GAME ON! HP’S 1ST SOCCER TOURNAMENT
119 girls from five teams put in hours and hours of practice for many months in preparation and today was the day. The sidelines were packed with 300 fans who came to watch their daughters, sisters and friends play and see who would take home some hardware. Their hard work didn’t go unnoticed as many were impressed with their talent and athleticism.
Any break in the action was filled with fans playing musical chairs and participating in egg-in-a-spoon and sack races keeping everyone entertained. But it wasn’t all fun and games, we used the opportunity to educate the crowd by asking local organizations such as ADF – a Fond des Blancs partner who reinforces the capacity of local organizations and St. Boniface to attend. ADF passed out brochures informing the public of the services they offer and a St. Boniface Rep spoke about HIV/AIDS prevention.
HP’s very own Miss Berrette spoke on the multitude of services we offer to the community from family planning to library services/activities. We had a bit of rain which was a little reprieve for the players. Overall, the tournament was a great success and will happen again.
SUMMER PROGRAMS SERVE 350!
Chock that up to the wide variety of programs available to the youth community like Artisanat Training, Reading, English & French, Cultural Dance and Computer 101. The library also hosted 15 activities such as English & French classes, Computer Lit, three levels of Adult Lit and, Movie Night. It was bustling and hustling all summer!
But wait there’s more good news about our camps… we are seeing more and more girls in attendance, making up over 60% of participants! That is some good news right there!
SUMMER PROGRAMS SERVE 350!
We came in hot from Boston, New York, and Haiti descending on Santa Fe, New Mexico in the heat of the summer. Our invitation to attend this outdoor market came in early 2019 and our New York designers, Rebecca Zuber Sher and her daughter Michaela worked closely with our cooperative of artisans to come up with a new line of products. Once they settled on designs, the women cranked out the inventory with their continued level of excellence in everything they do. Our Artistic Director from Haiti, Jean Rene, knocked it out of the park – working with designers, organizing production, absorbing all he could from training, educating customers on Haitian culture, and closing the We gave away our very first Young Ambassador award to Maya Rabin. Maya’s dedication to the success of the girls soccer teams translates into cleats, shirts, balls, and uniforms. And, she raised funds so that we could pay the coaching salaries and also offer snacks and water to the girls during practice and games. Stay tuned for next year’s event! deals during the weekend marathon of sales.
The International Folk Art Market is a giant and we mean GIANT outdoor market with over 170 vendors representing fifty countries, 25,000 attendees and what seemed to be the same amount of volunteers! It is an enormous operation that involves a lot of people. It is the Catalina Wine Mixer of folk markets (inside joke – if you know the reference let us know on our FB page). It was our biggest show in the sense of expected crowds, our inventory and our investment of time, money and energy and IT WAS ALL WORTH IT! We met our sales goals, met some wonderful people with whom we can collaborate and had the experience of a lifetime. We will be submitting our application next month to be invited next year.
Keep your fingers crossed!
Quick video explaining IFAM and all it does: https://www.pbs.org/ newshour/show/at-santa-fesinternational-folk-art-marketculture-is-the-commodity