Groundbreaking ceremony
“Laying the cornerstone”
Present at the laying of the cornerstone were members of the Taiwanese Tzu Chi Foundation, the Sisters of Saint Anne and the staff and students of Collège Marie-Anne, as well as the Taiwanese ambassador to Haiti, Mr. Bernard Bang-Zyh Liu.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the rebuilding of Collège Marie-Anne, destroyed in Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, took place on January 21. For the past two years, classes have been held in makeshift premises. The rebuilding of the college, located in Port-au-Prince, will be done with the assistance of the Tzu Chi Foundation, a Taiwanese Buddhist relief organization set up by the Venerable Cheng Yen in 1937. The Foundation’s name means “serving with compassion.” According to Dr. William Keh, CEO of Tzu Chi USA, some 36 donor countries have contributed so that the work can be carried out. The donation to the college is an important initiative as well as a significant financial commitment.
The earthquake-proof building will be three stories high with a basement and wooden structures. Work began on January 23 and will continue for roughly the next 14 months. Rebuilding the college is “a symbol of love and compassion,” said Dr. Keh.
“The earthquake has been followed by a heartquake,” said Sister Marthe Marjorie Février, principal of the College, in a reference to the author Dany Laferrière. “This donation is a generous gesture that goes beyond ethnic and religious differences,” she pointed out, thanking the Tzu Chi Foundation for its invaluable assistance.
The students of the College expressed their gratitude to the Tzu Chi Foundation and its generous donors with a song of hope and solidarity. Their wonderful gift to the Congregation will make a dream come true for the Haitian Sisters and the general administration. Rebuilding the college and the school will enable them to continue their mission in Haiti.
A school project
At the end of January, during a special workshop at the Sisters of Saint Anne Historic Centre, nine Grade 9 classes from Collège Sainte-Anne in Lachine were given a glimpse of what museologists do. The purpose of the workshop was to show the students all the steps involved in designing a display case when preparing an exhibition. Murielle Gagnon, the person in charge of the Historic Centre, had already met the students in their classes to prepare them for the experience.
Theoretical aspect
This segment covered the various types of heritage, the difference between a virtual exhibition and an actual museum tour, and the role of the different people involved in mounting an exhibition. The students were then invited to form groups of five for a hands-on experience.
Practical aspect
Each student had to play a role based on actual museum jobs, such as curator, project manager, museology technician, exhibition designer and education specialist. The students were shown five categories of objects: religious, school, health care and personal objects, and objects used in everyday life. Each team was assigned a category and had to come up with a theme that matched its category, and select four or five objects to exhibit.
Each group had to set up its display case and present it to the other groups, explaining the objects chosen and the theme. The activity was a resounding success, and the teachers are already planning to put it on the program next year.