Capturing Their Creative Spirit


In March of 2013, we teamed up with One Laptop Per Child Community (http://olpcMAP.net) and handed out 42 specially designed third-world laptops to children and assigned two skilled local teachers, Junior and Elisabeth, to oversee the laptop integration and student's continued education.

Four months later, we are seeing leaps in creativity and engagement in the students—especially in the training epicenter in Grand Goave, Haiti, at the Mission of Hope International School (MOHI).



The students began by learning the unique Sugar software, an open learning toolkit for digital expression and collaborative construction. This is now allowing them to take their very first steps into civic journalism, contributing online blog posts for the world!

 
The beginning stages of the learning process bring to life ideas and drawings like the beautiful fish and home scene below:
 

 

 

 

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GREAT MINDS - YOUNG MINDS

Most recently, two young and fearless students named Sora Edwards-Thro, age 17, and James Murzda, age 19, traveled to Haiti with the goal of advancing the Haitian students' XO skills to a more interactive and literary level. Both the MOHI location and Pastor Silar's ORAEDH orphanage location are beginning to develop their own Newspaper publications with weekly progress of the unique project being captured at http://blog.unleashkids.org:
 

 

August 1, 2013. Sora wrote:

 

"We gave the Newspaper activity a shot today. They put together a “Journal Mission of Hope” using writing, drawing and layout skills. We could definitely spend many more days on this, but it’s a good start!"

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August 4, 2013. James wrote:

"Yesterday Sora and I paid a visit to ORAEDH (Orphanage of the Organization for Aid to Children in Difficulty in Haiti) where we spent the afternoon with Pastor Silar and his wonderful children.

We spent our time organizing the children to create their own newspaper articles using Newspaper, beginning with simple interviews and advancing into focused writing for more advanced kids. They learned a new activity combining some skills they already had, and made some nice articles too.

"We were impressed by the kids’ knowledge of the computers—some of them were familiar with Gnome as well as the Sugar interface and would use it for more complex programs like Audacity. They also used solar panels even though they had electricity, which was great!"

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SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

On August 1, 2013, the kids were also asked for their feedback on what they like and don't like about working with the XO laptops.

 

Cheno, a student at MOHI, takes a relatively balanced approach:

 

Translation:

 

I love these activities:

• Clock
• TamTam Mini (Music)
• Typing Turtle
• Scratch (visual programming)

I do not like these activities:

•  TuxMath
• Record (photos, audio recording & videos)
• Speak (pronunciation)
• Mouse (touchpad)

Jorday Laguerre's seems to like it all:

Translation:

 

I love these activities:

TamTam Mini (music)

Scratch (visual programming)

Journal (portfolio of my work)

Typing Turtle

Record (photos, audio recording & videos)

NEWSPAPER

Memorize (make your own learning games)

Browse

Pippy (fun progamming example)

TuxMath (videogame to learn all kinds of math)

Paint (draw anything)

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“I am very happy that Child in Hand supports the Haitian
dream, and brings the kids creativity and happiness.
Thank you to Child in Hand who make it possible
for me to work with the kids, a passion for me.”
Junior Monrose, lead OLPC community local trainer,
(pictured above in the yellow shirt and cap): 



 

Child in Hand would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Renee Edmé, Junior and Elisabeth (our local trainers), Adam Holt, and Sora and James for their tireless commitment to ensuring this creative explosion continues. A special thanks, also, goes to the student council of Academy of Charter Schools that raised funds to keep the training going in Haiti!

We are all excited to see the progress and new vision arising from the opportunities these laptops and trainers present. What if these are the building block skills that will launch these kids beyond the walls they have always known? Yes. We believe this is possible!

 

 

 "A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral."



— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry



 

 





Students attempt to draw the Child in Hand logo on July 31, 2013.
Great job!!
 

