Learning a new language . . . quickly!

How duolingo came about

Being in Haiti has encouraged me to learn a new language as quickly as possible but learning my new job has taken precedence over everything else. I have been in Haiti for almost a year and I still have only the basics of Creole under my belt. With some help from the online version of Rosetta Stone, I now how a few French words that I use, but for me, none of this is happening quickly enough. 

This morning, I came across another option to learn a new language called DuoLingo and the best part is, that it's free!  Gotta love the sound of that, right?  So, I dug a bit deeper to understand what DuoLingo is and how it came about. What I found was fascinating.  Professor Luis von Ahn from Carnegie Mellon University has helped create DuoLingo with his Computer Science team.  DuoLingo is a quick, easy and free way to learn a language in a short amount of time and the best part is that while you are learning, you are actually helping to translate the Web in every language. If you are interested in more information, check out the video at http://www.ted.com/talks/luis_von_ahn_massive_scale_online_collaboration.html

Over the summer months of 2013, I will definitely be checking this out and I'll let you know what worked better for me - my expensive Rosetta Stone or the free DuoLingo. (I'm thinking the later).

The people of Haiti

Haiti’s people are incredible.  They are strong, brave and resilient.  I look around my school campus and not only have I begun to learn the names of hundreds of faces that belong to young, middle and older students, teachers and administration, but they are beginning to share their life stories with me and some of these stories are inconceivable.  I won’t go in to detail but there are not only adults who have stories of survival but children as well.  Yes, they all have their pivotal moment of where they were during the cataclysmic earthquake or the earth-shattering hurricane, but as if that wasn't tragic enough, they have horror stories of crimes against themselves or their loved ones.  Some of their heartbreaking stories are of kidnappings, where they were held against their will until a ransom was paid by their families or stories that sound like something from a movie such as “bad” people breaking in to homes and shooting at “good” people.  There is a story of a young woman who was abducted for several days, who is safe now and is looking forward to attending college in the next few years. There is a young elementary school boy whose father was shot and killed and who witnessed the entire moment of loss.  There are so many of these stories and those lucky few who don’t have personal encounters with heartbreak, still share in each other’s losses.

What amazes me as I learn more about my new school and my new home of Haiti is how amazingly self-sufficient most people are in this country and it is obvious to me why that is.  Most times, they have to depend on themselves and their families to help and protect each other and this not only makes them stronger but more compassionate. Someone told me the other day that Haiti’s self-sufficiency has led to their own complacency. I couldn't disagree more. If anything, it is their strong willed, independence that have made them who they are . . . . a loving, tenderhearted and considerate proud people and no matter what other catastrophes either political or natural that chooses to tear at the core of Haiti, no one will ever be able to break down a true Haitian man, woman or child. 

Haitian Students and E-Learning need Energy!

Image Credit: Science Museum/Science & Society Picture Library

After having the opportunity to attend the Grahn - Haiti-Sante' 2012 Conference right here at home in (Port-au-Prince, Haiti last week with my friend and mentor, Dr. Mary Clisbee it occurred to me  that the one constant variable that keeps coming up regarding Distance Education is the need for “energy”. Cheap and clean energy (or electricity as some call it) is needed here in Haiti to further the education of our children.  This topic is something that comes up every day amongst educators where I work and from people who work with education.  It doesn’t matter whether e-learning is going on in the schools in the provinces of Haiti where money and electricity are scarce or even in the private schools of Port-au-Prince where oil is needed to run the generator which is a massive daily cost.  

 How can we teach tomorrow’s children today, if energy is a critical component?  A close friend and expert in E-Learning, right here in Haiti said, “it doesn’t matter how good the e-learning curriculum is nor does it matter how great our teachers are because we can't do anything if we don’t have the energy (or power) to turn the computers on”. 

Because this topic comes up all the time and due to the fact that it has weighed heavily on my mind since I have been in Haiti, I have recently come across a great exhibit online at The Science Museum in South Kensington, England.  Check it out! http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/interactives/launchpad/pedal_power.aspx

Your suggestions and opinions are welcome!

Uncovering Haiti!

Rodin's, "The Thinker" pose - What will we discover tomorrow?
(with American teacher, Peter Billings)

On the outside looking in, it would appear as if there is not a lot going on in Haiti, but nothing could be further from the truth. For a developing country, commerce is in full swing. What the typical outsider might see when going to the store are rocky dirt roads or brick paver roads with the occasional potholes so big that if you drove over one you may come out the other side missing a tire, or manholes in the road waiting for their steel covers to be returned.  But what you see on the outside isn’t necessarily what you find on the inside. 

Having the option of shopping at a number of groceries stores is surprising and what is even more shocking is walking in to one.  They are big, bold and beautiful! The vegetables, fruit, meat and bread choices are no different from where I come from in south Florida and what's more, all of these stores sell beer and wine!
 

Restaurants are incredible.  Once you get past the entrance (which at most places I have visited all appear very sketchy) and you walk in, most restaurants are an oasis. Many of them have a European flair even down to the hooka’s. The beef, pork and chicken entrees leave you wanting more.  Some of my favorite places have been very small two table joints where you can visit with the owner while the ladies only ten feet away are making your meal.  

The beach hotels and resorts along the coast of Haiti are "breathtakingly Caribbean" and while being driven along the beach roads with Jimmy Buffett music playing, it is very easy to "mentally" get lost.   As a true Florida girl, it is easy for me to compare the beautiful South Florida beaches to all things consisting of sand, surf and sun, and I would honestly have to say, that the Caribbean beaches here are a close runner up to my home "turf".
 

From this writer’s perspective, if someone from the outside were looking in on what I am discovering, they would see that Haiti is being enjoyed very much.  
 

