Blue Jays helping bring baseball to Haiti

By Chris Toman / MLB.com | 05/14/12










TORONTO -- A glowing example of the impact sports can have on the lives of others can be found in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where severely impoverished kids have learned the game of baseball with a little help from the outside world.

In 2009, before a catastrophic earthquake wreaked havoc on Port-au-Prince, Artists for Peace and Justice -- a nonprofit organization -- was created, and while serving aid to the people of Haiti and providing them with shelter and medical treatment was the top priority, there was a big-picture plan at heart.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and one where obtaining an education beyond grade school is not possible for many outside of the elite. Enrolling in high school is prestigious for Haitians, as the same percentile who go to post-secondary school in Canada and the United States are making it to high school in Haiti. It became such a grave concern that APJ sought to address the situation by providing Haitians with a free high school after the earthquake.

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Modest gains mark Haitian leader's first year

By TRENTON DANIEL Associated Press

Posted:   05/12/2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—In a country where the news is typically bad, if not catastrophic, many people in Haiti look at the past year under a musician-turned-president with guarded surprise. 

Yes, parliament and President Michel Martelly were in a standoff that hobbled government much of the past 12 months. Yes, less than a quarter of the population has a formal job. And yes, cholera and many other problems still haunt the country.

Yet six of the most visible displaced-persons camps that sprang up after the 2010 earthquake have been cleared and several are back to being public plazas; renovations are far along at the international airport; a sprinkling of new hotels and shops have begun to emerge across the capital's otherwise ruined landscape; and in a country where free education is rare, the government, for the first time, has covered school tuition for 1 million children .

It's hardly a Golden Age. But it's not bad either for a leader who had never held political office and was best known for often-raunchy musical performances before he took office a year ago Monday. The achievements have come with a parliament so dominated by the party of the man Martelly defeated in his run for president that lawmakers stonewalled his attempts to appoint a prime minister and Cabinet for three-quarters of the year.

Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/ci_20609856/modest-gains-mark-haitian-leaders-1st-year#ixzz1uqkySpG8

Parkway club members befriend students in Haiti

Parkway School’s “Kids With A Purpose” club has begun its latest mission, raising money toward a new library for children in Cap Haitien, Haiti.

The program is called Hands to Hands, and the parent organization is “Hands Up for Haiti,” which works to bring sustainable medical care to Cap Haitien and to the students of the Open Door School in the town.


KWAP students have not only bonded with the students from the town by becoming pen pals in letter writing.
In conjunction, Parkway has just completed its first of a series of fund-raisers for the Open Door school library. KWAP packed and sold Valentines gift bags to the school in February, calling their fund-raiser “Hearts for Haiti.”

Parkway school’s “Kids With A Purpose” has been raising money through charitable school wide fund-raisers for others in need for the past five years.

Parkway’s fifth graders have guided the school on its mission of “kids helping kids,” choosing the organization they wish to help by voting, and achieving a handful of fund-raisers throughout each school year.
The group is led by parent volunteers Limor Pompa, Jennifer Feenstra, Jennifer Weinstein and fifth grade teacher, Kate Frey.

Written by Greenwich Post Staff ,  Wednesday, 02 May 2012 12:00 
For more information: Handsupforhaiti.org.