Hope is Life Foundation’s School Sponsorship Program, will work with the villagers and the management of the Borni Memorial School in Pangantabi village, Thoubal district, Imphal, Manipur to repair and add new classrooms for the school.

Most of the villagers are farmers. Their family income depends on the annual harvest. The farmers live on an average of less than US$1 a day. Hope is Life Foundation continues to raise necessary funding for this project.]]>

Natascha Yogachandra and Mr. Joseph, Director and Volunteer at the school and a few piglets at the farm.

Repairs to the current building and additional classrooms will begin December 2011

Hope is Life Foundation’s basic philosophy is to identify projects to eradicate illiteracy that have to be sustainable with the human and financial resources available in the local community and empowering them. Started a pig farm in a school in Pangantabi village, in Imphal, Manipur State in India. Criteria for success are not only linked to trust-worthy individuals who manage the projects but also to the availability of expert know-how and the skills to look after the projects.

Hope is Life Foundation in collaboration with a locally registered SHIG Foundation is assisting in the welfare of several orphan children, some infected HIV.AIDS virus, to attend school at Borni School Manipur, India. The Foundation is working directly with the SHIGF trustee and the staff of Borni Memorial English School (BMES) to sponsor several orphans help them lead a healthy life and continue with their education. There are many orphans and children infected with HIV/AIDS virus. Children want to study in other schools but unable to do because of financial difficulties.

Hope is Life Foundation worked with the villagers and the staff of the school to explore the ways to finance projects that can be sustained to help the school, empowering the local community. Pig-rearing industry was identified that has great potential to generate income for the school. Also, the need of an establishment of a computer center for the village teenagers who wants to go for higher studies, was identified.

Crucial to the success of a pig farm is the ability for it to expand in the community and become a supportive business that the entire school and the parents can count on. So, recently, we started the pig farm and a new structure was built for the pigs.

Our plan is to make this pig farm into a major full community development program where the parents and the village community can help them with things like bring left over food to feed the pig or farmers. Not only is there great potential for bringing the community together but this whole community model of engagement will increase the chance of this pig farm continuing to grow.

Building a self-sustaining community

Our goal is to build a small community around this school whose members are united by their shared beliefs, characterized by their high ideals, proficient in managing their affairs and tending to their needs, and perhaps engaged in several humanitarian projects.

Currently, there are about 140 children from ages 3 to 12 attending school at Borni. The school is unable to provide meals as there are no financial support from the government. Some bring food from home or eat before coming to school and others go hungry. For several children who have difficulties or orphans, the school plans to provide food on a daily basis but they do not have any financial support.

One of the guardians Hope is Life Foundation supports to look after the welfare of many children in Pangantabi village in Imphal, including their education.

In addition to this, Borni School is suffering from lack of teachers and educational materials. As a result, children are beginning to drop out of school as early as grade two due mostly to the high cost of education, poverty and the travel from village to schools for those who lives in remote villages.

To stay in school is expensive for these children. They are required to buy school uniforms, school shoes and text books which most parents are unable to afford.

The school is located in Pangantabi village, in Thoubol district which is about 80 kms from Imphal city The population of Pangantabi village is approximately 6,000. Most of the villagers are farmers. Their family income depends on the annual harvest. Few of them run small business (shop, home industries e.g. handloom and hand crafts). Most women do craft work and men work in the farm. The farmers live on an average less than US$1 a day.

Mr. Joseph showing the new structure for the pig farm to  Natascha

Students at the school

New Building: One of the members in the community has donated the land to build a new structure for the school. Hope is Life Foundation will be raising fund to build a new brick building of 8-class rooms.

Imphal is located in the extreme east of India, bordering Myanmar (Burma). It is a quiet, crowded but uneventful city. But, we had to register ourselves at the airport – all foreigners need to get special registration at the airport. There was a good reason for this. In October 2008, Imphal was struck by a large terror attack carried out by Manipuri insurgents fighting for to regain sovereignty from India. This city has a history of ethnic rivalries.

It is also the home of the Meitei tribe and is a largely Hindu region, but with a very specific culture of its own. It is nestled deep within a lush green corner of North East India. It is indeed an Indian state of exquisite natural beauty and splendors. It is no wonder why the former Prime Minister of India, late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru paid a fitting tribute by describing it as “Jewel of India”.

