​Have you searched Amazon for books about Haiti or resources in Haitian Creole? There are some, but nothing compares to the collection that our friends over at EDUCAVision Inc. have! There are tons of amazing books and resources for everyone of all ages, interests, and styles of learning. EDUCAVision is offering 10% off anything on their website with code real-haiti.

Check out the variety of multicultural books and resources in English and Haitian Creole here!

​HAPPY HAITIAN FLAG DAY!

Haitian Heritage Celebration & Unveiling of the Haitian Cultural Collection! Lantana Road Branch
Sat, May 13, 2:00 pm
Beloved Haitian author Jessica Fièvre will discuss her experiences as a writer. Enjoy a festive afternoon with dance performances by Dayana Dolne and more. Event offered in English and Creole. (90 min.) Preregister.

Haitian Heritage Month Film Lantana Road Branch
Thu, May 18, 2:00 pm
"Deported." ©Third World Newsreel. (72 min.) Follow the plight of Haitian criminal deportees from North America. Shown with permission. Not rated. Preregister.

Haitian Heritage Month Film Lantana Road Branch
Thu, May 18, 6:00 pm
"Deported." ©Third World Newsreel. (72 min.) Follow the plight of Haitian criminal deportees from North America. Shown with permission. Not rated. Preregister.

Celebrate Haitian Heritage Book Festival Main Library
Sat, May 20, 2:00 pm
Meet the winners of the School District of PBC Haitian Heritage Month essay contest. Join host, Bito David for a celebration of Haitian authors and literature. Featured authors include: Regine Coicou Stewart, Diane Allerdyce, Dovilas Anderson, Margaret Papillon, and others. Program offered in English and Creole. (2 hr.) Preregister.

Haitian Canvas Painting Lantana Road Branch
Thu, May 25, 5:00 pm
Paint a scene reminiscent of the beauty of Hispaniola to celebrate the rich culture of Haiti. Limit 24. (2 hr.) Preregister.

Coloring Club: Haitian Heritage Month Edition Lantana Road Branch
Fri, May 26, 2:00 pm
Coloring is not just for children! This fun activity fosters creativity and has stress-relieving benefits. (90 min.) Preregister.

Haitian, Am I: An Exhibition of Arts Lantana Road Branch
Sat, May 27, 12:00 pm
Exhibit Treal celebrates Haitian Heritage with the arts of the newest generation of Haitian artists. (4 hr.) Preregister.

Haitian Heritage Month: Book Discussion Lantana Road Branch
Tue, May 30, 2:00 pm
"The Farming of Bones," by Edwidge Danticat. Copies are available at the research services desk. (60 min.) Preregister.

Children's Classes & Events
Haitian Heritage Month: Interactive StorytellingBelle Glade Branch
Wed, May 17, 10:30 am
The Louines Louinis Haitian Dance Theater, Inc. presents "Dance-A-Story," a performance of traditional Haitian tales with audience participation, drums, dance and rhymes. All ages. (45 min.) Preregister.

Tales & Riddles From HaitiBelle Glade Branch
Sat, May 20, 1:30 pm
Telling stories around the fire is an important part of Haitian culture. Join us for a series of oral Haitian wisdom, proverbs, jokes, riddles and stories. All ages. (45 min.) Preregister.

Haitian Craft! Lantana Road Branch
Sat, May 20, 3:30 pm
Create a colorful Haitian Drapo sequin flag. Ages 5 & up. (60 min.) Preregister.

Teen Classes & Events
Haitian Heritage Month: Teen Book Discussion Belle Glade Branch
Tue, May 16, 10:30 am
“Untwine,” by Edwidge Danticat. Guest speaker: Lana St. Hilaire from the School District of PBC Multicultural Department. Copies are available at the children's desk. Grades 6 & up. (60 min.) Preregister.

​Haitian Heritage Month: Teen Book Discussion Belle Glade Branch
Tue, May 16, 4:00 pm
“Untwine,” by Edwidge Danticat. Guest speaker: Lana St. Hilaire from the School District of PBC Multicultural Department. Copies are available at the children's desk. Grades 6 & up. (60 min.) Preregister.

​Library website for more info and pre-registration.

For the second year in a row, the Tyrone Bryant Library in Ft. Lauderdale, FL invited us to display Haitian photography and artifacts that we have collected. This year, we were asked to do an activity with children as part as our education for Haitian culture. Of course, we said yes! The event was story time with kids and a kite making workshop - Endy's favorite memory as a child in Haiti.

We weren't sure how the kids would react, especially since it's a pretty tedious craft. I was given a stack of books to choose from to read to the kids. As I went through them to choose one, they were either long and boring, full of "facts" or they were completely untrue and negative information about Haiti} earthquake, poverty, illness, etc}. This was not the cultural education that I wanted to share with the kids. So, I chose a book with nice pictures and ad-libbed it through story time, providing my own knowledge and asking the kids about their views of Haiti. 

