Distinctions

2008 Richland, WA Teen Collects Soccer Supplies for Zunuzi

“Richland teen collecting soccer supplies for Haitian kids”

The article below, by Pratik Joshi, Herald staff writer, was printed in the Tri City Herald, Richland, WA. Sunday, Jun. 08, 2008

“Hanford High freshman Teresa Zorich loves soccer. It's fast-paced and helps promote teamwork, the 14-year-old said. So when she heard from a family friend that kids in Haiti can't afford to play soccer, she set herself a goal - to help by collecting soccer supplies for them. Haitians are passionate about soccer but have little money to buy sporting equipment, she said. They need jerseys, shorts, socks, cleats, shinguards and goalie gloves. Teresa said she learned that one Haitian school didn't even have a soccer ball. "They were playing with a flat basketball," she said. Poverty shouldn't prevent Haitian children from enjoying soccer like kids do in America, she said. "Kids are kids."

“Teresa learned about the poverty in the Caribbean nation from Judy Rector, who shared with the Zorichs details and slides from her five-day trip to Haiti in late March. Rector of Richland was in Haiti as a volunteer for Kirkland-based nonprofit Mona Foundation, which promotes global education to empower women. Teresa was so moved that she began her own volunteer effort. So far, she's collected a few pairs of soccer shoes, shinguards and T-shirts after speaking with her school's athletics director, her soccer coaches and Tri-Cities Youth Soccer Association. She's purchased shorts and jerseys from a Goodwill store after raising money through a yard sale.

“But Teresa isn't satisfied. On her list: Gently used uniforms, shoes, socks, soccer balls and anything that can help equip at least three teams. But Teresa is relying on the generosity of Tri-Citians to bring smiles to faces in Haiti. Teresa said her work has been a learning experience that made her aware of the widespread poverty in Haiti. "Most people have a very difficult time finding enough food each day," she said.

“Teresa's project will support students at Anis Zunuzi School on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Rector said. It's a co-educational institute with 232 students in grades K-9 that Mona Foundation has supported since 2000. Rector and Teresa are working on a plan to get the supplies to Haiti at the end of June.”

Follow up: Most of the 36 soccer balls and 6 sets of uniforms were sent via travelers who were going to Haiti and the goods were hand delivered to AZ in August and December.

2008 Cranium Contribution

A new Mona supporter Lori Nieves of Renton, WA, has made it possible for 200 Cranium games written in French, to be shipped as a contribution to Anis Zunuzi School in Haiti. This award-winning board game will help students in several ways, to think creatively, develop problem solving skills and to solve puzzles. It's a wonderful family game that will brighten the lives of students not used to having such luxuries as board games and it will encourage interaction and fun among peer groups.

Richard Tait, CEO and co-founder of the Cranium business, was happy to contribute to this effort when approached by Lori about the contribution to the Haitian school. Thank you, Lori, for your thoughtful help. We know the students will enjoy playing this educational game!

2007 Montessori Materials

Margie Maher recently sent eight large boxes of Montessori teaching materials, much of them brand new, to Anis Zunuzi School in Haiti. Materials included the moveable alphabet, consumable supplies, metal insets for writing activities, a 100 board, language matching cards, many puzzles, a sandpaper letter set, containers like baskets, boxes, tray and pitchers for Montessori classroom activities. This support is invaluable in a country where these specific materials are unavailable and very costly to import. Such generosity from a Mona volunteer is not surprising and it is truly appreciated by the school staff and students alike. Margie plans to follow her July contributions with a site visit to the school in January of 2008.

