Change Lives with English Education

It’s with mixed emotions that I now send you our final GlobalGiving project report for the English In Mind (EIM) Institute in Haiti.

There’s sadness, because after fundraising on their behalf for more than seven years this truly marks the end of an era. However, there’s also celebration because your incredible generosity over the years has enabled EIM to now become a financially sustainable organisation in its own right.

EIM started in 2010 as a simple language exchange between community members and our international volunteers.

Soon after we arrived in Haiti local residents started asking if they could practice their conversation skills with native English speakers. Their requests stemmed from a knowledge that, with English, they could find work in hotels, restaurants and offices.

For the next 18 months, our volunteers worked to transform this group of aspirational Haitians into a formal school. When our international volunteers left Haiti the school was transitioned to local teaching and management staff.

While locally managed the school still needed help to meet its monthly running costs. And, your kind donations have helped make that happen for all the years since.

However, our former Project Manager for the school, Steph, also worked tirelessly to support the school financially, and also to further develop EIM as its own organisation.

In July 2015, Steph registered “Friends of EIM”, a US based 501(c)(3) organisation / charity and began fundraising directly for EIM herself. While your amazing support continued our overall share of the running costs decreased.

Over the next two years we watched with pride as the school went from strength to strength. It began offering its own volunteer trips to raise more funding and grow its international network. It also used its local knowledge and contacts to find students paying work as translators and tour guides. It even purchased a property to pave the way to eventually having its own building.

And now, almost six years after our international volunteers left Haiti, EIM is now finally ready to be completely self sustaining. This is an incredible achievement and a grassroots success story that you’ve played a critical role in supporting. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much.

We asked Steph to send a few words explaining the impact you’ve had, and here’s what she had to say:

To all our friends and supporters at GlobalGiving, we can’t thank you enough! From the very early days of English in Mind, the grassroots support you offered was critical in helping us build a sustainable financial foundation. In just seven years, we’ve grown from a 30-person language exchange to one of Haiti’s top English and leadership programs, with 230 students and counting.

Beyond our classes, we’ve been able to expand to offering volunteer trips, vocational training, and job placement services. We also bought a plot of land and are saving up to build our very own school campus and community center! Thank you to everyone who played a part in our success.  

While our presence on GlobalGiving is ending, our work will be going strong for years to come. To follow our progress or join us on a trip, please visit englishinmind.org, or email me at steph@englishindmind.org

We echo Steph’s thanks and we hope you’ll continue to cheer EIM on as we certainly will. If you have any questions about these developments then please don’t hesitate to email Steph at the address or above, or me using Andy@IDVolunteers.org.

For more updates about IDV’s work please like us on Facebook or follow IDVMedia on Twitter. You can also email Andy is you would like to be added to our direct mailing list.

Thanks to your amazing generosity the English in Mind (EIM) Institute in Haiti is celebrating the end of an incredible academic year.

Like our last project report we asked EIM’s International Director, Steph, to provide an update from Port-au-Prince. Here’s what Steph had to say:

“EIM’s 2016-17 school year is officially finished – and what a year it was!

On the academic side, we had a killer exam season this year, which included adding six new graduates to our growing list of alumni. Congratulations to Elza, Omene, Ansly (sorry about the cropped pic!), Ernson, Ony, and Peterson.

Although they’ve now finished our highest level class, we’ll still actively support them all to improve their resume and interview skills. We’ll also network with our in-country partners to help our grads find as many employment opportunities as possible.

On the organisational side our teachers in training, Omene and Jure, did an amazing job this year. In recognition they’ll soon be promoted to full-time teachers when the next academic year starts in the fall.

We also welcomed in a new Advanced 2 teacher towards the end of the year. Lepty has spent extensive time in the States, and his modern teaching style has been a hit among his students. We’re thrilled to have him with us moving into 2017-18.

Our women also continued to excel this past year! When EIM began only 15% of our student body were women. Unfortunately, this number reflected common male / female gender representation in education and employment in Haiti.

But, after our intentional work to change this, such as by admitting more female students, hiring female teachers and starting women’s only classes to help with retention, we’re proud to announce that a full 45% of our student body are now women!

