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chair
jacmel
ayi
car
raffi
These are drawings based on images and snapshots as we were riding in the car. We were traveling really quickly, so the drawings are taking the form of colors, aesthe cs, composi ons and architecture that were captured. I came home and used a quick medium (color pencils) and sketched from my photos, each drawing took about 30 minutes. I feel like the color pencils give them the vibe and aesthe cs of Hai an art and things like their hand painted signs.
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...she says while steaming a perfect la e.
Come by and say hi to Emily at bwe’s Hoboken loca on! She’s our awesome manager there.
TTravell notes t by b Kafele K f l Boothe B th Early on a cold Friday morning, before the birds arose, before the sun awakened, Emily, Maryanne, Brianna, Chris, and I crammed into a black SUV in Hoboken, filled to the brim with donations from our amazing customers. A few short hours later, we were in Haiti, welcomed in the Port-au-Prince airport by a band welcoming all visitors that day with music of the country. After an in depth learning experience with Customs officials awestruck with the amount of donations that accompanied us, we made our way out of the airport and into the loving rays of the Haitian sun.
Shortly thereafter we arrived at the Anis Zunuzi school (Ecole Baha’ie Anis Zunuzi), the school in which many of the donations - laptops, instruments, art supplies - would find their new home. As we embraced friends old and new, we walked around the grounds taking in the environment that surrounded us. Shortly thereafter, we were off to our next destination, the New Horizon school, another institution the cafe works closely with and where we were to spend our evenings for the next three days. The dinner that night, as with those that followed, was delicious.
On the second day we found ourselves back at the Anis Zunuzi school to meet with amazing youth and hear about the inspiring work each one is engaged in in their communities. From work with Junior Youth, to teaching Children’s Classes, to building capacities in their Neighborhoods, to spearheading various SED initiatives, these stunning young women and men exemplified the unerring saying, “where there is love, nothing is too much trouble, and there is always time”. Many of the students were already scholarship recipients of bwe kafe and Love for Haiti. Others were prospective recipients - each as deserving as the last. We spent the better part of the day conversing, sharing stories, laughing. We also made sure to connect with each person individually to understand the financial obstacles they face in the hopes of helping to close those gaps.
Following our meetings with the students, we made our way to an artistic part of town to survey and purchase some metalwork fashioned by local artisans - making sure to save our appetite for art for the day that followed, our pilgrimage to Haiti’s artistic region, Jamel. Fortunate enough to be on one of the few bwe trips to make it out to this part of Haiti, we invited three close friends and students from Haiti to join us. There we ate, walked, purchased more art, connected with local friends in the town, and made sure to visit the Artiste Institute. The Artiste Institute, formerly the Cine Institute, is the first film school in Haiti and is renowned throughout the world, attracting titans of the industry for special visits and guest lectures. Our second time on the campus, we walked around the beautiful grounds and met with some of the staff that was there at the time. The Artiste Institute and bwe kafe have worked together to showcase to the cafe’s community the astonishing work the talented students at the school are producing. As it got dark, we made our way to Port au Prince to return in time for a good night’s rest before the following day.
On our final day, we packed up the truck, and headed straight to the Anis Zunuzi School. We arrived in time for Monday Assembly, in which the school’s marching band performed many songs for us to commemorate our time there. As classes began, we sat with more students who were equally as accomplished and determined as those from our gathering two days back. It was unfortunate that our trip at this point was nearing its end, but each one of us felt confirmed in the work bwe is doing in Haiti, and can’t wait to return in the many trips to follow!
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++ STUDENT SPOTLIGHT ++
The Hai an students who apply and are selected for the Love For Hai scholarship, are individuals who show dedicaon and passion for making posi ve impacts in their community, through their academic degrees and self ini ated service projects and programs. To date, Love For Hai has supported 11 such individuals, each at different stages of their degrees, and each with personal and powerful stories. In each ZIN issue, we will be spotligh ng students who you are suppor ng through coffee purchases at bwè kafe.
Meet: Michelove and Chris na
Michelove and Chris na David are students at the Centre d'Etudes Diploma ques et Interna onales (CEDI), and both study law. Michelove’s driving force is to protect human rights, and Chris na’s is that to defend women’s rights. With a passion and desire to create opportuni es for youth in their communi es, Michelove and Chrisna dedicate their life outside of CEDI to helping youngsters develop quali es such as truthfulness, generosity, purity of heart and the spirit of service, by running children’s classes and programmes in their local communi es. Michelove and Chris na received much needed laptops (pictured), generously donated by customers of bwè kafe in Hoboken and Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. Mesi!
FULL LIST OF
STUDENTS
See all student proďŹ les at
www.
love-for-hai .com
FOLLOW @BWEKAFE INSTAGRAM TO KEEP UP!
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