Dear Haiti Friends,
Below my signature please see information about Roots: Development without Dependency.  At a recent Zoom meeting of the Haiti Outreach Ministry group centered in the Episcopal Dioceses of Washington, DC and Virginia, we had the opportunity to hear from Chad Bissonnette, President and Co-founder of Gwoup Konbit, using the Haitian model of cooperative work (Konbit) to help Haitians achieve the changes they want to make in their country, a fascinating presentation and another ray of hope for our friends.  You’ll find more information about their activities in links below.
The above-mentioned presentation reminded me of a book of poetry published this year:  Konbit, by Sony Ton-Aime.  His poems begin with and examine from many points of view the Bois Caiman Ceremony in 1791, the start of the slave uprising in Haiti and, as he says, the first example of Konbit in Haitian history.  Some are beautiful, some are sad, some are challenging.  All are thought-provoking.  Published by Carnegie Mellon University Press.
Our friends at Haitian Hope, working in partnership with the schools in Trouin (located toward the top of the mountain near the road from Leogane to Jacmel), particularly the trade school,  is providing Starlink connectivity for a year to see how communications within and with Trouin might be strengthened.  Other partners might wish at some point to look into that possibility.  We look forward to hearing about whether it makes a significant change for the people in Trouin and for their partners.
An update from Chapoteau, near(ish) to Cange, mentioned in the last newsletter:  I’ve had word that the difficulties at the school in Chapoteau were not caused by an organized gang from elsewhere, but by a local group protesting the unfairness of the current situation.  Just another reminder to pray and advocate for some resolution to Haiti’s problems and for an end to the unrelenting suffering of the Haitian people.
A few words about this newsletter:  It may come to you occasionally in a slightly awkward format, or several hours later than it was sent.  That’s because my email will not send to lists of more than 100 addresses, so the full list is broken down alphabetically into 7 different lists with currently about 85 names on each to allow for adding and subtracting names.  The first one I send looks great.  Then I forward that one six times, and each time I forward, some strange little vertical lines or font changes insert themselves with no rhyme or reason.  I try to correct, but usually make it worse.  When I have sent 5 of the 7, my email system refuses to send more because they say it looks like spam to them.  Then I turn my computer off, let it marinate while I fold the laundry or feed the cat, and then turn it back on, by which time it’s happy to send the last two.  Embarrassing to be so out of date, but there you are.  I take turns with which list I send first so every now and then you get the prettiest copy.  Please enjoy it when it’s your turn.  I’m always happy to add people — it’s free, after all — so please let me know if there are people in your orbit who would like to receive it.  Random news, partnership updates, cultural happenings, occasional history, and whatever else crosses the desk.
Yours,
Serena Evans Beeks
Canon Serena Evans Beeks, D.Min.
US Coordinator, Haiti Episcopal School Partnerships
National Association of Episcopal Schools
From: Charlie Estes, Roots of Development <cestes@rootsofdevelopment.org>
Subject: How we’re supporting home-grown change in Haiti