Lekòl Sen Trinite - St. Joseph Home for Boys

Lekòl Sen Trinite ~ 2012-2013
Morning Session Teachers
Elcana Jean Pierre
Montessori Preschool/Kindergarten
Bethie Jean Charles
Montessori Preschool/Kindergarten
Irlande Prevot
First Grade, Group A
Chantale Jeremie
First Grade, Group B
Mirlene Saintus
Second Grade
Fedeline Charles
Third Grade
Charlotte Marie Andre
Session Director & Fourth Grade
Marie Claire Cenise Joseph
Fifth Grade
Bouzy Jean
Sixth Grade
Lekòl Sen Trinite ~ 2012-2013
Afternoon Session Teachers
Mirlande Sanon
Montessori Preschool/Kindergarten
Irlande Prevot
Montessori Preschool/Kindergarten
Bernadette Lapierre
First Grade
Marquine Francois
Second Grade
Roseline Izidor
Third Grade
Rony Content
Session Director & Fourth Grade
Lekòl Sen Trinite ~ 2012-2013
Specialty Teachers & Staff
Evens Annis
Computer Technology Teacher
Makendy Augustin
Art Teacher
Yolene Charlemange
Cooking Program Teacher
Passien Saint-Juste
Morning Administrative Assistant
Denis Doxy
Afternoon Administrative Assistant
Josue Claude
Food Preparation
KC Bersch
St. Joseph Family Director of Education
Wilner Saintelus
SJF Assistant Director of Education
LekòL Sen trinite
JacmeL, haiti
A school for the children of Jacmel
based on the community outreach model at
Trinity House, a member of the St. Joseph Family
2012-2013
Student SponSorShip information
For more information about the sponsorship program please contact Renee at sjgrants@hotmail.com
For more information about Lekòl Sen Trinite please contact KC at kcinhaiti@yahoo.com
Lekòl Sen Trinite is a school program dedicated to serving the most impoverished families and children in the community surrounding Trinity House in Jacmel, Haiti. These are children who would not
otherwise have the opportunity to attend school due to their financial and family situations. Many of
these students come from large families and also have relatives in the program.
During the 2012-2013 school year, Lekòl Sen Trinite is
educating approximately 140 students, in kindergarten
through sixth grade. There are 97 students, both boys and
girls, in the morning session, in kindergarten through sixth
grade; and 41 students in the afternoon girls-only session, in
kindergarten through fourth grade. Our students range in
age from three to 17 years old.
We are creating an education program that takes the best
of the Haitian educational system and adds aspects from
other systems, including the Montessori preschool and
kindergarten system. This provides our students with a varied and enriched education. In the future we hope to partner
with schools in the area so students can continue their education after their time in Lekòl Sen Trinite. Lekòl Sen Trinite
has also taken the bold and non-traditional stance in accepting students with disabilities and main-streaming them into
the classes. This year there are a few students with physical
disabilities attending school, as
well as many with various learning disbilities. Lekòl Sen Trinite
is one of the few schools in Haiti
that will allow disabled students
to attend a regular school.
We strive to nourish our students’ minds, bodies and spirits
while they are in our care.
Many of our students and families do not have the means to
be able to eat each day. Before
we started our breakfast and
lunch programs, our students
were lethargic and suffering
from the symptoms of malnutrition. We are now able to feed our children a simple breakfast and lunch each day through the generosity of sponsors. This has made a dramatic difference in our students. If you look at them now, their
complexions are clear, their eyes are bright and they are able to participate in class, which has helped
to prepare our students for a stronger academic program.
Many of our students save a portion of their breakfast and lunch to take back home to eat later or to
share with their parents and siblings each day. This feeding program is not only making a difference in
the lives of our students, but is also making an impact on the lives of their families.
We also nourish the spiritual lives of the students through a weekly Bible studies and prayer services in addition to the blessings, prayers and songs of praise that students offer up prior to starting
class each day.
Our morning session students start school at 7:30 am with breakfast followed by class at 8:00. The
students are educated in the typical academic areas — reading, writing, math, history, religion, French;
and also receive computer training and attend art class. The students also have practical life lessons in the areas of hygiene and
personal conduct. The afternoon session starts with lunch at noon,
with the academic and specialty classes starting at 1 PM. In addition, the students receive dance lessons in an after-school program. An after-school program for the girls teaches them cooking
and other life skills, in addition to building up their self-esteem.
