28157: Hermantin(News)Keeping alive a culture through books (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Miami Herald


Posted on Sun, Mar. 26, 2006


LANGUAGES
Keeping alive a culture through books
Educa Vision, a Deerfield Beach-based publishing company, helps Haitians and 
Haitian Americans connect with their roots by publishing and translating books 
into Creole.
BY SABINE LOUISSAINT
sabine0929@yahoo.com

After they finish their homework, 11-year-old Niabelle Thelemaque and her 
7-year-old sister, Nathalie, enjoy reading a good book.

Like most children their ages, they have bookshelves with the Junie B. Jones 
and Magic Treehouse collections. But next to these books are titles such as 
Zwazo Ble (Blue Bird) and Ti Poul (Little Chicken), written in their parents' 
native language, Haitian Creole or Kreyol.

''I want to pass on my culture to my daughters,'' said Arnode Thelemaque, 42, a 
field nurse case manager. ``I want them to be able to speak and write Creole so 
they can communicate to their people, especially their grandmother.''

But finding children's books written in Creole was difficult for the Coral 
Springs mom until she learned of Educa Vision, a Deerfield Beach-based 
publishing company that publishes and translates books, dictionaries and 
textbooks in Creole.

Educa Vision has become a touchstone for Haitians and Haitian Americans who 
want to connect with their roots by learning Creole and by reading Haitian 
literature, proverbs and recipe books.

Educa Vision publisher Féquiere Vilsaint, a former biochemist and researcher at 
the University of South Florida, said the company was originally established to 
develop education materials for Haitian immigrants learning English.

Many students who come from Haiti with little formal education have trouble 
adapting to schools in the United States. Moving to a new country and a new 
school is already a daunting experience, but it is exacerbated by the onus of 
having to learn subjects such as math and science in a foreign language, 
Vilsaint said.

In 1990, Vilsaint compiled a list of English scientific and mathematical terms, 
such as ''square root'' and ''sum'' with their Creole equivalent to help 
students understand the concepts they were learning.

Demand for the list grew by word of mouth. One year later, Vilsaint formed 
Educa Vision and published an English to Creole dictionary. He also published 
books on parenting and health in Creole.

His books have since been in demand among ESOL (English as a Second Language) 
instructors and educators in Miami-Dade and Broward public schools, which use 
Educa Vision's Creole FCAT prep books and textbooks for their classes.

''When you have a math concept, the student sees numbers but does not 
understand the process to get the answers. So, we provide the curriculum 
content in the home language to teach him the process and the steps. This helps 
the student understand the subject he is learning while he learns a new 
language,'' said Carline Faustin, a communications specialist for Miami-Dade 
County Public Schools and an instructor at Miami Dade College.

Michaelle Vincent, a teacher at Miami Edison Senior High, assigns Educa Vision 
books to her Creole class. The class is made up of Haitian immigrants who want 
to continue learning their language, as well as Haitian Americans who choose to 
study Creole as a foreign language.

''My students want to connect with their culture. They want to improve their 
Creole and also want to read and write it,'' she said. Among Haitians in the 
diaspora, there is a concerted effort to achieve literacy in Creole, especially 
in South Florida, where it can be beneficial for those who seek employment in 
social services, Vincent says. ''Employers want people who can read and write 
the language in order to effectively communicate with the community they 
serve,'' she said.

According to Vilsaint, there is a great demand for Creole literature. Lafami 
Bonplezi, a novel written by his wife, Maude Heurtelou, is one of his 
best-selling books. Educa Vision also offers adaptations of popular classics 
such as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Roro ak Juliette.

Educa Vision's clients also include non-Haitians who are interested in learning 
Creole or reading Haitian literature, such as missionaries and Peace Corps 
workers assigned to Haiti.

Not all of Educa Vision's books are in Creole. The company also offers books 
about Haitian culture and history in English.

Vilsaint says he is proud of Educa Vision's contributions to Haitian cultural 
awareness. ''I offer books that are made in a Haitian context,'' he said, ``so 
the reader can relate to the story from a Haitian cultural point of view.''