  

 

 

 

The Domino Effect – How One Act of Kindness Can Change the World

A Father’s Love



The Carmon family came to Denver a few weeks ago, ready to spend their lives inside a convention center. Once a year a great spectacle occurs in that city; one that a non-volleyball person may never understand or imagine. Two 3-day weekends, 89 hand constructed sport courts, close to 700 teams, exhibitors and college recruiters from around the country, and countless mini donuts— all jammed into a tournament explosion of whistles, video cameras, and cheers. Welcome to Colorado Crossroads, folks!

Photo Courtesy of The Denver Post
 

After day two, the Carmons were wiped out from all the mayhem and emotional strain of the day’s matches. But instead of heading straight to the escalator and back to the hotel, the father of the bunch was drawn to a particular table display. With wide eyes, he beckoned his wife and daughter to come join him. Reluctant and exhausted, they followed.

With great passion he began repeating what he just learned—how Child in Hand provides medical and psychosocial care and training to 6 orphanages in Haiti and works directly with USA Volleyball and the Haitian Volleyball Federation to build up the sport of volleyball in that country. Mr. Carmon also told them how the bracelets and jewelry displayed were decorated by the Haitian kids and orphans. He pointed to the images on the TV screen of a country and people living very different lives than the abundance in food and resources that his family knew.

“Look, honey!” He gestured towards the wall behind the table. “Those bags were decorated by kids here at the tournament and they will be taken to Haiti next week and given to the orphans! Isn’t that great?”

His daughter, Emily, saw the maroon drawstring bags. They were decorated with stickers, colors and inspiring quotes (both creole and English) that young players had written to the orphans. She said nothing and glanced toward her mom. It was clear the two ladies were ready to go, but Mr. Carmon insisted.

“No, honey, you need to do this. You don’t understand how good you have it, and I want you to make a bag for an orphan in Haiti. Would you like that?”

She blinked at him.

He grinned back, passion beaming from his face.

“Fine…” She said.

When the bag was done, she held out the bag for the attendant to put on the wall. Mr. Carmon stopped the exchange and requested a picture. The table attendant complied happily, and snapped a shot of Emily holding up her rainbow bag in front of the Child in Hand table.

“SMILE” was written in all caps at the bottom. Fittingly, a tiny smile crept on Emily’s face, as well. Something had happened—something happened that may seem small, but someday could make all the difference.

Mr. Carmon pulled the attendant to the side, locked her eyes and asked if she would send him a picture of the orphan who receives his daughter’s bag.

“Okay. I will.” She replied.

“No. Seriously. I need you to do this. Please give me your word that you will find a way to get me a picture.”

“I understand, Mr. Carmon. I will do my very best to get you this picture for Emily.” She said.

A satisfied, inspired father led his family down the escalator. And a picture remained of a young girl, a bag, and a mission.
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SMILE

Peter is a special little boy. When Child in Hand first met him two years ago at the ORAEDH orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he had a protruding belly, a sad face, and would fearfully retreat when approached. Over the years, Child in Hand has seen a remarkable transformation.

On March 16, 2013, the young table tenant and the CiH team arrived once again at ORAEDH, home of more than 70 children and caretakers. The goal of the trip was two-fold. First, CiH and One Laptop Per Child would assess the location as a possible recipient of specialty laptops and training to further the children’s education and vocational skills. Second, CiH was going to distribute 65 decorated bags filled with surprises to the 65 children living together on the small property.

The table tenant and translator Willy spoke to the children and asked them who their inspiration was. Without hesitation, the children cried out: “JES!” which means Jesus Christ. The next question was whether they believed if someone else was inspired by them. With hesitation, some said “Wi,” while others dropped their smiles with a “No.”

“BUT YOU ARE!!” said the table tenant. She told them how their faces and smiles and stories were an inspiration to young volleyball players in the USA. The children looked at her and Willy, amazed.

Willy then arranged them in a big circle and talked about giving and receiving. Next, the bags were handed out one by one and passed from one set of little hands to another until the whole circle had received a bag.

The children hugged the bags tightly, poked at the stickers, and attempted to read out loud the different phrases that had been written for them. The 65 kids piled up together for a group photo, waved their bags high in the air and shouted “Viv Ayiti!” (Live on, Haiti).

