École Vincent Ogé in Sen Rafayel (Creole spelling of St. Raphael).
This village is located just 28 kilometers from Cap-Haitien, yet the journey takes about three hours to drive (if the vehicle doesn’t break down or encounter road blocks, whether natural or man-made) on the narrow mountain road. Students often walk from Sen Rafayel to Lakay Fondasyon in Cap-Haitien, and back.
At work in Starthrower Foundation office in Lakay Fondasyon, our home in Cap-Haitien. Students sponsored by Starthrower Foundation help us with maintenance, and inventory and distribution of school supplies. With our help and support, these’Starfish’ will become Starthrowers, giving back to their communities.
Elorge helps sort and repair textbooks for next year’s class at Lakay Fondasyon (Foundation House), Starthrower Foundation’s ‘home’in Cap-Haitien. Each summer, the students and staff work to repair and recycle text books before setting out to buy new ones.
Cap-Haitien City View. Up close, the ramshackle homes lean close together for support under their metal roofs. Cap-Haitien is located on Haiti’s north coast. Residents must buy water for drinking and laundry. When you have no money, everything is expensive.
Esmann (shown here outside the house in the petit-Anse area of Cap-Haitien) where he lives with his aunt, uncle and six cousins. They are some of the ‘lucky’ Haitians who have access to well water; those who do not must purchase bathing water for 1-2 dollars per bucket. For the very poor, no money means washing is an infrequent luxury.
M. Wilson diplays some of the 200 or more cards which he embellishes with bits of dried banana leaves, a craft with its roots deep in Africa. He takes in street kids and teaches them how to do this work in order to preserve the tradition. He created a special commemorative ‘Starthrower’ thank you card for Starthrower Foundation donors.
At Lakay Fondasyon, our home in Haiti, much needed storage shelves are added by these carpenters. How to build a storage shelf in Haiti: Buy the rough plank; measure and draw to the size needed; saw by hand then finish with sandpaper. Here, Auguste assists Jack in the preparation of mango wood for three shelves to be added to a small depot at Lakay Fondasyon in Cap-Haitien.
Mme Carmene is cooking ‘diri ak legum’, a rice dish covered with any and all vegetables that she happens to have on hand. This is a very labour-intensive dish, since each vegetable must be cleaned, peeled and cooked separately before being added to the pot. This delicious meal is the favorite of everyone who works at Lakay.
Mme Jacqueline sits in the artists’ market seven days a week for 10-12 hours a day, creating embroidered works of art. Her style ranges from naive scenes of Haitian daily life to sophisticated birds and flowers in riots of colour. Several years ago, her husband was killed in a ‘manifestation’ (demonstration) in Port-au-Prince. She works to put food on the table and send her children to school.
At Lakay Fondasyon, Starthrower’s home in Cap-Haitien, students work to clear out the jungle-like growth to make room for a garden. Our garden grows very quickly, but not the vegetables, only the weeds, which Fernand, Alex and Jack clear yet again. Last summer, we planted clover and alfalfa in order to add more nitrogen in the soil; nitrogen deficiency is a problem in much of Haiti. Seeds must be brought in from the southern U.S., which has a similar climate.
When the first mangos dropped in April, Auguste (shown here atop a ladder) could not resist the taste and fragrance of the new fruits.
Everyone who comes to Lakay Fondasyon gets their fill of mangos in season. Mangos are a good source of VItamin A, which is vital for healthy eyes. Our garden has two mango trees, a coconut tree (kokoye), a grapefruit tree (chadek), a citron tree (lime-like citrus fruit) and two varieties of oranges. Most of this fruit is given away. A banana plant finally yielded fruit this year.
M. Jean Emile (shown here with the half-finished ‘etwaldemer’ (starfish) he created and completed for Starthrower Foundation) that has since taken its place of honour in our office at Lakay Fondasyon in Cap-Haitien. More of his metal works can be seen in the background. Due to the shortage of materials in Haiti, most metal works are created from empty oil drums after they are cleaned and meticulously cut by hand.
Starthrower Foundation donors helped this family live a little more comfortably when we delivered a bed for Esmann. However, most of the children in this family continue to sleep on the floor.
One of the students and his family in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. When a ‘blan’ (Kreyol for ‘foreigner’) visits, it’s an occasion, so everyone wants to see them and to be in the picture. And when Sharon visits, everyone wants to rub her ‘cheve blan’ (white hair).
M. Daniel (shown here outside of his small stall in the Cap-Haitien Artists’ Market) is working with mango wood to create a free standing sculpture of a Haitian musician. His brother, also an artist, carves figures from soapstone.
Haitian artist Fritz Momplaisir. Fritz works long days for little pay — about $2 US — to support his family, but whenever he has the timeand the money for materials, he paints.
Like most Haitian artists, M. Maurice (shown here at the Artists’ Market in Cap-Haitien) paints in many styles using a variety of techniques.