Lekòl Sen Trinite is in the process of building up its library and all
the students also have cards to the municipal library. The students
have access to a state-of-the-art media center with computers and
internet access on-site. There is truly a sense of community among
our students and staff.
Through generous supporters we have been able to provide
each student with a uniform, tennis shoes, backpack and school
supplies, including school books. In Haiti being able to go to
school is a status symbol, and having a uniform to wear to school
provides our students with a sense of pride and purpose. We do
not ask the families of our students to pay any tuition. The
only thing we ask of our parents is to be involved in their
child’s education. We have a very dedicated group of parents who participate in monthly parents meetings and are
always available to come to the school to talk about their
child’s progress.
It is our goal to remain a small school, dedicated to providing a quality education to a very special population of
students. In the same vein of that philosophy, we want to
empower our teachers to continue their own education and
professional development so they can be examples for our
students and become the best educators they can be.
Lekòl Sen Trinite has begun to reach out to another population of children in the Jacmel area who are in need. In
the fall of 2009, Lekòl Sen Trinite started a special program
for children trapped in the restavek system. Restaveks are
child slaves in Haiti. They live with families and work in the
home from before sunrise until late in the night, cleaning,
carrying water, cooking and doing any tasks the are ordered
to do. These children are usually treated very badly —
physically abused, forced to sleep on the floor, eating only
scraps and not given adequate clothes or supplies for their
needs.
The leadership of Lekòl Sen Trinite has reached out to 25 of these children and negotiated with their
“families” to allow them to come to the school for a few hours each Saturday for academic classes, as
well as fun and fellowship. The students are also served two meals on Saturdays and receive clothes
and hygiene supplies from donations received by the St. Joseph Family. This new outreach has been
named Pwogram Rejwi (Program Rejoice). The dream fo Pwogram Rejwi is to develop it into an afternoon school to further develop the skills and self-confidence of the children so they will be able to live
better lives.
We also reach out to the families of our students on an as-needed basis through financial and other
support in times of need, when
we are able. Our “Family Fund”
has helped families pay the rent
on their homes as they were
facing eviction, put roofs on
homes that were in need of adequate shelter and paid for
emergency medical needs for
some of our students and families. We also offer visitors to
Lekòl Sen Trinite the opportunity to walk our students home
and meet their families and see
where they live. This is a pro-
gram that has been enthusiastically embraced by our students
and families.
In talking to the parents of the
students about the struggles they
face providing for their families,
we realized that they are trapped
in a cycle of poverty they didn’t
have the means to escape. To
help them realize their dreams of
becoming self-sufficient, we have
partnered with Fonkoze, a microlending institution in Haiti. We
have 25 mothers of Lekòl Sen
Trinite students who have participated in the Fonkoze program
since early in 2009. These
women receive small loans which they are using to develop small businesses. As they pay the loans
back they are able to take out bigger and bigger loans, increasing their businesses. Fonkoze also educates them in business practices and financial matters. They are now not only earning an income for
their families, but they are developing their self-confidence and self-worth.
The outreach to the families of the Lekòl Sen Trinite
students became even more important following the
January 12, 2010, earthquake. Most of the families
were displaced by damage caused by the earthquake
and were forced to take up residence in tents and
poorly constructed tarp and wood structures. Many of
the parents and
guardians who
previously were
able to work
lost their jobs
following the earthquake. The economic and material damage
done to these families came on the heels of the after-effects of
the devastating hurricanes that struck Jacmel in the fall of 2008
that they were still trying to recover from.
Lekòl Sen Trinite has the potential of changing an entire
community through education and outreach. By educating children who would not be able to go to school otherwise, we are
providing a future and a chance at real change in the city of
Jacmel and in the country of Haiti. In reading the biographies
of the students in our program you can see that they all have
dreams for their futures and the first step towards those futures
is being taken at Lekòl Sen Trinite.
You can help support Lekòl Sen Trinite by
becoming a sponsor for one of the children.
With your donation of $360 US ($400 CDN)
per child, we can pay the teachers, purchase
educational supplies, feed the children, take
the students on field trips and continue the
construction of the school.
Sponsors will receive a photo and biography of their
sponsored Lekòl Sen Trinite student, as well as updates
throughout the year about their academic progress.
For more information about the sponsorship program
please contact Renee at sjgrants@hotmail.com
For more information about Lekòl Sen Trinite
please contact KC at kcinhaiti@yahoo.com
*Since the cost per child is more than $360 US ($400 CDN) per year to operate the school and plan for
the future, the students will have multiple sponsors whenever possible.