Nou tout se youn - We are all one
Amanda Mundt, OfC Advisory Board member and Clark University student, established and ran a summer school (Lekol Dete) for 3rd- 6th grade students in Les Cayes, Haiti in an effort to integrate Restavek children and free children. Amanda won a $10,000 grant from the Davis Projects for Peace Foundation (http://www.davisprojectsforpeace.org/). She also received a $2,000 grant from the Restavek Freedom Foundation (http://www.restavekfreedom.org) and $1,000 from Opportunities for Communities, Inc. (OfC).
Restaveks are children who are given (and sometimes sold) to another family essentially to work as an indentured servant in exchange for shelter. Through Lekol Dete, the Restaveks and the free children were brought together and combined in a common learning environment. This was an important part of Lekol Dete, and allowed the children to see and experience directly that there really is no difference between Restavek and free children – all children need friends, enjoy playing soccer and singing songs. The goal was to break down the heavily engrained prejudices within children with the hopes that in the future, the kids attending Lekol Dete might begin to respect their less fortunate classmates and think twice about perpetuating the Restavek system.
The complete proposal and final report are available at: http://www.davisprojectsforpeace.org/projects/2011/node/1604
Sam Simonds, an active 13-year old from Amherst has been preparing for a swim across the Vineyard Sound for years - and on July 6 he did it!