Students from two schools in Fairport, New York (Northside Elementary School and Martha Brown Middle School) and a youth group in Ithaca, New York wrote more than 200 letters to students in Haiti, connecting them to learn more about their culture, to bond in friendship, and experience the joy of helping others. (please visit GALLERY for pictures)]]> LATEST NEWS:

(Trip to Haiti: November 2011)

About 80% of the Haitian population is illiterate. Over 50% of school aged children, averaging well over 1.3 million, do not have access to an education and Haiti has the lowest enrollment rate for primary education in the Western Hemisphere. This means that a lot of children are being deprived of an education! How can a country be expected to lift themselves out of poverty and develop as a nation if the majority of their population does not have access to even a basic education?

Hope is Life Foundation has initiated several projects with local organizations in Haiti to rebuild and create vibrant communities where children can enjoy academic and moral education. Our aim is to empower local communities to participate in and sustain the development process.

Among these are training of teachers, repairing and building damaged schools and building community enrichment centers. One of the projects was to provide schooling for children in the community of Nerrette immediately after the earthquake. Hope is Life Foundation worked with a local organization called CAFT to provide education under a temporary tent for several months. Today, the children have moved into a new building.

Hope is Life Foundation and CAFT are proud to be a part of the new building and a dream come true for the children in this area. The school, Ecole Communautaire Lea Kokoye, is now managed by Madame Gertrude Sejour and provides education free of charge for nearly 100 children.

Students from two schools in Fairport, New York (Northside Elementary School and Martha Brown Middle School) and a youth group in Ithaca, New York wrote more than 200 letters to students in Haiti, connecting them to learn more about their culture, to bond in friendship, and experience the joy of helping others.

These letters were hand carried to Haiti by Hope is Life Foundation and reply letters and individual photos were brought back to the students in New York. Students and staff of Northside school under the supervision of Mrs. Carolyn Shea, Principal, initiated Hats and Hoodies for Haiti to raise money to help the children of Haiti.

Students and faculty of Northside Elem. School in Fairport, New York and Principal Mrs. Carolyn Shea (extreme left) initiated Hats & Hoodies for Haiti to raise funds to support education for Haitian children. Deborah Yogachandra of Hope is Life Foundation is seen on extreme right

Some of the students from Northside Elem. School, Fairport, New York, holding their letters before taken to Haiti

Some of the students of Martha Brown Middle School, Fairport, New York wrote letters to the children in Haiti, seen here with teacher, Scott Parker

Nearly 70 children received Back-to-School Kits in November this year which included a school bag, exercise books, pencils, crayons and notebooks

A Big Thank You to all the students and Faculty of Northside School, Fairport, NY from Haiti students

More than 200 Haitian students received hand-written letters and photos from students in Fairport and Ithaca, NY. In return, those students wrote back beginning a dialogue of friendship.

A Haiti student holding the letter he received from New York and his reply

Hope is Life Foundation is proud to be working with CAFT, a non-governmental organization in Haiti, in the field of training Haitian teachers. CAFT has been involved in developing unique and innovative training programs to community leaders and teachers in Haiti as part of transforming society, especially non-violent communications and discipline in classroom environments. Earlier, Hope is Life Foundation sponsored a training program on Healing Through Art for Haitian teachers.

Ms. Linda Gershuny, CEO of CAFT, a local non profit organization in Haiti is seen conducting a training program for community leaders in Jacmel, Haiti during November 2011

Hope is Life Foundation has reached an agreement to support a school in PetionVille, Port au Prince, under our “School Sponsorship Program.” As part of the agreement, Hope is Life Foundation will sponsor nearly 70 children - buying uniforms, shoes, backpacks, books, educational materials for the school and supporting teachers salaries. Our goal is to provide needy children of Haiti access to quality education. Being able to read and write is one of the best gifts we can give them - one child at a time - to help Haitian children move out of poverty through education.

Nat Yogachandra of Hope is Life Foundation (extreme right) is seen with the Principal James Noel and his family

(Trip to Haiti – June 29 trough July 9, 2010)

Visiting Haiti and meeting the local people was a heartfelt experience for us. From Thailand, we went directly to Haiti and have just returned to Fairport, New York. Our trip was very successful and the sun was shining all week except a few heavy rains in the evenings. Children played on the street. Mothers washed clothes and took bath in open-air tubs along the roads. Tents and tarps put up by foreign donors are seen everywhere, along roadsides and empty lots. Haitians have set up small businesses along the narrow streets selling food, bananas, shoes, charcoal and necessities.

