We aim to foster early childhood learning and reading on the island of La Gonave, Haiti by producing and distributing Creole-language literature and resources, and to see these resources become a saleable, exportable commodity to Haiti’s mainland, which will provide not only sustainability to the project, but economic lift for La Gonave.

Focusing on the K-3rd grade levels, we will create (write and publish) books that can be used to resource school libraries across the island. These books will come in the following ways:

• With author permissions, existing books (in English) can be translated into Creole.
• New books will be written (in Creole) and illustrated (in Haitian context) by outside writers and illustrators.
• La Gonave’s children themselves, however, will be our single greatest resource of creative talent. Who better to tell the stories and draw the pictures that Haitian kids will enjoy and appreciate?

Armed with examples and resources for writing and drawing, we will work with children and teachers in putting their imaginations to paper, creating pictures and short stories that we will reproduce, publish and bind. These compilations of short stories will be shared and exchanged with other schools and other villages. Schools will be encouraged and resourced in integrating a strong reading and creative writing emphasis into their ongoing literacy curriculum.

We are also exploring creative ways to connect students in Haiti with students in the States. A classroom of kids in a tiny mountaintop village in tropical Haiti sharing stories back and forth with a classroom of kids in a snowy town in Michigan has the potential to expand minds in both worlds.