I asked the kids to raise their hands if they are Haitian. About 10 did, but I couldn't help but notice a teenager smiling without raising her hand. I knew she was Haitian. She didn't want to admit it, though, which of course I called her out on and told her she should be PROUD. She was shy, pretending she wasn't Haitian. When we started the kites, she sped ahead of everyone and was almost done with hers by the time we were all on step 2. She started to help the other little kids. 

A few of the little kids knew a lot about Haiti. They said Haitians are creative, there are snakes there, there's sand there, they eat griot and rice and they use goude for money. This all made us very happy, but I am so glad we did this activity with our local community because it just motivates me more to write my own book so we can share it with those who know little or nothing. 

I am putting it out there again, so I am held accountable, to provide a book for kids that they will feel proud to be Haitian at the end of it. Or, they will know about the real CULTURE in Haiti, not the one the news tells us about {voodoo, stealing, violence}. 

Thank you so much for donating to the Art Creation Foundation for Children fundraiser that we hosted on May 4. The event was a blast and we raised $994 thanks to you. We have sent off the money to ACFFC! If you have a moment, please check their website if you haven't already: http://www.acffcjacmelhaiti.com.

MESI ANPIL!!!

My dad always told me, "No one can take your education away from you." They can take your money, your trust, your things, but not your education. The Real Haiti is all about education. We read, see and hear things, and we educate our readers. 

We are so proud to annouce our partnership with EducaVision Inc. to offer these books to our readers! Be proud of your Haitian heritage and of speaking Creole! Or use these books to learn and practice Creole with your children. Check them out below!

Art Creation Foundation for Children (ACFFC) is a non-profit arts organization dedicated to the education and personal growth of youth in need in Jacmel, Haiti. ACFFC youth began working on mosaic installations after the 2010 Haiti Earthquake, to memorialize lives lost and to celebrate hope for the future. Their first installation was called Tree of Life. Since then, through our

“Mosaïque Jacmel” project, mosaic mural installations and benches have been created throughout Jacmel, aesthetically enhancing the face of the city.

Recently, ten ACFFC youth have been invited to visit South Florida by Major Joseph Bernadel, ACFFC Board Member and Chief Operating Officer of Toussaint L’Ouverture High School for Arts and Social Justice (TLHS), a charter school located in Delray Beach Florida. They will be arriving on November 2, 2013.

TLHS has a student body of predominantly Haitian-American new immigrant high school students. Together with TLHS students, ACFFC Team Mosaïque Jacmel youth will be creating a public art mosaic installation in Boynton Beach, Florida to honor the
people of Florida who have generously come to the aid of the people of Haiti, after numerous natural disasters. The ACFFC youth, special Emissaries of the Haitian People, are here to say thank you. The events will take place November 2 – 19 2013, the month typically associated with Thanksgiving in the U.S. This public art project is to be registered with the State of Florida as part of Viva Florida 500, a statewide initiative led by the Florida Department of State, to highlight the 500 years of Florida history, people, places and events in present-day Florida and to celebrate diversity of culture.

The ACFFC youth will also be bringing with them a mosaic mural memorializing the many Haitian lives lost at sea, and the perils of these journeys. This mural will be presented to Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami, Inc. (FANM) / Haitian Women of Miami. FANM will share the exhibition with the Haitian community. It is an organization founded in 1991 to work for the "social and political empowerment" of Haitian women and their families.

In addition, the ACFFC team will be auditing academic classes at TLHS, visiting the Palm Beach Photographic Centre in West Palm Beach, the Palm Beach County Cultural Council, Clay-Glass-Stone Cooperative Gallery in Lake Worth and other social activities are being planned. Selected ACFFC team members will travel to Washington DC to visit the Haitian Embassy and Capitol Hill.

PUBLIC EVENTS: 
Meet and Greet at TapTap Restaurant
Date: Sunday November 3 
Time:  4 pm - 7 pm
819 5th St, Miami Beach, FL 33139
(305) 672-2898


Reception at Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery
Date:  Friday November 8
Time:  6 pm - 9 pm
15 South J Street, Lake Worth, FL
561-588-8344


Reception sponsored by Fanm Ayitian de Miyami
Location in Miami, TBD
Date:  Saturday November 9
Time:  Evening, TBD
(305) 756-8050


Reception at the home of ACFFC Board Member Dr. Connie Duke
Location: Jupiter, FL
Date: Saturday November 16
Time: 7 pm - 9 pm
To RSVP and for directions:
Dr. Connie Duke, Academic Dean, ITT Technical Institute
561-233-4932-office
561-628-5705-cell
cduke@itt-tech.edu


