Six Degrees of Separation, Removing Barriers for Education

Thoughout the month of September Cowles Montessori will be collecting pennies in our pool, as well as collecting gently used or new children’s shoes to send to the students in Haiti. We also have “education” bracelets for $5.00 which will help in supporting the clean drinking water initiative we are also working on.  Cowles is happy to be supporting an organiztion that continues to benefit children in Haiti through providing education.

Six Degrees of Separation: Removing Barriers for Education is formed exclusively for charitable purposes including the distribution of monetary donations to schools in order to provide for academic financial sponsorship of children to support them in receiving an education.

Six Degrees of Separation was started by six women from Des Moines, Iowa, who were united by a need to support education in a small community in Haiti. After the earthquake in 2010, Haiti was left in ruin. Although efforts were being made to provide assistance, opportunities to improve conditions were plentiful. Our group chose to help by focusing our efforts on education in rural Haiti. Friends with local ties (adding to the reason for our name!) connected us with a small community which was struggling to provide a structured education program for youth in this area. Today, at L’ecole school in L’abiche (about five hours southwest of Port au Prince), uniforms, school supplies, and teaching assistance is provided to ninety children through grants provided by Six Degrees of Separation. To create an atmosphere of success through achievement, we have developed a scholarship program that allows the top performing students to receive paid tuition in exchange for parental involvement, academic proficiency, and extended learning through English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Today, we provide scholarship support to six young girls.

Six Degrees of Separation continues fundraising efforts to sustain our current involvement and provide for ongoing needs (uniforms, supplies, tuition, etc.). As we look forward, future opportunities include increasing the scholarship reserve, creating a library for both young students and adult learners, and broaden learning approaches through the use of solar panels for electricity to power lights and computers. Additionally, we are exploring establishing a local agricultural project that could provide additional education and income opportunities beneficial to the entire community.

Six Degrees of Separation is a name that reminds us daily of how closely we are all connected and how support and love comes full circle. Please join us in helping those connected communities in need.

Six young girls, selected to receive scholarships by Six Degrees of Separation, receive English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction, following their traditional school day. The English curriculum used is sourced from National Geographic’s Cengage Learning®. In our recent trip to L’abiche in June, we were able to share all the materials with two teachers who were very excited to put it all together.

Included in our ongoing needs, but there are additional goals we’d like to realize:

· Expanding efforts to include adult learners through a local library

community center

· Providing technology (computers, calculators, CD players) to promote

competitive learning

· Assessing potential agricultural project to assist with food and financial

needs of L’abiche

· Reviewing physical needs of the school

· Assessing potential expansion of school day

· Evaluating teacher proficiencies

· Provided solar panels for electricity to access lighting, computers