The Bishop of Jacmel Haiti on the importance of educatuon and how you can help

Today we are sharing with you the words of the Catholic Bishop Launay Saturne of Jacmel:

"Without education we will remain in the current situation until the end of time.
Haiti's schools are a far cry from those of neighboring Dominican Republic, let alone those of more developed countries: Textbooks and basic supplies are hard to come by; few teachers have more than a ninth-grade education; buildings are in need of repair; equipment is virtually nil." (from http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1501166.htm)

Through donated school supplies (and in few cases more direct support) BonaResponds helps support education throughout Haiti. And of course we work hand in hand with @HaitiScholarships on a daily basis (if you want to see your money make an impact, make a donation to Haitischolarships and just watch! WOW! )

But as Bishop Launay suggests, the need is still very great and we are all called to increase our efforts to make a greater impact.

The good news is that we can do this. It is a winnable battle, but only with your help.

There is no single magic bullet. There is no single Lone Ranger that can change things. But together, with many strands, we can.

* Late last night we sent about $230 to our volunteers in Leogane to help a school with a fence and their garden program to help both teach (and feed) their students.

* This Sunday night we will have a Haitischolarships board meeting to discuss ways to increase fundraising.

* Next weekend we will be packing barrels of books and school supplies.

How can you help?

* Make a donation (either money or school supplies)

* Collect lightly used notebook paper at your office

* Donate used notebook computers

* Sponsor a student through HaitiScholarships (for $1 a day..think about it).

* Pay for a solar electric system for a school (rough cost is $1500 each)

* Become a marketing intern! Both HaitiScholarships and Bona Responds would beyond love someone to help with our website and communications with donors (and would be donors).

Our future efforts:

Donating books, planting gardens, and even installing solar are all good steps, but we can do so much more. For instance, we would love to sponsor a training conference in Leogane where Haitian Teachers could get together and share what is working well and what is not. We'd love to have some teachers from the US or elsewhere work with them to develop stronger curriculums, we'd love to increase the online "penpal" program, we'd love to.....but we need you to help make it a reality.

PS of course we are also still collecting soccer equipment as we believe physical education is also an important means of improving the welfare of those in Haiti.  Supplies can be dropped off to 104B in Swan Business Center.  Or mailed if you prefer to BonaResponds Box BY 104B  Swan Business Center, St, Bonaventure NY 14778

Here is our Amazon WIshlist for items we will send to Haiti. 

Much of this was posted on FB as well.