Reception at Institute of Mosaic Art in Berkeley, Ca. thanks to IMA and ACFFC Board Members Erin Rogers and Laurel True, Director of ACFFC Mosaique Jacmel program
Date:  Friday November 22
Time:  Evening, TBD
805 
Allston WayBerkeley, CA 
510-898-1174

This is an extraordinary opportunity for ACFFC as an organization, for our youth, and for the community. The project is sponsored by Toussaint L’Ouverture High School for Arts and Social Justice, and the Office of Public Diplomacy, Embassy of the United States, Port au Prince Haiti. The Office of Congresswoman Lois Frankel has been instrumental in achieving this goal. The Offices of the Ministries of Culture and Tourism in Jacmel, Haiti and the Mayor of Jacmel, Haiti have lent their
support as have the Palm Beach County Cultural Council and the Palm Beach Photographic Centre.

For additional information:
Contact for Art Creation Foundation For Children
 www.acffc.org

Judy Hoffman
jh.acffc@gmail.com
561-247-3870
Contact for Toussaint L’Ouverture High School
www.toussaintlouverture.org
Major Joseph Bernadel
jbernadeltlhs@aol.com
561-414-5465

We work with Jacqui Labrom via her travel agency Voyages Lumiere. This post is on behalf of her! Please consider donating :) Mesi
QUESTIONS: voyageslumierehaiti.com 

It's your typical story. I came to Haiti on a missions trip and fell in
love with this country.  I didn't know much about Haiti then-only what I
perceived through my American colored glasses and what the media
portrayed.  Although, ironically, I looked around then and thought I knew
how to help. Silly me. Looking back I now realize that wasn't true at all.

I went home-sat in the Miami airport and told my friend "I think Haiti is
my home"- sold everything, packed up and moved here.  I spent the next
year and a half realizing I knew nothing about Haiti or how to truly help.
 I lived as close as I could to Haitian-not behind big walls but in their
community, getting water from a well with them, doing life with them.  As
the perceptions of what I thought of Haiti when I first arrived fell away,
I only fell deeper in love with this country.

Haiti taught me more than I could have ever imagined.

Haiti taught me how to love.  How to truly help without the guise of
organizations.  How to live simply.  How to enjoy the moment.  How to
laugh.  How to appreciate beauty, survive hardship, help your neighbor,
share.

Haiti saved me.

Years ago when I was boarding that plane I would have never imagined the
life I was going to find was one of beauty.  I got on that plane thinking
I was going to a third world nation to struggle and "do good".  Now I know
I was really going to find hope and beauty in ways I didn't expect.

It is walking down a dirt path holding hands under a blanket of stars.
It is jumping into the crystal clear Caribbean Sea.
It is eating grilled lobster on the beach with a guy playing the most
beautiful music with just a stick and empty rum jar.
It is mountains meeting beautiful beaches.
It is laughing-truly laughing.
It is watching the goats getting herded home in the afternoons.
It is littles in their uniform walking to school in the morning.

Now I know Haiti doesn't need me to help it, Haiti needs me to be a
cheerleader.  A catalyst.

If you tell a child they are naughty, they will-after a while-believe they
are naughty. If you tell a girl she is ugly, she will look in the mirror
and here your voice in her head.  If you abuse someone long enough, they
come to identify themselves with that.  I personally believe that we have
more power and responsibility than we realize in the history and fate of
this nation by how we perceive it and what is said of it.

It is time, my friends, to start telling Haiti that she is beauty.  She is
worth it. She can succeed. It is time to join together and make our voice
strong.  Because L'Union Fait La Force.

Bio:
Shannon Kelley lives in Port Salut, Haiti where she manages Dan's Creek
Hotel as well as writes her journey on her blog,
www.shannon-kelley.com/blog.  She is a former wedding photographer and
believes in Haiti as a wedding destination.  She is founder and editor of
Haiti Weddings, a Haitian wedding resource at www.haitiweddings.com.  Her
favorite Haitian food is Dous-a coconut candy, and every Sunday afternoon
you can find her at the local beach eating fresh grilled lobster:)

Jouk Li Jou Kan Foto 2013 - the 3rd annual Youth Photo Camp for Zanmi Lakay - is taking place July 26 - August 6, 2013 and there is an Indiegogo Campaign that will make it happen. The fundraising will help with unprecedented teaching and exhibition event. The opening night reception that includes local dancers, performances by the ACFFC kids, and other local Kanaval troupes, for the monthlong exhibition is Saturday August 3, 2013, at the Fosaj Art Center in Jacmel.

PLEASE consider donating to this amazing foundation: 
http://igg.me/at/ZanmiLakay-JoukLiJou-PhotoCamp/x/697072

If you'd rather help with items on their wish list, visit their blog where you'll also find more information!