Fall Update 2022
“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” -Nelson Mandela
The first days of school are always filled with excitement; our school is doing great!
School was set to start as usual on the first Monday of September. However, due to the many trials and tribulations Haiti is facing, the opening of schools Nationwide was delayed. At last, with great happiness, school started on October 24th!
We are so pleased to announce new additions; we have added a fifth class, hired our newest teacher, Tialy Doresema, as well as enrolled 12 more students. This brings our total school population to 60 students and five teachers. We have also added a new staff member in the kitchen. As one would imagine, cooking for 65 people everyday, we need more hands stirring the pots!
Accomplishments
103 Students have graduated from our school, children who would likely have never been able to attend school.
60 students are currently enrolled.
85 of our Graduates are supported in Secondary Schools of their choice.
11 years running with a 100% passage rate of the National 6th Grade Matriculation Exam. This is a big deal when considering that the national average for passing this exam is a mere 20%
Adult Literacy Program
October 2022, we kicked off our Adult Literacy classes. Adult literacy is a persistent problem in our community of Anse A Galets. The literacy rate for people over the age of 18 is 62% in Haiti. Many of the parents in the Pi Gwo Byen (aka Greater Good) school community do not know how to read. We plan to address this by offering Adult Literacy classes two nights a week. Classes will be held in our new Earthship Classrooms. We will offer a beginning class as well as an intermediate class. Teachers from our school will teach these classes. Literacy is fundamental to our work in Haiti. It has been the impetus for our very presence in Anse A Galets, on La Gonave, in Haiti. Adult Literacy is a must-do program and we are thrilled that Palo Alto Rotary has granted Greater Good International the funding to get this project going.
Haiti Eco Housing Project
Even though it has been so challenging to bring Master Builders to Haiti, we have launched a small but very exciting pilot project with Phil Basehart, Greater Good International and funding from a private individual, to build Shelter Huts in the Earthship style out in the Community of Anse A Galets. There is a team of 5 builders who have been trained on the job of building our classrooms. They are working together 5 days a week to build these shelter huts.
We are starting with Shelters for members of our staff at Pi Gwo Byen as well as members of the Haitian Crew who have been learning on the job while building our classrooms. We have begun with 2 shelters thus far and will keep you all posted on the progress of this Pilot Project. It has been exciting to at last be able to share out to the community the Earthship style buildings, which are sustainable as well as hurricane and earthquake resistant.
Update on the Status of Haiti
You may or may not have heard about what is happening in Haiti. Briefly, Haiti is a mess. The government has all but collapsed. There are gangs controlling much of Haiti. They discriminately block highways, controlling the passage of goods and people. Kidnapping is rampant. There are protests daily all across Haiti. The Gangs control the gas distribution centers and so the cost of gas has skyrocketed to prices as high as $60 per gallon. At the time of writing this, gas is at $30 US a gallon. People are frustrated and angry. It is clear that nobody wants the current President to continue, nor do they want the Gangs to run the country.
So what comes next? No one quite knows what will come. Haitians are incredibly resilient. That said, this situation has been going on since July 2021 when then President Jovenel Moise was assassinated. Rightfully, Haitians are asking, screaming for change.
Until this last month, I could say that thankfully no protest or violence took place on the island of La Gonave, that quiet, sleepy yet vibrant, forgotten island where we started our grassroots education project. Though we had experienced increased food insecurity and gas shortages when Haiti at large experienced those issues, the wild protests and destruction stayed away from La Gonave. With a deep sadness, I heard from our staff and community that there were large protests, routes were blocked and tires were burned. Children were actively prevented from going to school. It seems like at this moment there is a calm as I write this, at least on La Gonâve, and though we don’t know what is coming and from which direction, we at Pi Gwo Byen in Anse  Galets, on La Gonave are looking forward and doing our best to carry on.
We Must Make the Ask .....
In the face of all the challenges, we have overcome and prevailed; politics, earthquakes, hurricanes, poverty, fluctuations in the cost of gas, and the exchange rates, gangs and violence, all have been factors in the everyday process of operations. Running our program in Haiti has always had the challenge of supporting the cost. In spite of all of these conditions, we are growing and continue to experience great success.
We want you to know how crucial your support has been to our growth and achievements. We now have 103 students who have graduated from high school, students who without our existence would never have even attended school. They would now be adults with no education, no hope or opportunities to become productive engaged members of their community, who now can vote and fill out job applications.
THIS IS WHAT WE DO WITH YOUR SUPPORT.
We are incredibly proud of what we have done together. We are proud of our teachers, our students, the Greater Good Board, and the many people like you who contribute to our success.
We invite you to donate to our efforts. None of what you just read about could have happened if we had not received your kind DONATIONS. No donation is too small or too large. We are entirely honored by all donations. Please click on the DONATE toggle which will take you to our Donate Page on the Greater Good Haiti website. There you will find the many options about making donations; one time, recurring monthly, soft credit, or major donations are all welcome.
With deep gratitude,
Kelly Kobza, Founding Director
The Greater Good International Board Members
The entire Pi Gwo Byen Community in Haiti