environment day at Ecolle Nouvel Zoranje

Some great activities are happening in our school besides regular learning in class. For example a few weeks ago we had environment day celebration in the school .We wanted to raise awareness to the environment with in the school children and create an action that will have an effect on the village.
We set out to parade with all of the children from 1st to 6th grades protesting for cleanliness in the village! It was a beautiful site! about 400 students marching together singing songs for promoting a clean environment, the teachers were there and some young volunteers from the village too. Every body had traditional Haitian straw hats to protect from the hot sun,

After the parade we came back to the school and each class had an area they were cleaning in the school yard. We ended the day with a special lunch - We all had a great time and got involved in looking after the environment.

Wave computer programm in our new computer lab

We have already shared the wonderful pictures from our computer course for children, the program that was  created by WAVEPLACE  promote deep understanding, creative problem solving  through acquiring computer skills.By now we have already completed 3 courses giving a total of over 60 children that participated. The news we want to share on this post is that we had opened a computer lab, that was donated to the project with the great generosity of VOILA FOUNDATION.
The course lasts 6 weeks, and at the end of each course the parents are invited to see what the children had done the past 4 weeks. This brings a lot of pride and happiness to the parents the children and the staff running this program.  Take a look :

The students in the new computer lab donated by Voila

Lesson in action

The children write stories and animate them on e-toys program

This is the 'end of cours' celebration, family members are invited to see what we have done

A student showing his father the work he has done

a student showing her grandmother how to take a picture with the computer

One of the students presenting the story she wrote and animated.

This great achievement would have never been realized if not for our great team of  local Monitors who are doing a great job in running the course, Thank you; Oberjo, Maeva, James and Alain!

The opening of the 2011-2012 school Year

We are happy to tell you that 3 weeks ago we opened the new school year!

Mdm.Beljean is helping the excited children find their way to the classroom

Our school who is just one year old has grown tremendously in this past year. If you followed us from the beginning you would know that we started with a fundamental school and 3 kindergarten classes - some were under tents, total of children came to 330. This year we have  a separate building for Kindergarten and 4 kindergarten classes, we have 13 fundamental classes and we have opened a middle school for 7th and 8th grades which will gradually grow to the older classes, a total of 500 students.



Mdm. Merieuse welcoming her new students, Grand section kindergarten



First day ceremony at the new Bonita-JDC Ecole nouvell Zorange, middle school

 The school now has a new structure for a Cafeteria and Prodev has joined forces with the BND food program that provides our kitchen with food for the children. Energising cereal bar for breakfast and a cooked lunch.

Kitchen staff working vigorously from 6:00 AM to have the food ready in time

In the compound we now employ 33 teachers, 3 directors, 2 assistant directors, 1 secretary, and 17 supporting staff such as security, gardening, cleaning, kitchen... This comes to 50 people who find employment in the school.

6th grade class

The children's smiles fill the school with hope and positivity - a gaze into a possibility of a different reality.

Mdm.Roucourt Prodevs' Pedagogical Director is welcoming the students and explaining the rules and regulations on first day of school

Brake time

Ecole Nouvell Zoranje wishes students and all over the world an enlightening school year !

Voila embraces the people of Zoranje



Voila foundation is showing great commitment partnering with Prodev and embracing the community of Zoranje. On the 18th of September the Voila Foundation sponsored and participated in the project of data collection and I.D card production for the community of Zoranje.  This was done with full cooperation of the village committee and Young volunteers from the village that went from “door to door” to collect the data.



Volunteers from the village going 'door to door' to register the population



 We managed to get over 2000 listings.  On Sunday  the 18th of September I.D cards were distributed to the community together with a special present  to each resident; a cellular phone to any one over the age of 16.



Briefing Volunteers before the day begins




Volunteers from Voila came to Zoranje to distribute the phones, the process was carefully planned in advance by Prodev and Voila teams



This day was carefully planned and executed by the Voila and Prodev teams with volunteers from both sides. The people of Zoranje were extremely happy to get a new phone or for some people their first phone ever! Voila also catered for food and entertainment on this successful day of outreach to the community.



August 27 – Computer Program – end of first course

During the last 6 weeks, the student participants of our computer program had a daily lesson. Two weeks out of the program were dedicated to story telling and story writing. Each young student designed their characters and scenes then drew them on the computer. Most of the kids added animation and movement into their stories. We spent one week learning about the internet and various popular uses for it. Each participant now has his own email account.

One page from a story

For some of the kids this was the first time they used a computer, The progress made between the first lesson (how to hold a mouse, how to open and shutdown the computer) and today’s final class is remarkable.

Today, each one of the kids got a chance to show his/her parents what they did and learned. All the parents came and we had a wonderful, exciting and proud afternoon.

Each kid is showing his work



Selected stories were shown to the entire audience



The program is not over. Our second group of kids will start next week.

We would also like to mention 3 local young teachers who are teaching the program to the students. Berjou, Alain and James are doing a wonderful job and we are very happy to have them on our team!

Handing out certificates to the graduates

Explaining about Etoys

August 11 – Summer Camp

We had a wonderful summer camp

(click the video below to view the original video on youtube)

August 7 – MOJIVAR

During the summer break the school still holds afternoon activities for the community  we have computer and English classes, some people come to use the wi fi internet and others play basketball or just sit around to talk to each other in the nice afternoon breeze.  A very special group of young people have come up with a plan to make a ‘young peoples association’ because they understand that they will find greater action when working together as a team. They name their association MOJIVAR.
Mojivar association celebrated its becoming today by organizing a cultural evening for the village community. The show included singing, theatre and dance pieces performed by talented young from the village and some guests from the nearby villages. The initiative, preparation and execution were beautifully done and everyone had a wonderful afternoon.