Visit to the Everett Haitian Community Center (EHCC)

March 4, 2020
EHCC 2This spring our French 50 students with instructor Matthew Rodriguez and course head Karen Turman visited the Everett Haitian Community Center (EHCC) for intercultural exchanges with the children of Haitian immigrants participating in the Emerging Bright Stars Academy volunteer after-school program. They have been working closely with the center’s director, Myrlande Desrosiers, to prepare the children for their Hard to Count video project with the goal of motivating members of local Francophone immigrant communities to participate in the 2020 Census. In line with the theme of the French 50 advanced composition course on writing and social justice, students prepared engaging activities for the children in French on EHCC’s topics for the semester: Democracy, Peace, Family, and Heritage. In turn, students learned about Haitian culture, Creole language, and local community initiatives in the Boston area.