Kenly the Tailer Man

April 4, 2020

Kenley Joseph

First, I will give you a little update on what’s happening in Haiti. The gangs are still robbing and kidnapping people in Port au Prince and on the main highways. I have not heard of demonstrations, but the country is starting to lock down because they now have people with the Coronavirus. This is going to be very difficult in Haiti. The schools have closed and they are closing the market places down. In Haiti, other than the larger cities, there are no grocery stores, all shopping is done at the market in each town or area. People don’t have money or a way to store food bought ahead of time. I think this is going to be another disaster in their history. We really need to pray for all the developing countries.

Now on a much brighter note here is some good news. I received pictures today of multiple buds on the vanilla plants. This is a long time coming. Hopefully, there will be many vanilla beans when we visit next fall. Also, the blooming orchids I brought to Haiti a few years ago are blooming.

 Now I would like to introduce Kenley. He has been my friend for several years. He lives close to us and attended the school where we live. When he was younger, He would come to my apartment every day. I would give him work to do and pay him for it. He would come and help me with my Creole and we would play games. I taught him to play Rummikub, he learned quickly and became a good player. He loved going to the Center with us and attending our agricultural workshops.

We found him a sponsor for high school, his first year did not go well he, barley passed his classes. We were not going to pay for another year but his father died the day before we arrived that September and many people in the village asked us to give him another chance. So, we did agree to pay for a second year but he had to donate Saturday mornings to working at the Center.

Although Kenly did try somewhat harder, he still did not do well and told us he would not be returning to high school. There were a lot of people in the village that were upset with Kenley. He had an opportunity that he did not take advantage of. I saw he was being outcast. So, I looked into trade schools that were available in the area. Our friend Johnathon knew of a tailoring school.   I thought this would be perfect! Kenley was always very interested in whatever I was sewing. We were leaving the next day so I contacted Louinel to see if Kenley would be interested. He was so we left the money for his tuition with Johnathon so he could start right away.

 Kenley has loved the school and has really excelled. We got received a donation of a treadle sewing machine with lots of fabric and assorted sewing supplies. We sent this all down to Kenley on the sea container last year.

Kenley is in the 2nd year of a 3rd year program. He is learning to make clothes & also how to tailor ready-made clothes. Because he has his own pedal-powered sewing machine at home, he is able to complete his homework & take on jobs from neighbors. From the pictures he sent and the reports we hear, he seems to have made tremendous progress.

Because of the civil unrest, this year of the class was just started as of January, and now because of the coronavirus, the school has been canceled indefinitely. At the end of his 3rd year, Kenley will receive a certificate from the Ministry of Education certifying his completion & his skills. He currently lives in Gros Morne with Louinel, & they are able to combine resources to make ends meet. When he finishes schooling, he plans to return to Gasin to work. 

Kenley´s response: I need to resolve the problem of a lack of quality clothing in my community. My studies enable me to have the knowledge of how to take measurements of a person, how to lay the fabric, how to trace the fabric, & how to cut the fabric so that I can sew it. I will make my clients´ hearts happy when I do this well, because I know that they do not have a lot of resources to buy clothes, but they should have quality clothes so that they feel that they have dignity. It is important that people wear clothes that fit them, so that they are respected when they go to other places in Haiti.