We hope to make it even in the coming year.

Lastly, after our recent admissions process in July, we’re excited to soon be welcoming 80 new students into our community, who will begin classes in September. We’re looking forward to getting to know them and watching them advance through the program like this year's graduates.

In the future, once our new school campus is complete, we’ll be able to accept far more than 80 new students each year. To learn more about our construction plans, and find out how you can help, shoot me an email at info@englishinmind.org”

We’re delighted to see EIM thriving in this way and we want to thank you again for your incredible donations in support.

Again if you have any questions about EIM’s plans or work then please don’t hesitate to email Steph at the address or above, or me using Andy@IDVolunteers.org.

For more updates about IDV’s work please like us on Facebook or follow IDVMedia on Twitter. You can also email Andy is you would like to be added to our direct mailing list.

With your help the students at the English in Mind (EIM) Institute in Haiti are working hard to break down the barriers to better lives.

As with our previous project report we asked EIM’s International Director, Steph, to provide an update from Port-au-Prince. Here’s what Steph had to say:

“Exam season is almost here and our students are hard at work!

Every July the students take official Cambridge exams that test their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. Those who pass will move up a level and start a new class at EIM in September. They will also earn a valuable certificate to help them in their search for paid employment.

Students who don’t pass can repeat their current level and try again next year, but this doesn’t stop students at all levels from pouring everything they have into passing the first time round. They are all hungry to secure a better life for themselves and their families.

The summer will also see us welcome new students into our ranks. Like last year, we’ll accept new applications in June and welcome around 80 new students when classes restart in the fall.

Also like last year, we’ll continue to provide women-only and men-only beginner classes. By separating classes by gender, especially in the beginning, our female students are less self-conscious and better able to encourage one another.

And, while this initiative was originally focused on helping female students to reach their potential, the friendly competition these classes have created has increased attendance and performance for all new students.

This got us thinking and EIM recently hosted a sensitivity workshop for its teachers and volunteer trip leaders. This incredible event tackled issues such as gender roles, stereotypes, homosexuality and much more. By creating a safe environment for our staff to share challenges it has helped us grow into an even more tolerant and inclusive community.   

We’re proud to be breaking down barriers in Haiti, both economically and socially, and we want to thank all the donors who support our vital work. We also invite you to come join our work yourself.

We have two trips upcoming over the summer, the first from June 23 – July 2 and the second July 21-30. These trips employ EIM students as guides and profits are folded back into the school to help make EIM more sustainable. Check out EIMAdventures.com to learn more."

We echo Steph’s thanks, and we’re also proud to partner with the amazing EIM Institute.

As always, if you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email Andy@IDVolunteers.org or Steph@Englishinmind.org, both of us are always happy to provide direct updates.

For more updates about IDV’s work please like us on Facebook or follow IDVMedia on Twitter. You can also email Andy is you would like to be added to our direct mailing list.

Thanks to your incredible support the English in Mind (EIM) Institute in Haiti is continuing to go from strength to strength.

For this report we asked EIM’s International Director, Steph, to provide an update. Here’s what she had to say:

“We’re halfway through the academic year here at EIM, and our students and staff are hard at work!

At the start of year, in September, we expanded to offer a total of eight classes, serving 230 students. In order to accommodate everyone we’ve had to get a bit creative with scheduling, but so far everyone’s helping to make it work.

We’re also delighted to have retained more female students than ever, and now have a 60/40 ratio of men to women. Our plan of separating beginner students by gender seems to be working, and we’re hoping to be at 50/50 soon!

Earlier this month we also welcomed EIM’s Education Advisor Bonni to Haiti for two weeks of teacher training. Bonni is a retired French teacher from the USA with thirty years of experience. Her role in helping our teachers adopt best practices has been invaluable over the years, and this visit was no exception. Thanks Bonni!

We’ve also started our planning for the summer exam period. Every July our students take one of four official Cambridge exams that test their skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking. The stakes are high as those who pass will move up a level and start a new class at EIM come September.