We spent several days visting schools and talking to children, teachers, NGOs and government officials. We also visited one of the largest tent camps where nearly 20,000 people are temporarily housed in tents and more then 40,000 squatters waiting their turn. When the rains come, the ground turns to mud and life is miserable for them.

Exactly six months after the earthquake hit Haiti, the capital city, Port-au-Prince, is still in disarray. Getting from one point to another takes a good part of your day – many of the roads looked like they have been bombed. There is concrete rubble and broken down vehicles stripped of their tires dotted along the roads. We were told that only 4 percent of the rubble has been removed so far, which we could believe as we saw only a few people removing it by hand.

The people of Haiti are friendly and incredibly resourceful. They are aware that the attention of the world is on Haiti like it has never been. During our meeting with the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Education, he was genuinely touched by the presence of so many foreigners and NGOs and with our visit.

Nearly 45 percent of the population are children and are the most disoriented and vulnerable of the survivors of the earthquake. Many tens of thousands have lost their parents and their homes. Ninety percent of the schools in Port-au-Prince are damaged or destroyed. Reconstruction has not begun yet. All classes are conducted outside the damaged buildings under temporary shelters or trees.

Natascha visited several classrooms – on one day she gave talks to about ten classrooms – comforting them and inspiring them. She was also interviewed by a local radio station.

During our trip, we explored several possibilities for helping the children of Haiti. Our mission was to assist in their education. We looked into several options to rebuild educational institutions. We had meetings with school authorities and non-governmental agencies, including Architecture for Humanity, to build a structure to support education for children. We have identified a few options including repairing a school, providing it with a teacher training center and support in their development of a visual arts curriculum for the school.

During the next few weeks, we will continue to work with our friends in Haiti to finalize our construction plans. A need has been identified to start a teacher training institute as we feel that the training of teachers in effective moral education in addition to academic excellence is critical in the transformation of society and the sucess of the community.

As they move from relief aid stage to long-term reconstruction, the government, in partnership with foreign governments and NGOs, are making plans to rebuild the city. This will take years. Foreign governments have pledged nearly 11.4 billion dollars, but the people have not seen the money yet – at least we did not see any progress in cleaning up the city or visible signs of reconstruction.

We hope that the United Nations and the government of Haiti work hard to develop some sound economic policies that address extreme poverty and deep-rooted disparities of wealth, making sure every child receives an education, and to treat everyone as members of one family. We talked to several Haitians from all walks of life – and found that the average Haitian will trust a foreign NGO much more easily than they’ll trust their own government.

Once we begin the construction, we will keep you posted of our progress

• Charity Concert (PDF)
• Hope for Haiti (PDF)

Here are few Fund Raising Activities for Hope for Haiti Project

• Grade 8 students, ASSET Leadership program of Martha Brown Middle School, Fairport School District, New York, organized Hearts For Haiti
• Grade 4 students of Northside Elementary School of Fairport School District, New York, initiated Hats and Hoodies for Haiti
• Students of Ruamrudee International School in Bangkok organized several fundraising campaigns including a Book Sale and Jump Roping Contest
• Students of New International School of Thailand in Bangkok organized a Bake Sale
• The Garage Restaurant on Wireless Road in Bangkok, Thailand, hosted a charity event organized by students at Bangkok Pattana School
• Jungle Jim’s Restaurant in Moobarn Sammakorn in Bangkok, Thailand, hosted a charity concert organized by Natascha Yogachandra, Hope is Life Foundation

September 2010 Trip to Haiti : Update:

Hope is Life Foundation Sponsors Children’s Enrichment Center

Hope is Life Foundation is currently working with CAFT Foundation and the Artists’ Centre ELT (Edikasyon Lavi Timoun) in Port-Au-Prince to develop and grow a community-based school.  David Thebaud, the owner, holds free workshops for the children of the neighborhood every weekday afternoon from 1- 4 pm where they learn useful skills. On weekday mornings, the space will be occupied for the community school. CAFT Foundation, a locally-based NGO in Haiti, will hold Grades 1 and 2 classes in the mornings, using locally trained teachers.

Healing Through Art Curriculum

Hope is Life Foundation is funding the kickoff of an arts curriculum, Healing through Art, for elementary students in a local school, developed by a retired art teacher in the U.S.. The goal is to develop a Visual Arts Program with the hope of providing Haitian children and the community a spiritual and safe environment to emotionally grow. The need for such a program came from the local community and they are being provided with training and knowledge. This program can provide teachers insight, understanding, and skills to provide engaging and effective art and arts-integrated lessons across all areas of curriculum. The proposed curriculum will inspire students and spark creative interest in all subjects.