Then the bags were opened and toys, games, stuffed animals, and 65 red Molten playground balls unleashed pandemonium and much joy within the small concrete front yard. Balls were bouncing everywhere as the children, caregivers, and Americans danced and sang songs of praise together at dusk.

 

And in the background, little Peter, with the widest and brightest smile, clutched his new rainbow colored bag.

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Pass it On

Peter took out the flat red ball from inside his new bag and gave it to the older man next to him with the pump. After waiting patiently by his side and watching his arm pump the air in back and forth, Peter tapped the man on his leg.

The man stopped and Peter looked up into his eyes, still smiling. In perfect English and clarity of heart, the little boy spoke: “Thank You.”
 

The man closed his eyes for a moment, as if the beauty and purity before him was too much to take in.
 

Peter stayed near the man as he finished pumping up balls for the other kids. He pulled over his brother Clifford who spoke better English and said something to him. Peter wanted to know what the man’s name was.

“Scott,” The man replied.

Peter grinned. “My friend, Scott!”


On the van ride back to the CiH guest house, Scott shared this most pressing experience with the table tenant. Later that night, he shared it with the CiH team. Scott is a passionate former pastor who now focuses his time trying to increase connectivity to remote places in Haiti, especially for the means of telemedicine (where doctors from the states could essentially diagnose problems through live internet feeds).

 

Scott will share Haiti’s story with hundreds of Americans, because…
Peter has new joy today, because…
Emily gave a gift she never knew was inside of her, because…
A father’s heart is blessed to see his daughter grow.

…And the domino effect rolls on.
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Child in Hand would like to thank the “Carmon” family and thousands of other families, players, coaches, officials, staff, etc. of Colorado Crossroads Junior National Qualifier for spending time with us and supporting our efforts to help the children in Haiti. The money raised from the March tournament helped us to distribute 42 laptops to children and train local leaders and kids to use them. We were also able to distribute some love through the 150 CiH bags—hand-decorated by kids in America for orphans in Haiti. The bags were received with such wonder and were filled with donations including 150 red Molten playground balls. Imagine the bouncing and laughing mayhem!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for helping us help 
these deserving kids in Haiti. Truly, none of this would be possible without your support.

 

Thanks to Front Range Volleyball Club for their standout support!

  For more images of our March trip,

please visit our FACEBOOK page!

Please DONATE HERE if you are interested in helping us accomplish 3 goals in May:

·         Haitian National Team intensive skills training

·         Grand Opening of the Multi-Sport Facility (pictured above)

·         Psychosocial follow-up and workshops with caregivers at 6 orphanages

 

Volleyball Reaching--What Your Donations Helped to Achieve!

