The first of May (2014) started off the fifth year of the Children of Haiti Project (COHP), which has provided schooling, nutritious meals, and health care to 76 Haitian children living in grinding poverty. The project has been running since May 2010. Under the dedicated and extraordinary direction of Dominique Pierre, COHP’s students are for the most part learning at or above grade level. What is more, they are attending school regularly despite the fact that most of them now have a one- to two-hour walk to school since the adjacent tent camp was closed earlier this year. COHP is supported by a host of international schools and organizations, who sponsor one or more children annually, and by many individuals who donate funds and become Patrons of the program. Close liaison with the COHP board is provided by Frank Anderson, who makes several on-site visits annually in order to assess needs and provide vital, updated information. To ensure the health of the children, COHP also provides a summer program, with recreation and meals as the centerpiece. We invite readers of The International Educator to see for themselves the health and vitality of the COHP children by visiting the COHP blog! Against the backdrop of the catastrophes that have visited Japan, the Philippines, Syria, and parts of Africa since 2010, raising funds to support COHP has become more difficult every year. This is why we owe a special word of thanks to those schools, organizations, and individuals who stood by the program for these past few years, sponsoring one or more COHP students annually. We also owe our gratitude to the exceptional contribution of Kevin Bartlett, Head of the International School of Brussels, who has devoted an entire book of extraordinary wildlife photography to supporting the Children of Haiti Project. Mr. Bartlett produced the book using photographs from around the world, with the assistance of his wife Marta. The book, Nature for Nurture, is now on sale and all proceeds will be used to provide for the annual support of at least eight COHP students this year. We hope our readers will find some small (or large!) way to assist us in continuing to support COHP’s wonderful, deserving children through their secondary years. Visit COHP at http://childrenofhaitiproject.org. Mr. Broman is Chair of the COHP Board of Directors, and CEO of The International Educator.
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