Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School
Encyclopedia
The Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School is a Bahá'í School
near Port-au-Prince
, Haiti
, which first began to hold classes in 1980. It reached the point of offering classes K through 10th grade. The building survived the 2010 Haiti earthquake
and was the cite of a clinic during the relief effort.
, began having classes in 1980 and grew into a K-9 primary and secondary school, serving 232 students by 1983, 270 by 1988. For a time the secondary school program was closed to focus on K-4th primary school offerings. The secondary program re-opened in September 2004 and has added one class per year since then and by 2009 the school was a K-10 school (intending on becoming a full high school and offering national exams.) Its initial funding and operating budget for years came from a Belgian Bahá'í family's business income. The student population comes mostly from no- to low-income families, and most students are only paying minimal or no fees to attend the school. It follows the national curriculum but also provides moral education and English classes. It is situated on about three acres of land in what has become a suburb several miles north east of Port-au-Prince
proper (and a few miles north west of Croix-des-Bouquets
.) When the school was first established, the area was definitely rural and underdeveloped. A 220V power line was brought in from Bon Repos to provide the school with electricity, and the first telephone line reached the school only in 1989. An artesian well was drilled and provided drinking water to the school as well as to the public through a pipe ending at a fountain at the Bon Repos-Beudet road. In October 1982 Rúhíyyih Khanum
, a Hand of the Cause, a position of prominence in the Bahá'í Faith
, presided at the official inauguration ceremony for the school. The initial board of directors were Counsellor Farzam Arbab, Dr. Nabil Hanna, Benjamin Levy, Dr. Iraj Majzub and Georges Marcellus. The first school principal came from Germany in 1980 (Hans J Thimm, later of Union School, Haiti.). Current directors are Sue and Yves Puzo.
More recently the whole area has been built up with both private homes and businesses and the school has been broken into twice forcing security infrastructure additions. The arable land in the vicinity of the school is no longer being worked due to lack of water and lack of initiative on the part of the youth who prefer to find other means of employment that are easier and probably more lucrative. More recently the Mona Foundation
has supported the school with funding for support of satellite schools, scholarships, regular summer camps, and general funding as well as acting as a mediator of larger scale funding for infrastructure improvements.
presence. In September 2009 there was filming for a documentary about Mona Foundation projects including the Anís Zunúzí school.
The principal of the Anís Zunúzí School reported on January 17, 2010 that the school buildings were generally still standing after the 2010 Haiti earthquake
and its staff were cooperating in relief efforts and sharing space and support with neighbors. A clinic was run at the school by a medical team from the United States and Canada. The group has since organized under the name Love for Haiti; it had organized spontaneously, largely through Facebook
. The group gave a presentation on their Haiti experience at St. Matthews Parish Hall in Hoboken, NJ on Feb. 18, and returned to Haiti in March. The group included one photo journalist.
Bahá'í school
A Bahá'í school at its simplest would be a school run officially by the Bahá'í institutions in its jurisdiction and may be a local class or set of classes, normally run weekly where children get together to study about Bahá'í teachings, Bahá'í central figures, or Bahá'í administration...
near Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, which first began to hold classes in 1980. It reached the point of offering classes K through 10th grade. The building survived the 2010 Haiti earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
and was the cite of a clinic during the relief effort.
General information
The Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School (Ecole Bahá'íe Anís Zunúzí), named for the companion who suffered execution with the BábExecution of the Báb
On the morning of July 9, 1850 in Tabriz, a young Persian merchant known as the Báb was charged with apostasy and shot by order of the Prime Minister of the Persian Empire...
, began having classes in 1980 and grew into a K-9 primary and secondary school, serving 232 students by 1983, 270 by 1988. For a time the secondary school program was closed to focus on K-4th primary school offerings. The secondary program re-opened in September 2004 and has added one class per year since then and by 2009 the school was a K-10 school (intending on becoming a full high school and offering national exams.) Its initial funding and operating budget for years came from a Belgian Bahá'í family's business income. The student population comes mostly from no- to low-income families, and most students are only paying minimal or no fees to attend the school. It follows the national curriculum but also provides moral education and English classes. It is situated on about three acres of land in what has become a suburb several miles north east of Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
proper (and a few miles north west of Croix-des-Bouquets
Croix-des-Bouquets
Croix-des-Bouquets is a city in the Ouest Department of Haiti. It is located to the northeast of Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince. Originally located on the shore, it was relocated inland after the 1770 Port-au-Prince earthquake. Due to this fact, it was not as badly affected in the 2010...
