Our Philosophy: A New Way of Working Together
What if the answers we seek are already here—rooted in the wisdom, experience, and courage of the people themselves?
The Matènwa Community Learning Center (MCLC), believes that the people of Lagonav know their own communities best. Real change doesn’t arrive from outside—it grows from within. That’s why MCLC’s work begins in conversation, not instruction. Through Reflection Circles and open community dialogue, people uncover the knowledge and confidence already alive in their stories, traditions, and relationships.
At MCLC, education isn’t a transaction—it’s a conversation. A process of learning together, questioning together, and creating solutions that truly belong to the community.
Friends of Matènwa walks beside MCLC in this process, helping to connect resources and build local capacity—not to direct the work, but to ensure the people leading it have what they need to succeed.
This partnership between MCLC and Friends of Matènwa models something rare: a relationship of mutual respect and shared power, where local leadership defines the path and global solidarity helps clear the way.
Our Mission
Friends of Matènwa’s mission is to support a courageous, community-led model of education and resilience in Haiti—one where children learn in Haitian Creole, gardens nourish families, and schools become hubs of hope rather than classrooms of rote learning.
We stand beside the Matènwa Community Learning Center (MCLC) as friends and collaborators, backing local vision and leadership—not by directing, but by enabling. From teacher training to school gardens, from Creole-language books to mentorship and capacity-building, our goal is to strengthen local leadership, nurture sustainable opportunities, and foster inter-dependence rather than dependence.
Through MCLC’s teacher-training network, educators from across Lagonav practice nonviolent, child-centered, Creole-based instruction—transforming classrooms and strengthening whole school communities.
Together, we help nurture practices rooted in culture and context and build a future where communities aren’t waiting for change—they’re creating it.