Laboratwa Eletronik Matènwa

with Elizabeth Chin and Lekòl Kominote Matènwa, Summer 2016 & 2019

"Lekòl Kominote Matènwa (often abbreviated as LKM) is a community school in rural Haiti on the island of La Gonâve. LKM’s pedagogical philosophy emphasizes education in collaboration with, and celebration of, local knowledge and traditions. Classes are hands-on, often take place in the school’s gardens or chicken coop, and are lead by local residents of the island. LKM’s unique approach to education allows people 'to recognize that knowledge, confidence, and self-determination can be found in their own experiences and histories.'"

"I was introduced to LKM by my colleague Elizabeth Chin, who has collaborated with the school for the last six years. In 2015, Elizabeth and a research assistant traveled to Matènwa to teach photography classes at LKM. As described in this essay, the classes served a dual purpose: introducing participants 'to such concepts as framing, lighting, composition, micro/macro and point of view' (Chin 2015) done while simultaneously providing an environment for general technology education (where photography is simply the context). These classes were met with so much excitement that Elizabeth invited me to collaborate with her on a similar series of hands-on technology workshops for deployment the following summer. In the summer of 2016, I traveled to Haiti with a suitcase full of electronics supplies to meet Elizabeth at LKM. Over the course of two weeks, we lead training sessions for LKM’s faculty as well as workshops for children. In both cases, our activities at the school functioned as a means to explore what kind of hands-on technology curriculum is possible at LKM while simultaneously navigating the complexities of doing so sustainably in rural Haiti."

from Repurpose, Remix, Bend: Piloting A Locally Defined Technology Curriculum, by Casey Anderson, April 10, 2018, American Anthropologist: Multimodal Anthropologies