.) When the school was first established, the area was definitely rural and underdeveloped. A 220V power line was brought in from Bon Repos to provide the school with electricity, and the first telephone line reached the school only in 1989. An artesian well was drilled and provided drinking water to the school as well as to the public through a pipe ending at a fountain at the Bon Repos-Beudet road. In October 1982 Rúhíyyih Khanum
Rúhíyyih Khanum
Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum , born Mary Sutherland Maxwell was the wife of Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921–1957. She was appointed by him as a Hand of the Cause, and served an important role in the transfer of authority from 1957–1963...
, a Hand of the Cause, a position of prominence in the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
, presided at the official inauguration ceremony for the school. The initial board of directors were Counsellor Farzam Arbab, Dr. Nabil Hanna, Benjamin Levy, Dr. Iraj Majzub and Georges Marcellus. The first school principal came from Germany in 1980 (Hans J Thimm, later of Union School, Haiti.). Current directors are Sue and Yves Puzo.
More recently the whole area has been built up with both private homes and businesses and the school has been broken into twice forcing security infrastructure additions. The arable land in the vicinity of the school is no longer being worked due to lack of water and lack of initiative on the part of the youth who prefer to find other means of employment that are easier and probably more lucrative. More recently the Mona Foundation
Mona Foundation
Mona Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports grassroots initiatives focused on education and raising the status of women and girls in the US and abroad...
has supported the school with funding for support of satellite schools, scholarships, regular summer camps, and general funding as well as acting as a mediator of larger scale funding for infrastructure improvements.
Program
The program at the school involves:- In September 2003 the school opened an afternoon program for children who were too old, too poor, or too busy to attend the morning sessions.
- There are regular classes on moral education, English, folk dancing, sewing, computer classes, and crafts and an annual school outing.
- Materials used start in Kindergarten through 4th grade were prepared in Columbia that concentrate on building spiritual qualities. In grades 3 & 4 they follow lessons from the Virtues GuideThe Virtues Project'The Virtues Project empowers individuals to live more authentic meaningful lives, families to raise children of compassion and integrity, educators to create safe, caring, and high performing learning communities, and leaders to encourage excellence and ethics in the work place...
in French. In grades 5 to 9 they follow the pre-youth courses: “Brises of Confirmation”, “Glimmerings of Hope”, and “Walking the straight Path”. - Teacher training has been a part of the school's schedule for the past 15 years. However, with the turnover in staff there are no teachers that have been here longer than five, and most only one or two, years. This requires a constant assessment of needs and further instruction to fill the gaps.
- In recent years the school has charged $10 per month per child, although for many even this amount is not affordable.
- The main school is also responsible for two satellite schools in Guerot and Pont Benoit, each serving 50 and 60 students, respectively: the New Horizon School, which is run by Bernard Martinod, a French architect and the Georges Marcellus School in the rural village of Gureot.
Development Projects
The school has acted as a base of a number of development projects:- In 1984 the school began publication of a quarterly newspaper, "Timun" (which in Haitian Creole means children or, more literally, "little people") and subtitled "Development of Baha'i Education in Haiti."
- With the help of CARE, a food program was started. Although the supervision of the food program consumed a considerable amount of time and energy, the effort was well worth while. The first grade teacher noticed a great difference in his 6-8 year olds. Before, many children in the area only ate once a day (in the afternoon or evening), and were tired during the mornings. The poorer families with many children and little income even skipped a day or two. In this situation, the lunch provided by the school considerably helped increase the students' receptivity.
- When the school started in 1980, the average age of students starting school was 10 years. When the school became the springboard for six pre-school centers managed by the school's Development Project in several neighboring villages, parents were even more encouraged to send their children to school at an earlier age. After about five years, the situation had normalized, and students entering first grade were now mostly 6-7 year olds.
- From 1983 to 1984 funding from the Canadian International Development AgencyCanadian International Development AgencyThe Canadian International Development Agency was formed in 1968 by the Canadian government. CIDA administers foreign aid programs in developing countries, and operates in partnership with other Canadian organizations in the public and private sectors as well as other international organizations...
