture Cleary School at 6:30 AM, I reminded our small group of staff [relative to the 371 students that would walk through the doors] that, while we may not be wholly prepared for the dam to open, there was no reason to be concerned. I encouraged them to remember that we are not receiving clients or even students, in the most traditional sense. We are co-workers in the mission to advance Haiti as a nation and Haitians as a people.