When the Kids4Good club, a community service group based out of Lace School, decided to adopt a struggling school in a country few had ever heard of and fewer could even spell, some questioned their decision and suggested they focus on a project closer to home, one that might simply benefit their neighbors.  But having performed other global good deeds in the past had taught this group that there are no boundaries when it comes to helping others.

When the Hope4Haiti initiative was started in 2007, the plan was to try and raise $4,000 for a much needed addition to a small school, Institution Mixte Nao Community School located less than two hours away from Florida by plane in Darbonne, Leogane, Haiti.  At the time the $4,000 goal seemed manageable but the real challenge was in trying to figure out how to go about making a connection between the Kids4Good members and their counterparts in Darbonne, whose native tongue is Haitian Kreyol.  A traditional Pen Pal project seemed unrealistic.  The decision was made to try and establish a more creative exchange between the students through art.

It was decided that every member of the group would have a hand in creating something unique for our new friends.  With the help of Lace School’s Art Teacher, Sally Misiora, it was decided that each Kids4Good member would be involved in creating a batik square, following some visual themes borrowed from storybooks of Haiti – typical island prompts, fish, palm trees.  It was with these uniquely designed squares that we went about creating our Lespwa “Hope” Tapestry, which we assembled, with help from the Sewing for A Cause group at EJH,  in preparation for the first visit from our new friend and Director of IMN Community School, Maxandre Bien-Aime. 

Little did any of us know when we presented this special token to our friend during his visit back in 2007, just what a symbol it would become for our commitment to helping our friends in Darbonne. 

Fast forward just three years shy of the time we originally presented our Lespwa “Hope” Tapestry to our friend Maxandre.  The devastating earthquake of January 12^th managed to level our adopted school in Darbonne, Leogane along with nearly 90% of the other structures at the epicenter of the quake. 

In the days following the quake, while we began to learn that our friend Maxandre had survived the quake, as had all of his students and staff, we were also updated on the status of our tapestry.  Maxandre had managed to get back to the school to retrieve, among other things, our tapestry.  What the quake wasn’t able to do was destroy our symbol of hope which we’d extended to our friends as our commitment to help them get a better school, a better education and hope for their future in Haiti.

The true power of our efforts and the confirmation that we’d succeeded in finding an invaluable and universal way to connect, came full circle during Maxandre Bien-Aime’s recent trip to Chicago on the final days of a valid Visa.  Bien-Aime traveled to Chicago to share his stories of surviving the recent quake and raise awareness of the need to now rebuild his school in Darbonne so that his students can begin to return to some normalcy.

During Bien-Aime’s visit with Kids4Good at a special Bienvenue “Welcome” Reception, he presented Cynthia McGann and her club members with the Lespwa Tapestry that he’d made room for in his carry-on as he fled Haiti for his visit.  It was quickly decided that the Lespwa “Hope” Tapestry would find a temporary home within Lace School for now, until they’re able to raise enough funds to rebuild his school in Darbonne, Leogane, Haiti.  At the time the school is rebuilt they agreed that the Hope Tapestry would once again hang, permanently and proudly, in Institution Mixte Nao Community School.

The lessons gained from our Hope4Haiti initiative were unpredictable.  Our commitment to our friends in Darbonne has never been stronger.

We’d like to thank many of you in the community who have reached out in recent weeks to support our Hope4Haiti project.  To date we’ve raised over $10,000 and have managed to provide enough funds to see that all the staff and families of IMN receive immediate relief funds.  As of Friday, funds were distributed to all staff for emergency assistance.   Additionally, our efforts are going toward immediate debris removal and preliminary building supplies.  The plan is to have a temporary structure in which the children can begin to return to in the next four to six weeks.  The hope is to provide a space in which the students can meet and begin to talk about their experiences and start some basic activities together as they begin to heal and recover.

As of this report, we’re very excited to report that we’ll be teaming with another local NFP organization, Schools Count Corp., started by a former Hinsdale Central High School Teacher and Coach, Dick Flesher.  Mr. Flesher has approached our group this week and is committing to support our Hope4Haiti project through many of his upcoming fundraising events.  His commitment nearly doubles our fundraising to date and puts our friend Maxandre and his students, well on the way to having their school rebuilt.

Please visit the Schools Count Corp. site:  www.schoolscountcorp.org, to learn more about Mr. Flesher’s dynamic work to support students around the world.  His recent efforts have been to help the poorest schools in Chicago and he’s spent the past five years focusing his energies on helping to support students affected in the Gulf and New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.

We are very excited to have received his endorsement and support and are looking forward to combining our efforts to not only rebuild Institution Mixte Nao Community School in Darbonne but to help him on his ongoing mission to help students in need around the world.

To follow our Hope4Haiti project, visit:  www.kids4good.org.  If you’re interested in making a donation to the rebuilding project for IMN, visit:  www.haitipartners.org and go to the donate page.  Please be sure to list IMN/Maxandre in the Comment Box on this page so that funds go directly to this project and not a general fund.  Haiti Partners is an established organization committed to helping Haitians change Haiti.  They’re one of the few organizations providing real time updates on life in rural communities following the quake.  Please consider visiting their site and supporting our friends at IMN.