Child in Hand provides medical and psychosocial intervention by treating and training children and caregivers of post-conflict disaster environments. Currently our efforts are focused on six orphanages in Haiti. Child in Hand UPdate February 2013                                    Donate Now! Child in Hand Volleyball Clinic: SUCCESS! The first ever Child in Hand Volleyball Clinics  killed it last December (pun intended), raising over $12,000 and involving 154 players and 30 coaches in Boulder, Englewood, and Colorado Springs. YOUR Efforts Make the Difference! YOUR DONATIONS enabled Child in Hand to accomplish important projects in Haiti the very next month, January 2013, at six regularly serviced orphanages and two new locations. The CiH team’s five primary completed objectives: Psychosocial: Improve self-care for caregivers through the Stress-Management and Self-Care Workshop. Psychosocial: Help children sleep well by giving caregivers educational resources and tools to help children cope with and reduce sleep disturbance. Medical: Establish medical records for each of the orphanage children Medical: Provide second round of deworming medication—400 mg chewable tablets of Albendazole, one tablet at bedtime for 3 days for both children and caretakers. Medical: Provide anti-fungal treatment medication due to the overwhelming need identified in August 2013. Therefore, systematic treatment of Tinea Capitis began. The prescription included 1 Tablet Griseofulvin per day, every evening after food for the next 6 weeks (42 days) for both children and caretakers. Do You Know What STRESS Is? Thanks to the Stress Management and Self-Care Workshop, led by CiH Psychosocial Director Dr. Moira Hennessey in January 2013, caregivers in Haiti can now, for the first time, put a name to what they have been experiencing. Thoughts from two of the hardworking women at the workshop: “When I got here this morning I was so tired because I do everything in this place, I feed the children and clean everything and wash the clothing, now I feel like I just had a long rest and I am ready to go and help the kids and I am not mad.” “I did not know what stress was or if I even have stress until you taught me about it. I have always gotten very bad headaches here and sometimes I am so mad at everyone and I don’t know why- now I know that it is normal and it is stress, sometimes I was worried I was getting very sick in my brain but now I know that is something I can change.” Remember, YOU HELPED MAKE THIS POSSIBLE! How cool is that?! And Guess What? Child in Hand is returning to Haiti March 10-16, where we plan to distribute more of your donated goods and continue follow-up in our medical and psychosocial interventions. We will also begin the process for laptop distribution to the orphanages, thanks to One Laptop Per Child! Stay Tuned for Pictures! UPCOMING VOLLEYBALL EVENTS COLORADO CROSSROADS -- NEXT WEEKEND! Child in Hand will once again be hosting an exhibit at the 2013 Colorado Crossroads Junior National Qualifier in Denver, Colorado, thanks to the kind space donation by Tournament Magic and Colorado Crossroads Director, Kay Rogness. We have new SURPRISES at our space this year- a creativity challenge, silent auction, and more! Plus, if you wear your Colorado Serving Haiti T-shirt to the tournament, you get a special prize! Hope to see you there... CAN YOU HELP US? We need art supplies that would work well on polypropylene (drawstring bags). Got any?   Come hang with us and help behind the booth (jewelry, art, donations, etc.). Sign up for a time slot below! CiH Exhibit Schedule: Friday, March 1 8am – 3pm Set Up* Friday, March 1 4pm – 8pm Pre-Event Show* Saturday, March 2 8am – 8pm Main Show Sunday, March 3 8am – 8pm Main Show Monday, March 4 8am – 2pm Main Show/Shut Down Thursday, March 7 4pm – 8pm Pre-Event Show* Friday, March 8 8am – 8pm Main Show Saturday, March 9 8am – 8pm Main Show Sunday, March 10 8am – 2pm Main Show Sunday, March 10 2pm – 4pm Show’s Over/Move Out!  *Volunteer slots already filled If you are interested in being a Volunteer, please email Tracy your time block preferences and she will contact you to find the best fit: t_stalls@childinhand.org. Colorado Serving Haiti, a campaign of Child in Hand, will be hosting another volleyball clinic in Colorado Springs with the Olympic-level staff Tom Hogan and Tracy Stalls. Where: Aces Volleyball Facility 16815 Mitchell Road, Monument, CO 80132 Who: Colorado Juniors Volleyball Club is donating $2,000 of profit to Child in Hand during Middle School Camp When: July 13, 2013 Register HERE: http://www.coloradojuniors.com/Camps2013/CampRegisterMS.html or Call 719-661-4491 More details are on our Facebook page! Get Your Team or Club Involved!   Do you want YOUR club to host a Child in Hand clinic? Please contact Tracy at t_stalls@chlidinhand.org GROWING THE GAME!!! An opening celebration in the remote city of Borgne in northern Haiti. They are using some of the volleyballs CiH passed on last summer!  According to Margarette Graham, Director of the Haitian Volleyball Federation, 72 zones are participating in the school volleyball program throughout Haiti. This number is increasing rapidly—up from 32 in 2012 and only 15 in 2011. There is a total of 427 schools and 996 teams participating in the national program.  In Milot, a small town in northern Haiti, four schools are now participating in the volleyball program, with a total of 12 teams: six teams 14-15 year olds and six teams with 16-17 year olds. They begin the day’s tournament by raising and honoring Haiti’s flag.     Facebook Twitter Website Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences  *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*