Connecting Students in Haiti and the USA

In February 2006 in celebration of Black History Month, Yéle Haiti will link classrooms across the United States with classrooms in Port-au-Prince using satellite video conferencing technology and live webcasts to encourage communication and dialogue between children from these two historically linked nations. In association with major media networks, Yéle Haiti will launch an awareness campaign to highlight Haiti’s contributions to the development and expansion of the early United States as well as to draw attention to the plight of children of this island nation just 500 miles from Florida. A number of celebrities will be involved in the campaign to educate and inspire American youth to reach out to their Haitian peers. Complementing these videoconferences, a website complete with downloadable lesson plans for K-12 teachers and students will provide background information on Haiti, its history, and culture. It will also act as an action center for thousands of students to learn about the main issues facing Haiti and its people, and ways they can help solve them.