We have decided to try and resurrect this blog, which has been inactive for quite some time. We are hoping that this blog can act as a way for people to give us feedback on their experiences with CIP and also as a way for us to keep our supporters and participants better informed of events and news. So feel free to post comments or your own news!
On March 9th at 6:30 p.m., Dr. Terri Bucci, an OSU professor at the Mansfield campus, will give a presentation, “Empowerment for Haiti,” on Haitian education. Dr. Bucci created the Haiti Empowerment Project in 2003 to help transform the education system in Haiti. The Project brings together the intellectual and material resources of OSU and other U.S. faculty and graduate students with Haitian counterparts to assist in the development and implementation of culturally relevant professional training.
Some sobering facts about Haiti:
· 67% of Haitian children attend primary school with teachers who have little educational preparation
· Haiti has only 52.9% literacy rate
o Compared to American which has 99% literacy rate and its neighbor the Dominican Republic which has 87% literacy rate
· Haitian education expenditures account for only 1.4% of the GDP
o This ranks Haiti 175 in the world in education expenditures (very low on the list).
· Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of its population living below the poverty line and 52% living in abject poverty
With facts and statistics like these, it is obvious that Haiti’s need for a better education system is very important. The main aim of this program is to bring faculty and graduate students into Haitian schools to work with teachers, students, and university faculty. Participating faculty and grad students spend some time in schools in the countryside and use their experiences in these schools in teacher education courses. This way the program is providing Haitian teachers with culturally relevant training. With the earthquake earlier this year, these problems in Haitian education have, unsurprisingly, worsened.
This presentation should be extremely interesting especially for those interested in Haiti or in participating in the program. Dr. Bucci will speak more fully on the educational issues facing Haiti and on the Haiti Empowerment Project.
If you would like to donate to the Haiti Empowerment Project, donations can be sent by mail:
The Haiti Empowerment Project
The Ohio State University at Mansfield
c/o Carol Freytag, fiscal agent
1760 University Drive
Mansfield, Ohio 44906
If you would like to learn more about the Haiti Empowerment Project, visit their website:
http://mansfield.osu.edu/Empowerment/
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