By Andy Chaggar | IDV Chief Executive
Thanks to your incredible support the English in Mind (EIM) Institute in Haiti is looking forward to the start of another exciting school year.
As with our previous project reports we asked EIM’s International Director, Steph, to provide an update from Port-au-Prince. Here’s what Steph had to say:
“Our 2016-2017 school year is about to begin!
This September, 230 students will walk through the doors of EIM, eager to start their new classes. Many will be returning students hoping to get one step closer to graduation, while others will be starting their very first year with EIM – either as a transfer student or a [total] beginner.
The energy level is high coming off another successful exam season, followed by the August summer vacation.
Based on the success of last year, we’ll once again be splitting our beginner students up by gender. This separation is especially important for our female students as they find these classes to be more comfortable and empowering for them.
Getting a solid foundation is critical when learning a foreign language, and we’re excited to see how this method impacts our students’ success in their future, co-ed classes as well.”
Steph also sent us some information about some of EIM’s new and returning students. For example, she had this to say about one of EIM’s new intake.
“Stanley [pictured], is a brand new student at EIM. A self-taught English learner, Stanley’s impressive home study enabled him to transfer into EIM at our Intermediate level. We’re very impressed already and are excited to see his skills develop as he finds his home with us – his first institute!”
Steph also had this to say about one of EIM’s returning female students:
“Medjina [pictured], or Jina as we call her, is one of the youngest students at EIM. Despite her age, Jina doesn’t get intimidated easily. As one of the only girls in her class, she’s always the first to raise her hand and offer an opinion or question. We can’t wait to see her continue to grow and thrive as she takes on Intermediate this year!”
On behalf of Steph, Jina, Stanley and all of EIM’s new and returning students, thank you so much for continuing to support this amazing English school.
And remember, while EIM is incredibly grateful for your donations, the staff and students aren’t just sitting around becoming dependent on them.
EIM’s own social enterprise, EIMAdventures.com, is continuing to organise trips to Haiti with focuses on education, health, yoga, design, local coffee production and adventure travel. These trips employ EIM students as guides and the profits are folded back into the school to help make EIM become more sustainable.
So why not check them out today and personally visit Haiti and the school your donations support?
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.
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Note that IDV is now also fundraising on GlobalGiving to increase its overall capacity to help disaster survivors.
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