Dear Friends of MCLC,
Even through the summer, there are many activities happening at the Matènwa Community Learning Center.
Ridge and Christie cam to visit in June. Christie teaches at St. John’s High school ( one of our partners) and Ridge just graduated from St. John’s. Etienne was their guide and translator. Etienne is our language teacher for English and Spanish. Etienne is one of our school librarians. You can read about their trip on Ridge’s’ blogspot.
During July our staff held classes for children that needed more one-on-one instruction. MCLC teachers received some individual training time. For a week each morning Meg Bruton, Tina Jaillet, Kathryn Delacourt, Sarah Roche, and Owen Thomas observed in individual classrooms and then worked together with the classroom teachers to design lessons and games for the next day.
In addition, for 3 weeks the staff had professional development time to practice speaking French and English.
Most impressive was their personal growth during the Education Is A Conversation Program on Children’s Rights. (See www.kathleencash.com <http://www.kathleencash.com/> ). This program consists of twenty two-hour sessions. It is a very effective methodology Kathleen Cash designed to stimulate people to have active discussions and role plays about problems in their community. This program enables communities to uncover deep underlying root causes as opposed to just treating surface symptoms of their problems. For MCLC staff, male teachers began to comment that the conversations were rich, but if they did not start being role models in the community for Children’s and Women’s Rights, nothing would change. In a society where men hold so much of the power, we were pleased to see that they saw themselves as part of the problem and the solution: they need to model respect for their wives and participate in chores that are traditionally for women and children; women’s rights means equal rights for all, not taking away men’s rights.
Thanks again for your continued support!
Sincerely,
Chris Low and Abner Sauveur Co-directors
Millienne Angervil Secretary
