In our May newsletter, we shared with you our then upcoming trip to the island off of mainland Haiti, La Gonàve. There, we went to the town of Matènwa to work with women artisans this summer at Lekòl (School) Matènwa. The Matènwa school was co-founded by Chris Low, a former school teacher in the Massachusetts Cambridge Public School system. Matènwa is innovative pedagogically in that it teaches in the spoken language, Kreyòl and in that it uses the environment as an extension of the classroom making learning interactive. 

100% of Haiti's population speaks Kreyòl while less than 10% of the population speaks French. Yet, Haiti's education system is currently in French. This has had vastly negative repercussions for the country. Matènwa school is a model for the nation of how education in Kreyòl promotes the best learning experience for Haiti's students.

Our philosophy regarding education is aligned with that of Lekòl 

Matènwa. For months before our trip to Matènwa, we not only put together a tailored curriculum for the women artisans of Matènwa but we 

also translated the curriculum and all accompanying handouts into Kreyòl. 

In the wee hours of a Saturday morning in July, the CHES team left Logan Airport, landed in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, and then took a connecting flight on a "butterfly-like" plane (as described by Rose, a board member who attended the trip) to La Gonàve. Upon landing on the island's bare landing strip, we embarked on a three hour long drive on an immensely rocky road to a Matènwa.

Andral, our part-time business liaison based in the North of Haiti joined us on this trip as well. He continues to tell the experience below:

"Jiyè denye mwen te akonpaye reprezantan CHES US pou yon semèn fòmasyon pou yon kenzen fanm nan yon zòn ki rele Matènwa nan Lagonav (Ayiti). Se te yon bèl eksperyans paske pou soti Ilavach rive Matènwa nou te kouri machine pandan plis pase dezèdtan nan yon wout ki pa bon ditou. Sa te fè m panse ke moman ta pral du pou mwen nan Matènwa men se te toutafè diferan paske akèy la te bon anpil anpil.

Mwen te vrèman kontan pou m te fè pati bèl ekip sa ki te anime 3 jounen fòmasyon sa pou medam sa yo sou kijan yo kapab jere ti biznis pa yo. Yon fòmasyon te montre medam yo kòman yo kapab rekonèt fos, feblès ti biznis yo; ki òpotinite yo genyen ak ki sa ki ka menase bisnis yo. Se te yon bèl moman paske m te akonpagne fomatè sa yo: Madam Roseme, Prezidan Rebecca ak Amy.

CHES ap kontinye travay pou l soutni tout ti groupman ak moun ki entèrese fè ti biznis sitou moun ak groupman ki nan zòn rekile nan peyi dayiti. Mwen espere wap kontan soutni bel pwoje sa epi tou se te yonn nan pi bèl eksperyans ke mwen janm fè.

Translated:

"Last July, I accompanied CHES US for a week of workshops for fifteen women in the town called Matènwa in La Gonàve (Haiti). It was a great experience. It took over two hours to drive to Matènwa on a road that was pretty horrible. I was a bit nervous about whether or not I would survive the week at Matènwa but the welcome we received changed my mind when we arrived. The people were very hospitable. 

It was a great experience to accompany Mrs. Roseme, Rebecca and Amy. I was very happy to be a part of a great team that hosted and taught 3 days of workshops for these women on how to manage their small business. One of the sessions taught the women how to recognize the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of their business. 

CHES is continuing to work to support entrepreneurs especially those in rural parts of Haiti. I hope that you'll be happy to support this great cause. This was one of the best ever experiences of my life."

Over the course of the 3 days of training, CHES covered a range of basic business topics including, conducting a SWOT analysis, visioning, goals-setting, calendaring, marketing, managing inventory, and financial planning. Andral also taught a session during the workshop. All sessions integrated hands on application using the artisans' business. At the end, thirteen women were awarded certificates of completion for attending the entire three days. The women rated our workshop very highly. Below are some of their comments:

"Mwen kontan anpil pou tout bon pwofese m yo. 

I'm very happy for all of the great teachers." 

"Mwen remake ke tout bagay te byen paske tout moun te alèz. Youn te ede lòt konprann. 

I noticed that everything went well because everyone was comfortable and everyone helped each other understand."

"Pou mwen pati ki te pi bon se pwen nil Pouse Kreyòl, paske li montre nou aprann nou konnen ki kantite pwodwi ou dwe vann pou ou kouvri tout depans ou ak benefis. Depans fiks, varyab, total.  

For me the most important thing was the break-even point because it showed us the amount of product we need to sell to cover our costs and profit. Fix, variable and total costs." 

"3 jou mwen te renmen tout bagay. 3 Days I loved everything."