Frisner's Work Brigade, Year Two
REBUILDING PORTAIL LÉOGANE

Dear Friends,

In February 2011 we traveled to Port-au-Prince as part of our continuing effort to support our sister community there (Portail Léogane at the south end of the city). Since the 2010 earthquake we have received invitations from two grassroots organizations created and run by women to join with them in their programs to rebuild. Keenly aware that political wrangling has stalled large-scale reconstruction plans, we determined that we would respond to these invitations. This letter tells the story of one response.

The Orphelinat St. Yves de Portail Léogane cares for children of the community, some of whom lost guardians to the earthquake. All of the children need support as they cope with memories of goudougoudou (Haitians’ name for the earthquake) and with the challenges of living in Lakou Dominik, a former soccer field turned into a tent camp. In the fall, the women who run the Orphelinat asked us to create with them a program that would help the children overcome the traumas with which they live by way of their cultural roots. We have just taken the first small step with a drum and dance workshop, and the children gave the neighborhood its first Kanaval Timoun (Children’s Carnival) on the days leading up to Mardi Gras.

All of the seventeen children who participated enriched our own lives with their intelligence and enthusiasm, yet Kenny (aka André Chandley) stands out among them. A building collapsed on Kenny on the day of the earthquake. People in the community rescued him, and he spent time in several hospitals undergoing a total of 13 operations on his legs. He walks with one crutch today, but it’s likely he’ll throw that away soon. Kenny loves to play the drum, and we would love to help him learn.

Note: Through July 2011 donations from this page will help provide drum lessons for Kenny at the same time that they benefit a local drum teacher. Help to nurture this first seed in our evolving program of classes in drumming, song, and dance—a course of study that will endow our children with the wealth of their own incomparable heritage.

Click here for a preview of what that looks like.

To make your tax-deductible contribution, click on the button below. You may also send a check payable to La Troupe Makandal. Our address is 621 Rutland Rd Apt 4C, Brooklyn NY 11203-1716. Many thanks.

Frisner, Lois, and all the Artists and Board of Makandal

Thank you for caring about and supporting Haiti
and for sharing this information with family and friends.

Ti Makandal Ayiti (Little Makandal of Haiti)



Kenny (left) and friend learn to drum.