How the First-Ever illuminAid Trip to Haiti Changed Everything

One of the most humbling experiences in my time with illuminAid was when I arrived at a small school house in rural Haiti in 2008. We’d partnered with a wonderful organization excited to try out some new technology for their programs, but I was brand new to the field of international development. I didn't know what to expect. 

We were escorted via car out to the countryside. It was a long way on a bumpy road to deliver the equipment, but immediately upon arrival, a teacher named Clarence came out to the car to greet us. After a short greeting, Clarence gently led me aside and said something I wasn’t sure I understood:

“We are doing the best with what God has given us.”

As we walked from the vehicles over to the school, I realized that his words were an apology. Clarence was ashamed that the school was so inadequate. It wasn't a suitable place to teach children how to read or to do mathematics. There were too many children for him to be the only teacher. It wasn't as orderly as it could have been. There weren't enough places for the children to sit; many of them were standing in the back, perhaps too far away to hear the teacher well. 

Inside the school, it was uncomfortably hot and humid. There were no screens on the windows, so there were alot of flying insects in the building. The blackboard was the primary teaching device, and it was very old. The pieces of chalk were very small and hard to hold, but chalk was a precious commodity so even tiny pieces were still being used. The legibility of the writing on the chalkboard was imperfect because it is difficult to write with such small pieces. The chalkboard was dirty, and due to all of the previous writing there was a lot of chalk dust on the board and difficult to read. It was soon clear many children weren't learning adequately and many were behind. There simply weren’t enough resources to teach the children effectively.  

My job with illuminAid was to bring audio visual technology to assist Clarence and bring much-needed resources, to assist him, not to replace him. Videos of recorded lessons taught on better blackboards could be played on the walls, allowing Clarence the opportunity to improve his teaching skills and bring children additional learning resources. Clarence knew that he didn’t have the kind of teaching credentials that were typical of the USA or even of well-educated teachers elsewhere in Haiti. It was a wonderful opportunity to use projectors to bring assistance via virtual teaching into Clarence's small school house. 

When we turned on the projector, the children were absolutely amazed.  It was like the quote from Arthur C Clarke, the science fiction writer: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” These children really thought it was magic! Clarence was magic. They couldn’t believe another teacher someplace else in Haiti was appearing on the wall of the  classroom. They were awestruck!  After a while, they began to pay attention not to the fact that there were sounds and pictures on the wall, but to the fact that these sounds and pictures were actually teaching them! With assistance from recorded videos shown on projectors, the students in Clarence's classroom learned more efficiently and began to do better.

Thirty countries later, Clarence’s kindness and humility stick with me. By far, it was one of the most humbling greetings I've ever received in my life - an apology by way of greeting, a compassionate heart and an openness for a better tomorrow.

This lesson has guided me for the last thirteen years and I know it will continue so for the next thirteen. It is for every Clarence around the world that we do the work we do. Please help us reach even more of them.