(CIDA) and the Universal House of JusticeUniversal House of JusticeThe Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
was spent on a development project run through the school. 20 volunteers from the school were trained in various subjects. Initially a survey encompassing 98 households and 216 individuals in Lilavois, Depio, Savanne Blonde, Ségur and Cesleste was undertaken. Mini-cooperatives and women's committees met discussing possible initiatives. In Lilavois and Liancourt they were interested in crafts, cooking, sewing and, to some extent, literacy and upgrading of those skills. In the Artibonite valley they created 17 mini-cooperatives composed of friends who invest in commercial or agricultural projects with their own money in a microfinanceMicrofinanceMicrofinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
arrangement. "Animation" techniques and quotes from Bahá'í literature were compiled. Demonstration gardens were set up. The Local Spiritual Assembly of Liancourt carried development after the project in their area independently from the initial work through the school. Four village early childhood education centers were built, with teachers being partially supported by the parents in those villages. Projects continued to advance in 1986. - A technical-vocational program developed through the school in 1985 established a small iron and wood workshop in a modest building. With funding from the Canadian International Development AgencyCanadian International Development AgencyThe Canadian International Development Agency was formed in 1968 by the Canadian government. CIDA administers foreign aid programs in developing countries, and operates in partnership with other Canadian organizations in the public and private sectors as well as other international organizations...
(CIDA), tools were procured, and the first seven apprentices were trained. The workshop produced furniture, seedling racks, a sand sifter, bee-keeping hives and frames, and decorative and protective ironwork for windows and gates. However this program ceased around 2002 when the schools program focused on primary grades. - After receiving seed funding from the Pan American Development FoundationPan American Development FoundationThe Pan American Development Foundation is a non-governmental and non-political organization created in 1962 by the Organization of American States , the public sector and the private sector to focus on issues of pressing concern in the Western Hemisphere. PADF, a non-profit organization, has...
in 1985-6, the school initiated a grafter tree project producing 80,000 seedlings a year. This was extended and accelerated in 1987. And teacher orientation and training to further integrate school based development projects and schooling and the Spiritual Assembly of Lilavois supervised projects in its area. - In May 1986 filming for a documentary on the school was begun and it evolved into a 20 minute documentary video From Haitian Roots about education and development projects accomplished by the school.
- During the first years, a primer (Bondye Bon) and a second-year reader (Bo lakay nou) were developed in Creole to help children read and write in their native language. In 1987 the school developed a third-grade French-language reader, Ouvrons la Porte, to help in the transition from Haitian CreoleHaitian Creole languageHaitian Creole language , often called simply Creole or Kreyòl, is a language spoken in Haiti by about twelve million people, which includes all Haitians in Haiti and via emigration, by about two to three million speakers residing in the Bahamas, Cuba, Canada, France, Cayman Islands, French...
to FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
by introducing one French sound at a time while otherwise using already known Creole letters and words. While methods employed by most other schools enabled students to read (but not understand) French mainly by rote memorizing, the three books (developed by Matty Bellows Thimm, the second school principal) made students functional in literacy. All books use pictures and stories containing Bahá'í principles, although they do not refer specifically to the religion.
Recent Situation
In more recent times the school has maintained a FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
presence. In September 2009 there was filming for a documentary about Mona Foundation projects including the Anís Zunúzí school.
The principal of the Anís Zunúzí School reported on January 17, 2010 that the school buildings were generally still standing after the 2010 Haiti earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
and its staff were cooperating in relief efforts and sharing space and support with neighbors. A clinic was run at the school by a medical team from the United States and Canada. The group has since organized under the name Love for Haiti; it had organized spontaneously, largely through Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. The group gave a presentation on their Haiti experience at St. Matthews Parish Hall in Hoboken, NJ on Feb. 18, and returned to Haiti in March. The group included one photo journalist.
See also
- Bahá'í Faith in HaitiBahá'í Faith in HaitiThe Bahá'í Faith in Haiti began in 1916 when `Abdu'l-Bahá, the head of the religion, cited Haiti as one of the island countries of the Caribbean where Bahá'ís should establish a religious community. The first Bahá'í to visit Haiti was Leonora Armstrong in 1927...
- Education in HaitiEducation in HaitiEducation levels in Haiti are low. Haiti’s literacy rate of about 53 percent falls well below the 90 percent average literacy rate for Latin American and Caribbean countries. The country faces shortages in educational supplies and qualified teachers, and the rural population remains...
- List of schools in Haiti
- Humanitarian response by non-governmental organizations to the 2010 Haiti earthquakeHumanitarian response by non-governmental organizations to the 2010 Haiti earthquakeThe humanitarian response by non-governmental organizations to the 2010 Haiti earthquake included many non-governmental organizations, such as international, religious and regionally based NGOs, that immediately pledged support in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake...
External links
- Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School at Facebook
- Haitian Street Kids Talk About Their Lives
- Anis Zunuzi Children Singing Hello My Friend
- George Marcellus satellite school - Photos from recent trip of Mona Foundation