Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School

The Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School is a Bahá'í School near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which began in 1980.[1] It reached the point of offering classes K through 10th grade.[2] The building survived the 2010 Haiti earthquake[3] and was the site of a clinic during the relief effort.[4][5]Coordinates: 18°37′03″N 72°14′56″W / 18.61750°N 72.24889°W / 18.61750; -72.24889

General information

The Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School (Ecole Bahá'íe Anís Zunúzí), named for the companion who suffered execution with the Báb, began classes in 1980 and grew into a K-9 primary and secondary school, serving 232 students by 1983,[1] 270 by 1988.[6] For a time the secondary school program was closed to focus on K-4th primary school offerings.[7] The secondary program re-opened in September 2004 and has added one class per year since then and by 2009 the school was a K-10 school (intending on becoming a full high school and offering national exams.)[2] Its initial funding and operating budget for years came from the business income of a Belgian Bahá'í family, Pari Hosseinpour and Hassan-Ali Kamran.[1] The student population comes mostly from no- to low-income families, and most students are only paying minimal or no fees to attend the school.[8] It follows the national curriculum but also provides moral education and English classes. It is situated on about three acres of land in what has become a suburb several miles north east of Port-au-Prince proper (and a few miles north west of Croix-des-Bouquets.)[9]

When the school was established, the area was rural and underdeveloped. A 220V power line was brought in from Bon Repos to provide the school with electricity, and the first telephone line reached the school only in 1989.[10] An artesian well was drilled and provided drinking water to the school as well as to the public through a pipe ending at a fountain at the Bon Repos-Beudet road. In October 1982 Rúhíyyih Khanum, a Hand of the Cause, a position of prominence in the Bahá'í Faith, presided at the official inauguration ceremony for the school.[11] The initial board of directors were Counsellor Farzam Arbab, Dr. Nabil Hanna, Benjamin Levy, Dr. Iraj Majzub and Georges Marcellus.[12] The first school principal came from Germany in 1980 (Hans J Thimm, later of Union School, Haiti.[3][13]). Current directors are Sue and Yves Puzo.

The area has been built up with private homes and businesses[10] and the school has been broken into twice forcing security infrastructure additions.[7] The arable land in the vicinity of the school is no longer being worked due to lack of water and lack of initiative on the part of the youth who prefer to find other means of employment that are easier or more lucrative.The Mona Foundation has supported the school with funding for support of satellite schools, scholarships, regular summer camps, and general funding as well as acting as a mediator of larger scale funding for infrastructure improvements.[2]

Program

The program at the school involves:[7]

Development projects

The school has acted as a base of a number of development projects:[16]

Recent situation

The school has a Facebook presence.[3] In September 2009 there was filming for a documentary about Mona Foundation projects including the Anís Zunúzí school.[25][26][27][28][29]

The principal of the Anís Zunúzí School reported on January 17, 2010 that the school buildings were generally still standing after the 2010 Haiti earthquake[3] and its staff were cooperating in relief efforts and sharing space and support with neighbors.[30] A clinic was run at the school by a medical team from the United States and Canada.[4] The group has since organized under the name Love for Haiti; it had organized spontaneously, largely through Facebook.[5] The group gave a presentation on their Haiti experience at St. Matthews Parish Hall in Hoboken, NJ on Feb. 18, and returned to Haiti in March. The group included one photo journalist.[31]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Development of the Anis Zunuzi School". Bahá'í News. No. 625. April 1983. pp. 5–7. ISSN 0195-9212.
  2. 1 2 3 "Anis Zunuzi School Outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Haiti". Projects & Initiatives; Projects we support. Mona Foundation. 2009. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Thimm, Hans J. (2010). "Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School". Facebook Page. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  4. 1 2 "Amid wreckage in Haiti, new birth brings hope". Bahá'í World News Service (Bahá'i International Community). 5 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  5. 1 2 Carroll, Timothy J. (February 14, 2010). "Hands-on in Haiti - Local women need supplies for relief effort". Hudson Reporter (Hoboken New Jersey). Retrieved 2010-02-14.
  6. "Special report - Basic Baha'i education activities; Formal Schools". Bahá'í News. No. 694. January 1989. p. 5. ISSN 0195-9212.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Anis Zunuzi School Current Programs". Projects & Initiatives; Projects we support; Anis Zunuzi School. Mona Foundation. 2009. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  8. "Zunusi School (Haiti)". Projects. Partners for Prosperity. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  9. "Haiti - Rural development at the Zunuzi School". Bahá'í News. No. 680. November 1987. p. 12. ISSN 0195-9212.
  10. 1 2 "About The School". Anis Zunuzi Baha'i School. Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  11. "Haiti Anis Zunuzi Baha'i School is dedicated". Bahá'í News. No. 625. April 1983. p. 2. ISSN 0195-9212.
  12. "Zunuzi School Board of Directors named". Bahá'í News. No. 625. April 1983. p. 4. ISSN 0195-9212.
  13. Thimm, Hans J. (2009). "Hans J. Thimm". LinkedIn Profile. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  14. 1 2 3 "Anis Zunuzi School Background". Projects & Initiatives; Projects we support. Mona Foundation. 2009. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  15. "What are some of the activities of Mona Foundation?". Mona Frequently Asked Questions. Mona Foundation. 2009. Archived from the original on 22 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  16. The main source of information about individual projects ended publication in 1990 so further information isn't available as yet.
  17. "The World; Haiti". Bahá'í News. No. 645. December 1984. p. 13. ISSN 0195-9212.
  18. "Haiti - Anis Zunuzi School: Annual report". Bahá'í News. No. 645. March 1985. p. 3. ISSN 0195-9212.
  19. "Haiti-Zunuzi School aids development project". Bahá'í News. No. 650. May 1985. pp. 10–11. ISSN 0195-9212.
  20. 1 2 "Haiti -Zunuzi School aids development project". Bahá'í News. No. 668. November 1986. pp. 8–12. ISSN 0195-9212.
  21. "The World; Haiti". Bahá'í News. No. 664. July 1986. p. 13. ISSN 0195-9212.
  22. 1 2 "Development - A look at programs around the world; Americas; Agriculture and forestry;". Bahá'í News. No. 682. January 1987. p. 4. ISSN 0195-9212.
  23. "Film documents Anis Zunuzi School's Development Project". Bahá'í News. No. 668. November 1986. p. 9. ISSN 0195-9212.
  24. Nolley, Charles (2010). "Charles Nolley; Honors/Awards". Division of Digital Learning and Media Design. Governors State University. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  25. Zamani, Payam (November 24, 2009). "A Visit To Haiti: Could Education Be The Answer?". Huffington Post (HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.). Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  26. narom (September 13, 2009). "From Idaho to Haiti". Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  27. Zandra, Ruhi (2009). "Video Project Notes – After the Interview". Projects & Initiatives; Projects we support; Anis Zunuzi School; Growth. Mona Foundation. Archived from the original on December 2, 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  28. narom (September 20, 2009). "Haiti Highlights: Day 3 – CAFT & Anis Zunuzi". Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  29. narom (September 21, 2009). "Haiti Highlights: Day 4 – Anis Zunuzi". Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  30. "New Events and Updates". Projects & Initiatives; Projects we support; Anis Zunuzi School. Mona Foundation. 2009. Archived from the original on 22 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  31. "About us and our projects". Official Website. love-for-haiti.com. February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-14.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.