A Whole New Life
A Matènwa parent, student, and teacher join Friends of Matènwa supporters to celebrate the school and Chris Low’s 65th birthday!
Louiseda’s Story
Louiseda came to Matènwa as a child. Now she is back as a teacher. Her story shows the full circle of MCLC’s impact.
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Flag Day in Matènwa Tells a Different Truth
So much of what the world hears about Haiti is only crisis. But on Flag Day Matènwa students celebrated how Haiti’s ancestry instills courage, dignity, pride, and joy.
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Matènwa Celebrates May Day
This May Day, Matènwa students celebrated the dignity of work and the critical role that agriculture and the environment play in our lives.
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More Stories
The Women Artists of Matènwa: An Explanation of a Few Common Haitian Vodou Symbols
Atis Fanm Matènwa, or Women Artist Matènwa, is a longstanding Women’s Haitian Arts collective in the Matènwa community in La Gonave. Women from the Matènwa community create and customize beadwork, embroidery, painted silk scarves and other Haitian art by hand. Some of…
Recycling at MCLC
Climate change is happening NOW and negatively affecting our planet! Many organizations are engaging in recycling programs, for example, Converse, 4Ocean, and, of course, MCLC. Converse is apparently instituting a new “Converse Renew” recycling option for all of its…
Camp at MCLC
I recall going to camp in my village of Petion-Ville, Haiti as a kid, and honestly, I wasn’t a fan. I was just very shy, and, as one gets older, it gets boring. Camp activities (from what I remember) included, tennis, soccer, swimming (in a pool, not a lake), arts…
Open Space and What it Means at MCLC
Once every month, everyone who donates to our organization, receives a letter highlighting what is going on at the Matènwa Community Learning Center. In May we discussed Open Space and what it means at MCLC. Open Space is, “a method for organizing meetings in which…
The Education System in Haiti
This week, I attended the Haitian Ladies Network “Summer Meetup” at the Doña Habana restaurant in Boston. HLN is a community organization founded by Nadine Duplessy Kearns and is headquartered in Washington D.C. The purpose of the event was to connect women of Haitian…
The Education System in Haiti
This week, I attended the Haitian Ladies Network “Summer Meetup” at the Doña Habana restaurant in Boston. HLN is a community organization founded by Nadine Duplessy Kearns and is headquartered in Washington D.C. The purpose of the event was to connect women of Haitian…
Summer Camp Is On Its Way!
School is almost over, but the Matènwa Community Learning Center is gearing up for its 9th annual summer camp. We have planned a range of activities for 300 participants of all ages— students from preschool through high school, MCLC teachers, and even adults from…
Matènwa Poem | Powèm Matènwa
The little girl brown as a sapodilla The little girl with the musical name Treading lightly in Matènwa There where the world is turned inside out Where stones grow in the field Is anyone at all listening The little girl with the musical name She treads lightly in…
Water is Flowing!
Water IS flowing! The trench from the deep well to the school is dug; eight solar panels, a 3000-gallon fiberglass chateau on a raised platform, and two water fountain stations are all in place. Pumps and rubber piping have been installed, so that water now travels up…
Congratulations Louiseda Sumé
Last year we were proud to announce 83% of our first ever graduating class passed the National exams. Only 37% of students passed these exams nation-wide. Now we are beyond pleased to share an update: 92% of our students passed the National exams! Li se yon fyète ni…
Happy New Year!
We hope the new year greeted you as warmly as it greeted us,—with a satisfying bowl of soup joumou! On January 1st, 1804 Haiti became the first independent nation and the only nation in the world to be established as a result of a successful slave revolt. In…
Water
The average American uses 17 gallons of water per shower. We also use gallons of water to wash our faces, teeth, dishes, clothes, dogs, and once in a while even our cars. We flush away even more gallons of water. Access to clean water is something most of us take for…