Hello All,
It was 7 years ago in October 2010 that we first opened our doors. While eating lunch at the foundation the other day, I started to think about just how far we have come since 2010. I am going to take this update to reflect on our journey to this point.
The starkest changes are the quality of our buildings/classrooms, the behavior of the children, the quality of the education, the attitude of the children, and, lastly, our past naivety. When the JRF opened, we spoke with most of the kids and created a profile using some basic questions. One of those questions was “What do you want to be when you grow up,” and almost all of the kids answered with construction worker, field hand, maid or cook. None of them could conceive of being more than what their parents were. Both they and their parents believed, on a deep level, that poverty and menial jobs were all the world had to offer them. At a parent meeting this summer we discussed how parents can set and accomplish goals with their children. Each parent created a timeline with images, and among the goals were teacher, nurse, doctor, and carpenter. Our parents and children have bought into the idea that they can be more and are working hard to make it a reality.
A picture taken of one of the earliest groups of JRF children in 2010. Go Lions!
The space we now use is also night and day different from our original space. Money was tight when the JRF was founded and we ended up with a property that had a large play area but was really run down. Our only classroom was dark and dingy and just not a great space overall. We made due but when I walk around the foundation now and see how bright, clean and beautiful it is, I feel very proud about the experience the children are now offered.
A door to one of our first classrooms. It was almost as dim as it looks in there.
A current classroom in 2017
The behavior of the children is also night and day. That first year there were multiple fights a day, the kids were always swearing and as a whole did not listen. It was all we could do those first few months to not let some of the kids literally kill each other. I have a super clear memory of the first week. There were two groups of brothers that were having problems from day 1. Each group had three boys. They were down in the play area and two from the first group started to fight with the other three brothers. The brother that was not in the fight picked up a huge rock and sneaked up on the brawl with the intention of braining one of the rival boys’ head. I ran down and took the rock from him as he was lifting it over his head. Kids hitting other kids with rocks was actually the first thing we worked on since it was so common. We even differentiated between throwing a rock (less punishment) and trying to bash someone’s head with a rock. Now we almost never have violent fights, kids know cursing is wrong, and generally listen when told to do something.
The classes they have at the foundation are also night and day different. Our teachers at first were really bad and I honestly just had no idea what to do about that. One of our first two teachers, the wife of the assistant director at the time, would just have kids copy the alphabet all the time. For the first week or two I thought it was the first step in a greater plan. Turned out having kids copy what she wrote down was basically her only teaching technique. It was also most Dominican public school teachers go to teaching method and good luck convincing them it isn’t effective. I was trying to figure out how to teach the kids math and struggling with that, teaching teachers how to teach was not something I was up for. Thanks to Catherine the quality of education we now offer the kids is better than I could have even dreamed when the foundation started. We have our own curriculums, our own teacher training program and are able to pay as much as the top private schools, ensuring we get the best teachers around. As the Haitian education system is better than the Dominican system their is also a better talent pool to draw from. With all of these improvements many of our children will be ready for college when that time comes. The vast majority of our families have not even had a member graduate high school in the last few generations.
Reflecting on where I was personally or mentally is also pretty stunning. I had lived in the developing world for the better part of 3 years but I had not been as involved in truly impoverished people’s lives as we became upon starting the foundation. I knew some things, like the fact that a ton of kids go days without food regularly, but had not internalized what that meant or just how common it really is. Other things, such as how impoverished pre teen and early teen girls are treated I knew even less of. I was never fool enough to think that local wealthy people or governments would help but I also did not fully realize how much of a target we would be. The reality of poverty is harsh and most NGO workers who go abroad to help don’t last. That being said most things worth doing are hard and you have to learn to deal with these harsh realities if you want to operate effectively. Seven years of experience has certainly helped Catherine and I develop into more effective leaders or the JRF.
Our goal from day 1 has been to provide our children with the opportunity to succeed in life. This has been a real challenge but with your support we have made tremendous progress towards goal and are closer than ever to making it a reality.