Basic art principles will be taught through creative lessons, allowing the children to have many expressive experiences using different art media. Art lessons will support and be integrated into basic subjects already taught so that many of these lessons will eventually become part of the basic curriculum and will not be taught as a separate subject.

Art can enhance their understanding of the world around them and their ability to explain their place in it. Expressing themselves through art can allow students another avenue to share their ideas and feelings. Initially, training will be offered for kindergarten through third grade teachers of a school in Port-au-Prince during November 15-20, 2010. Later the program will be evaluated and expand to other grades and to more schools in the community.

We are also exploring the possibility to build a Teacher Training Institute that can also be used as a Community Learning Center, with the help of Architecture for Humanity and CAFT Foundation.

November 13-20, 2010 Trip Report:

Healing Throught Arts Program for Haiti Children:

To rebuild and create a vibrant community where children can enjoy academic and moral education, where the community can enjoy material and spiritual prosperity, it is important that the local community be empowered to participate and sustain the development process. Whether to start a socioeconomic development project or to start a community school, Hope is Life Foundation’s goal is for the local community be endowed with an understanding of concepts, learning the skills, and acquiring the knowledge of the project.

As an initial step to help the children and teachers in Haiti, during November 13-20, Hope is Life Foundation facilitated an arts curriculum, Healing through Art, training program for the teachers in a local school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. This program was developed by a retired art teacher in Washington, USA, Ms. Judy Rector. The goal is to develop a Visual Arts Program with the hope of providing Haitian children and the community a spiritual and safe environment to emotionally grow. This program can provide teachers insight, understanding, and skills to provide engaging and effective art and artsintegrated lessons across all areas of curriculum. Expressing themselves through art can allow students another avenue to share their ideas and feelings.

The entire staff of Anis Zunuzi School in Port Au Prince, attended an introductory arts curriculum workshop. This pilot program was developed at the request of the Administrative Committee of the school, who recognized the need for visual arts program.

The first step was the introduction of “The Private Eye,” an integrated science/art/writing exploratory program. This program was shared as a way to demonstrate integration of curricular subjects. This project includes student jeweler’s loupes (small magnifying glasses), lanyards, a guide book and “The World in a Box,” which has sample items to explore like a seahorse, an urchin, insects, a butterfly, etc. From exploration, the teachers were guided to writing about what they saw and experienced, and then to drawing and painting enlarged versions of the items as well.

After the “Private Eye” experiences, all the teachers were introduced to the pilot visual arts program. The basics of teaching art and an introduction to the K-3 curriculum were then presented to all of the teachers. This was to insure understanding of what was being introduced at the primary level and what would be coming to the upper grades should the primary teachers approve the program.

The scope and sequence of lessons then proceed to ‘Art Tells a Story’, ‘Art Around the World’, ‘An Artist’s Vision’, ‘Perspective in Art’, and ‘Haitian Art’ by grade level. Basic art elements were introduced such as color, line, texture, shape, form and balance and reviewed at each level with more complex activities. Haitian artists were used as examples wherever possible to emphasize their rich artistic heritage. Teachers each created art tools and samples to help them teach in their own classes.

When we focused on learning how to draw facial features, we used Haitian artist Fritzner Alphonse as our example. He is well-known for his portraits of Haitian women and a great example to illustrate proportion. Each teacher was given laminated cards with step-by-step instructions as to how to create a balanced facial drawing. The results were amazing. For people who had never had artistic experience, they did an admirable job as students and seemed eager to take back these lessons to their classrooms.

The objectives of this program:

1) Introduce the entire staff to art concepts, the history of Haitian Arts and the importance for the growth of all students to have an integrating of arts into their curriculum (Done Nov 15, 2010)
2) Train the Elementary teachers K-3 with a focus in the basic elements of art (Done Nov. 16-18, 2010)
3) Demonstrate ways that ‘art’ can be integrated into other curricular areas such as writing, the social sciences, history, health and languages.
4) Receive short form email reports from teachers using the program lessons and evaluate them for change, material replacement needs and updates.
4) Consult in person with teachers after three months to see how much of the program is used, what materials are still needed and work in the classrooms with teachers and students.
5) Revisit progress of the students and staff, check on the consumable material needs again after six months. Work in the classrooms again.
6) Consult with the Administrative Committee and Primary teachers in March to see if they believe an expansion into three more grades is warranted.