On January 24 I was fortunate enough to travel with a group of marketing researchers with the Marketing Research Education Foundation (MREF), an organization that brings the MR community together to focus resources on educating children worldwide, on a vision trip to Haiti. Our destination: the Joseph School in Cabaret, Haiti.
Back in 2017 I wrote about the MR connection to the Joseph School and also worked with Carl Rossow, Benenson Strategy Group, and Kim Johanson, Schlesinger Group, to publish articles on their experiences traveling with the MREF to Haiti. So when Steve Quirk asked me if I would like the opportunity to visit the school my response was an immediate yes!
Leaders for tomorrow
The Joseph School is a primary and secondary school providing Haitian children with the opportunity to receive a world-class education, founded by marketing researcher Jim Bryson, 20|20 Research. Shortly after the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti, Bryson was asked by his pastor to go to Haiti and see how their church could help with the resulting orphan crisis. The Joseph School opened on September 27, 2015 with a class of 30 first graders. Today the school has students enrolled in four grades with the plan to continue to add a grade every year, taking students through high school. At the Joseph School, students are provided with school supplies, books, curriculum, uniforms and shoes, along with transportation to and from school and two meals a day.
The school has a unique mission – to develop a generation of leaders for Haiti. Each person I spoke to commented on how “leader-poor” the country is. The founders of the school believe the only way to improve the lives of Haitians is to educate boys and girls so that they can grow up to be ethical leaders equipped to tackle the issues facing this country. This is made apparent in the student creed, which the students recite every morning:
I am a Haitian citizen. I am called to develop my country with love, charity and fraternity without any discrimination and to be a leader in the world who reflects Jesus’s love wherever I go.
Bryson told our group that the teachers and principal fully believe that a future president of Haiti is in one of their classrooms.
Bildad, the operations manager, led the opening ceremony for the students while we were visiting, calling each one of them princes and princesses, reminding them of their potential. When I spoke to him later I learned that he and his brother taught their mother to read and write after school as children. Bildad said, “I want more girls at the school because each one reminds me of my mother.”
While visiting the school, our group had the opportunity to serve the children their meals, pick up trash around the property, read books in the classrooms and watch a student soccer game. My favorite part was sitting and painting the girl’s nails while watching the game. I was impressed by how friendly and respectful the children were. Despite their poverty, they seemed happy and full of purpose.
When we were leaving the school Jonaé Shaw, director of engagement for the Joseph School, told us about a student who went home every night after school to teach his little brother what he learned. It was heartwarming to learn that his little brother did well on the entrance tests and was able to join him at the Joseph School the next year. A true testimony of the student’s leadership skills and dedication to education.
Changing the world
While my trip to Haiti won’t change the country, the combined effort of everyone who participates in the Joseph School’s mission just might.
After the trip one participant, Susan Waltman, Ipsos, sent an e-mail out to everyone sharing how we reminded her of a quote by anthropologist Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
If you’d like to join this community of committed citizens I encourage you to visit www.mrgivesback.org to learn more about opportunities to serve with the MREF and http://thejosephschool.org to read about the school and its mission in Haiti.
It is my hope that you consider visiting the Joseph School. You will learn so much from the students, staff, volunteers and your fellow researchers. It is an experience I’ll never forget.