St. Joseph Family (Haiti)

FAST FACTS

School Names: Lekol Sen Trinite, Wings of Hope, St. Joseph Community Outreach Center

Locations: Port-Au-Prince and Jacmel, Haiti

Programs: Music, Dance, Visual Art

Participants: 400+ K-8 students

Duration: 40+ hrs/week, in school & after school, year-long

Teaching Artists: Mackendy Augustin, Gerald Joanis, Gethro Jean, Bill Nathan, Edy Louis

Partnered with BAE since: 2018

REVENUE & EXPENSES

Programming was made possible thanks to support from Sing For Hope and Hearts with Haiti. The balance will be placed into a reserve, which are slated to fund future expansions of programming in Jacmel and Haiti, restoration of the Resurrection Dance Theater of Haiti professional dance troupe, featuring BAE alumni, and travel expenses when it is safe to visit again.

Despite continued political turmoil and a delayed start to the school year due to safety concerns, BAE’s team of local teaching artists continue to provide programming for the students at Lekol Sen Trinite, a K-8 school for some of the most economically disadvantaged families in Jacmel, Wings of Hope, a residential home for children and adults living with physical and mental disabilities in Jacmel, and the St. Joseph Community Outreach Center, an after school program for children in Port-Au-Prince. Programming continues into the summer months to make up for lost time at the start of the school year.

While communications between local staff and administrators in New York City remains a challenge due to access to technology, travel bans, and language barriers, our team of teaching artists keeps us updated with a steady flow of pictures from their daily classes:

“In the brutal chaos that is currently Haiti, providing a place for joy and beauty is essential for mental and emotional health. Broadway for Arts Education is that for the children served by the St. Joseph Family. BAE and the SJF have partnered for several years to provide classes in music, dance, drumming, and the fine arts to students at Lekòl Sen Trinite (a tuition-free school for the poorest children in the community) and Wings of Hope (a residence and school for children and adults with physical and mental challenges). Each week these students and residents are able to escape the hardship of their lives for a few hours and celebrate life with classes in the performing and fine arts that uplift their souls and brighten their hearts. It gives them the hope and strength to endure and thrive.” —Renee Dietrich, Director of Communications and Development, St. Joseph Family