The exams are tough for both students and staff. So, this year we’re extremely grateful to have a group of eight returning volunteer teachers visit to help us revise and administer the exams. The additional support will allow us to cut the time needed in half – from one month to only two weeks!

Lastly, we’re pleased to continue offering our 10-day volunteer trips, with our newest group arriving on March 3. These trips employ EIM students as guides and generate profits that are folded back into the school to help make EIM more sustainable and less reliant on foreign donations. Interested in joining us? Check out EIMAdventures.com, and thanks so much”

We echo Steph’s thanks - your support over the years has been critical in turning informal language exchange sessions into a fully fledged English school with a sustainable business attached!  But the journey isn’t over, and your ongoing generosity continues to make a huge difference every day.

As always, if you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email Andy@IDVolunteers.org or Steph@Englishinmind.org, both of us are always happy to provide direct updates.

For more updates about IDV’s work please like us on Facebook or follow IDVMedia on Twitter. You can also email Andy if you would like to be added to our direct mailing list.

Thanks to your amazing generosity 2016 has been another great year for the English in Mind (EIM) Institute in Haiti.

The school’s existing students have all continued to progress well in their English education, and this was reflected by the majority passing their official Cambridge exams back in the summer.

These results are a testament to the hard work of the students, and also the amazing Haitian teachers too. Many of the teachers at EIM started as students themselves, or are still studying in EIM’s higher level classes. So, they’re all passionate about the subject, and also about passing on their knowledge to others at the school.

The teachers all remember their own nervousness and questions when they first arrived at EIM, and this translates into a supportive, encouraging environment for newly admitted students.

And the admission process itself is also critical to the school’s continued success.

Earlier this year over 200 people poured into EIM in the hope of gaining a place in class. The school would love to be able to admit everyone, but limited resources means this sadly isn’t possible. So, great care has to be taken during the enrollment process.

Potential students take a series of past exams, which test their level of speaking, listening, reading and writing. This helps to ensure that those admitted start at the right level, and also have the aptitude and motivation needed to succeed.

This year, after much hard work and thought, EIM admitted 80 new students, including two completely new beginner classes - one for men and one for women. This separation by gender is also important, especially in the beginning, as it allows the school’s new female students to better encourage and support each other during the daunting early weeks of class.

This careful admission process has continued to contribute to EIM’s success this year.

In past years there used to be a fair amount of drop outs in the early months, with some students deciding the commitment was too much. But we’re now a few months into the 2016-17 school year, and ongoing attendance has never been higher!

This is a great result and again shows how well the school’s staff understand their work, and the challenges faced by new arrivals.

And there’s more great news too.

As well as running the school on a day to day basis the EIM team are also very focused on its overall sustainability. After all, it would be a shame for all the knowledge accumulated over the years to be lost due to a lack of funding.

So, earlier this year the school launched its own social enterprise called EIMAdventures. As a result, in 2016, EIM has been able to welcome seven different groups of international volunteers to work with the school, before then enjoying some of Haiti’s beauty.

Profits from these trips have been folded back into the school to help meet running costs, and participants' rave reviews mean that EIM are already making plans to expand the trips next year. Two further students will soon be hired as guides, giving them some vital income and yet another chance to practice their English skills with native speakers.

Although EIM is well on the way to self-sustainability your support has continued to be vital throughout 2016. Your amazing generosity not only helps keep EIM running, but it also gives the staff some crucial extra time to think about future sustainability as well.

For example, after EIM purchased its own land back in January 2015 the school has just recently finished planning the construction of its own building. The plans include six classrooms, a computer lab, a library, an office and a meeting space for all 200 students!

It’s a very ambitious project and EIM recently launched a year long capital appeal to raise the needed funds.

Overall, it’s been another great year for EIM, and your generous donations have helped to make this possible. Thank you so much!

With your help EIM will not just continue survive in 2017, it will also thrive and continue to grow!

As always, if you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email Andy@IDVolunteers.org or Steph@Englishinmind.org, both of us are always happy to provide direct updates.

For more updates about IDV’s work please like us on Facebook or follow IDVExec on Twitter. You can also email Andy is you would like to be added to our direct mailing list.