Children Helping Children

”We are grade 6/7 students from Tecumseh Elementary School in Vancouver, British Columbia. We are members of an Adhoc committee of the student leadership program led by our teacher, Mrs. Leila Khodarahmi. Our committee did a fund raiser to help the Anis Zunuzi School in Haiti. We wanted to do this because we want the children in Haiti to be able to have the same education as we do. To do this, we started with a candy raffle. For the first week, we already raised $200. The second week, we did a draw for another jar of candy and we raised another $200. The last week, we had donations only week. If they donated $2.00 or more, they would be automatically entered into a daily draw. In the end, we raised $835.66. We would like to donate 50% of this money toward the food program and the vegetable garden, 40% would go to scholarships and the last 10% will go to the internet connection. We are proud with how much we have raided. We hope that this money will really help the kids in Haiti.” Sincerely, Frazee, Denesh, Ricky, Julia, Meghan, Tarra, Cybil, Alyssa, Jason, Shawn, Bneeta, Kelvin, Jeanie, Manvir, Heidi, Jasmine, Lisa, Melanie, Katie, Angela, Season

2007 Grant Report

Here is a detailed report on several of the projects in process at this time as provided by the grant for this year.

Kitchen

The donors of the school had wisely stipulated that any future construction be approved or planned by the original architect, Dr. Mahzub, in order to protect the symmetry and beauty of the grounds and buildings. Since we had not been in touch for years it took us some time to locate him and to begin the necessary communication. However he has been found and he is more than willing to assist the school in preparing the plans for new construction. Knowing the need for a designated dining area and new bathrooms he has drawn up plans for all three buildings.

Dining room repairs and cooking equipment

To date three dozen chairs have been purchased. They are not new but are next to new and are more solid than the newer more expensive ones. The school administration wants to have tables and chairs in the dining area that will permit easy removal when the space is needed for a Conference or large gathering, such as the parents meetings.

Repairs to main building

Iron frames for the windows, the paint and labor have been purchased and will be installed soon. The iron door will be used for the resource center where the Montessori materials are kept when not in use.

Repairs to preschool

The bathroom for the kindergarten children has been in process. The septic tank is now covered and the building constructed. The roof will go on before the end of July. The toilet, sink and iron have not yet been purchased.

Computer and Internet

An organization, Vision 2000, has computers and Internet hookup available for schools at a low rate. Thanks to the Administrator who became aware of this the school was able to purchase 6 new DELL® computers, and have an Internet hookup installed for $2,220.

Moral Education

The pre-youth book, “Breezes of Confirmation”, was purchased for forty afternoon students. The animator, Gaby Seriphin Vincent, former National Institute coordinator, was delighted to be able to work with these students. She says these students enjoy the course but more time is needed in order to really appreciate what can be gleaned from them.

Science & Math program

We are awaiting the program's arrival from Macau, and then we will translate it into French.

Teacher Training

Six primary and secondary teachers studied the first two units of their moral education training during the Carnival break in February. This is all that was available at the time. They also studied the book “Breezes of Confirmation” and were delighted with it. In June six more teachers completed their training for the Kindergarten level as well as a Grade 1-2 teacher. All younger level teachers are trained now for moral education.

English lessons began for three teachers, the head of the primary program and the kindergarten program being two of them. They have now completed and successfully passed one session and are into their second term. French lessons also began for six teachers, the head of the secondary program being one of them, and they have also completed their first term.

Summer Camp

Although the summer camp began on July 15th so will be included in the next report we want to share the happy news with you that now in its fourth day there are 31 youth studying the book, “Reflections on the life of the spirit”. They are enjoying it immensely, together with their 3 tutors. There are also 18 children receiving lessons from the Kindergarten and grade 1 book, eleven pre-youth studying “Breezes of Confirmation” and ten studying “Walking the Straight Path”. Along with this study, which takes the first hour every day, the students have a vast program including Math, Science, English, Spanish, French, art and recreational activities. More students are expected next week, as even though the money required is small some children have not yet arrived due to financial difficulties.

Scholarship Students

A total of 30 students are receiving bursaries dating from January 2007 to December 2007. Their photos and biographies are being sent to you.