Back in the country, again.

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Before I write anything today, it is critical that I share with you the reason for my blog.  Most of you know that my personal goal and future dissertation topic is to introduce technology to children in developing countries.  This is a project that began almost ten years ago by several companies including One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) which is the non-profit company that I have been writing about in grad school for the past few years.  Obviously this is not something new, however to many people that I speak to, it is very new.  The reason that I am writing this is because I think that in order to have more people come to Haiti, to help in the way the way that works for them, it is very important that they know how progressive some parts of the country are.

It is my opinion that what we see in the media about Haiti appears to be the bad stuff and nine times out of ten, the scenes are only Port-au-Prince (PAP) but there is so much more to this country than just one city.  Yes, you have to fly in to PAP and yes, it can be very crazy but that’s what makes PAP what it is.  A crazy, loud, busy, mini metropolis of guys in red shirts (outside the airport trying to help you with your bags) to a very unorganized airport dirt parking lot, to crazy motorcycles whizzing by with two, three, even four people riding together as you rapidly acclimate to new surroundings to people of all ages along side the road buying, selling, bartering, creating, cooking doing anything, that will make them a few pennies a day.

Since this is my second “landing” here in two months, I was very comfortable with the PAP introduction to craziness maybe because I resemble that trait myself. I was fortunate to be able to travel with my new boss and her husband who are full time residents of Haiti so I definitely had the comfort factor working for me. We met up with the correct driver (unlike my last visit), loaded up in the new 2012 Nissan and began our 30 minute commute to my new neighborhood of Peguy-ville.  

My first morning is located under Tuesday, October 7th even though it was written Tuesday, August 7th.  Enjoy!

My first day back in Haiti

Tuesday, Aug 7th - late afternoon of my first day.

Wow – I could really get used to this.
I have been introduced to Monica who is the lovely, petite French woman who set up everything before I arrived. I am sure she has done the same for all the other American teachers who will be arriving very soon, but for now, I am feeling extra special in my private apartment high on the hill overlooking the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti aka PAP.

This morning I woke up to the most beautiful sunrise which now gives me a point of reference of “due east”. There was a smokey haze over the city and I’m not sure if every morning is like this. What I am sure of is that all night, I kept smelling a light smoke in the air. It wasn’t heavy enough to alarm me (hmm, are there smoke alarms in my beautiful apartment? – I’ll need to add that to my check list). I think that possibly the smoke is coming from the locals burning . . . something. (I’ll need to ask about that). But after, an amazing heavy, hot water shower, I had a great cup of Haitian coffee that some ladies have told me, is so awesome that I may never go back to the “old stuff” again. I believe that they may be right. My family calls the coffee that I drink, “cowboy coffee” – you know the nice, dark, thick beverage that falls in to the cup, lump after lump? Well, this stuff was even better than that!

So, a few minutes after my morning rituals were complete, I walked out of my bedroom in to the living room and there stood a lovely Haitian woman, with her husband and the security guard on the other side of the “locked” sliding glass doors of my front porch, at 7:30 in the morning! They introduced themselves and stated the purpose of their visit – all in Haitian Creole. Not only did I not understand them, but they did not understand me. I knew that my new boss, Marie had mentioned that a wonderful woman would be stopping by in the next few days to ask me if I would like her services of cleaning and cooking so I assumed that was who was standing in front of me. I mean, really, you gotta love the initiative and enthusiasm! After an interesting few minutes of two, one sided conversations, I guess by smiling at her, I agreed to have her help me since the next thing I knew, she smiled back, walked past me and went straight to the kitchen, wrapped an apron around her waist and began washing the “clean” dishes that were in the cupboard.

The next wonderful and amazing thing that happened was that the beautiful Monica arrived to pick me up with her driver and as we drove through the hilly, walled city of Peguy-ville and Petion-ville, to get to school, she pointed out different points of references that I would be interested in such as places where ladies from Dominican Republic perform the most amazing hair treatments and nail spas where Haitian women create beautiful amazing French manicures! She did a quick “state side vs Haiti” price comparison which led me to my next thought, “I have died and gone to heaven”. While I am in my state of shock of all the great businesses and the progressive commercial activity that I can partake in, she then proceeds to tell me that she and her family go to their beach house on weekends and do fun things like ‘beach and boating”. (Only, my two favorite activities in the world. . .) Hello, God, are you listening? Thank you for an amazing first day in Haiti. This is going to be a very easy lifestyle to get use to.

The purpose of this blog.

A Re-Cap -

When I started this blog a few months ago, my intention was to write about my seven day trip to Haiti that I would be embarking on with some amazing women from Colorado including my sister, Angel.  Their goal was to share their "gently, worn shoes" that had been collected with Soles for Souls with the children of Haiit as well as beautiful hand made clothes and lovingly created home made baby dolls. My personal goal was to see what types of technology existed for children and then go back home to Florida, write about it and possibly use the information for preliminary dissertation work. Well, once again, God works in mysterious ways, because in less than two months, I find myself back here in Haiti for a one year committment (maybe even longer) as Director of Technology at a private school just outside Port-au-Prince; and I couldn't be happier.(Although I am already missing a few very important people in my life - but it's only a year, right?)

So, for the next "year", this blog will cover my experiences - good and bad, in Haiti.  I will talk about the people that I meet, the children that I will be working with and the culture of this beautiful country and I will not forget the reason that I visited here a month ago, which was (and still is) to try to understand how children on one side of the country can have access to a great education and "state of the art" technology while in other parts of Haiti, children don't even have a pair of shoes let alone, a computer. My goal is to see how I can help change that.