People often ask me if what we’re doing in Matènwa can actually scale. They wonder if a local school can really change the way an entire nation thinks about education.
The truth is, we’ve been answering that question for years. Since we founded the Matènwa Institute for Learning, we have been training teachers from across Lagonav and the mainland. Our methodology isn't just a "local experiment"—the Haitian government has officially recognized MCLC as a model school because they’ve seen the dignity and results that come from teaching children in their own language.
Last month, we saw the reach of the Institute in action once again. A delegation of educators from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) made the grueling journey from Cap-Haïtien and Fort-Liberté—clear across the country—to spend a week immersed in our classrooms. In a time when travel in Haiti is both difficult and dangerous, they chose to come here because they’ve seen the data: MCLC’s students learn to read and write faster and possess better reading comprehension because they start in the language they actually speak.
Institute for Learning director Vana Edmond (right) talks with a visiting educator in one of MCLC's kindergarten classrooms.
The "Matènwa Way" in Action
These three leaders—Theophane Pierre-Louis, Bernard Josuè, and Guinson Petit-Frere—didn't just sit in the back of the room. They came to master the Mother Tongue Books method, a participatory process we call "Books by Kids for Kids":
Writing from Life: Students write their own stories in Kreyòl about their daily lives, their families, and their environment.
Validation of Voice: Teachers work with students to refine grammar and spelling without changing the child's original voice.
Student as Author: The children illustrate their own work, and these books become the primary reading material for the class.
I sat down with one of the visiting teachers to talk about MCLC's Mother Tongue Books Program.
Beyond literacy, the CRS team was deeply interested in the "Matènwa Way" of classroom management. They wanted to understand how we achieve classrooms that are so socially and emotionally healthy—spaces where children feel safe, respected, and empowered to speak up.
A Mission to Multiply
Theophane, Bernard, and Guinson are now heading back to the North with a massive mission: to train teachers in 82 public schools. This is exactly why the Institute for Learning exists. We have become a national training hub where our methods are shared, refined, and then exported to transform schools nationwide. We are proud to serve as a beacon for a less violent future across Haiti—one that starts with how we treat and teach our children.
Your support is what allows the Institute to stay open and accessible to leaders like these. You aren't just funding a classroom on a mountain; you are fueling a revolution that is spreading from one end of Haiti to the other.
Thank you for standing with us as we prove that when you start with the language of the heart, there is no limit to what a child can learn.
Peace,
Chris