Georges Marcellus School

The director of the school was delighted to know that they would be able to protect the school from rain and he immediately set about getting the work done. It is virtually completed now. Photos of the work will also be sent as soon as we can go and take them. It is a three-hour drive from the Anis Zunuzi School, over bad roads.

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2006 Montessori Materials

The Materials Company of Boston (supplier to the US Montessori programs) has provided many seconds and still very usable materials to the Mona Foundation to replace the worn equipment in our projects with Montessori Schools. Margie Maher organized and sorted the "garage-full" of materials and has now sent on to Anis Zunuzi School in Haiti six very full boxes! The owner of Manutech, Mr. Farhad Khozouee, lives in Haiti and has been a liaison for us for safe shipping. Sue Puzo is very appreciative of replacements for their ten year old materials.

2006 Bridgeway Grant Report

Thanks to the Bridgeway Charitable Foundation Grant of last December, this first quarter has seen new additions to their curriculum. Six new manual sewing machines are being well used. These are the most preferred due to electrical shortages. Five used computers have been purchased and internet hookups are installed. These are powered by battery at this time as electrical problems in the country need to be resolved. The eight batteries and five internet hookups allow for consistent work.

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2005 $15,000 Bridgeway Foundation Grant

The Bridgeway Charitable Foundation has graciously offered a significantly increased grant for this year. The school is very grateful for this opportunity.

2005 Scholarship Stories

These are the stories of two little girls who are receiving scholarships at this time.

Sabrina Joseph
Sabrina is probably 7, although her exact age is not known. She is in grade one. She enjoys reading with her friend and playing hide and seek. Her favorite foods are spaghetti and cornmeal. She has two sisters and one brother at Anis Zunizi. Her mother sells some food staples that people buy here on a daily basis and makes enough to feed her family if she is lucky. She is a great cook and sells her food sitting on the roadside in front of their house: rice and beans with spices. Sabrina's father is a bricklayer but makes little money from that, as work is intermittent.

Lovely Pierre
Lovely is truly lovely, fourteen and in grade 8. She has five brothers, and is the second oldest child in her family. The family lives together not far from the school. Lovely loves to read, sew, draw, and dance. She enjoys school and all her subjects. She would like to go on to grade 13 and then study agronomy. Many girls drop out of their school in their early secondary years either because they become pregnant or their families cannot afford to send them. The younger children are usually given priority. Lovely will need support emotionally and morally to help her avoid these difficulties. Her father works for the telephone company, but wages are low and transportation costs high, so the financial support will be a great assistance to this family to be able to keep Lovely in school.

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2004 $10,000 Bridgeway Foundation Grant

In the summer of 2004 an all day dialogue on Haiti was held in Houston, Texas. Many distinguished organizations presented stories of their incredible work in Haiti. The topics included efforts to nurture and mazimize Haiti's existing resources. The Mona Foundation presented their efforts to support the Anis Zunuzi school in Haiti. A recent development, since this effort, has been the receipt of $10,000 from the Bridgeway Charitable Foundation earmarked for Haiti. The following expenses will be covered by this grant:

• Teaching staff salaries: $4,112
• Training and training Materials: $635
• Internet connectivity for the year: $1,020
• Cantine subsidization for the year: $2,500
• Media and sports equipment purchses: $1,740
• Total proposed budget for one year: $10,000

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2003 Scholarship Grants

The Mona Foundation has provided $2,310 for scholarships for the school.

2002 Scholarship Grants

The Mona Foundation has provided $2,600 for full scholarships for 11 students for this year.

2000 Scholarship Grants

We have forwarded $1800.00 towards scholarship and other needs of the school in the past two months. Their Home Page describes their needs in full. Most urgently, however, the school is seeking volunteers for the coming year to fill several administrative and teaching positions. Let us know if you know of anyone who may be interested.

Through the support of many individuals, Mona Foundation is also proud to have sent a grant of $1,411.00 to Zunuzi school on March 29, 2000.

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