Carla’s biography

August 4, 2023

Carla’s biography

Carla Van Dusen Bluntschli was born in Philadelphia in 1953. She studied violin and viola at a music conservatory in Philadelphia from 1971-1975. She married in 1976 to Ron Bluntschli, and then with 3 young daughters she and her husband moved nine years later to Haiti. They served as volunteers with the Mennonite Central Committee, a small development organization, from 1985-1993, Ron worked with community facilitators in reforestation and community development and Carla worked at learning the culture and language and homeschooling the children.(bl & wh phot on rt: Bluntschli family on location at first assignment in Deschapelles with visiting parents, 1986)

From 1992 to 2009 Carla co-founded a not-for-profit organization, that hosted visiting short-term groups and long-term volunteers in cultural and historical experiences based in Port-au-Prince that included learning tours to all corners of Haiti during the 17 years of this organization’s existence. The work was to play the role as a living bridge for visitors to Haiti by providing intense cultural and historical (re)orientations, Creole language instruction and cultural immersion programs for diverse groups such as
universities, churches or individuals. Translation and “fixing” for foreign researchers, international media companies and documentary producers such as NPR, CBC and BBC was also a part of the work.
(left: photo of visiting group in Transformational Travels of Beyond Borders June 2011 on porch of Bluntschli home: sm photo on rt, working with McNeil & Lehrer Report, during 1993 coup d’etat)

In 2000, she co-founded with 2 Haitian associates the not-for-profit N a Sonje (“We Will Remember”) Foundation (that became a legally Haitian government officially recognized entity in 2010).

Carla was a radio personality (along with her husband and 2 other associates) on the “Chimen Memwa” (Memory Road) radio show from Aug 2003-Dec 2004 (Planèt Kreyòl 106.5 fm) that involved sharing historical research on European, American, Haitian, African, Native American and early church history that was intertwined with culturally and subject appropriate music. The show included a moment of homage to the country and people by sharing true stories of heroism captured in every-day life. Carla also shared translated weekly journal entries of Christopher Columbus’s 1492 personal journal of that historic yet disastrous crossing.

In 2004 Carla joined as violinist/vocalist with the “2 Rasin” (two ra-seen meaning2 roots) music group whose name expresses the combination of Carla on violin, husband Ron on guitar with American finger-picking guitar style, led by her husband accompanying 2 other guitars with her classical violin sound performing original Haitian music by lead vocalist, guitarist and composer Mona Augustin. In October 2010 the group won first place in a song competition on the theme of violence against women sponsored by the UN radio station in Port-au-Prince. Their Haitian music group can be seen and heard on their blog: http://2rasin.blogspot.com and facebook.com/groups/2rasin. In October and November 2012 they completed their first tour in the US and in 2014 a full length documentary of the band was made and can be seen at the N a Sonje Foundation youtube channel

In 2009 when the original organization folded, 17 years of experience and expertise working with visiting groups transferred automatically to the work of the foundation where she continues the same work with an expanded staff of local adults: 3 young men as well as 5 young women.Carla with some of the staff (2017)

Staff 2019
The N a Sonje Foundation continues with the same mission of participating and contributing to a healing transformation:

-visitors through learning from the Haitian people. Visiting group playing traditional games with children in an isolated mountain community, May 2011in the mountains of Jacmel a place called “Kalimèt”

March 2018, our twinning program with American high school students

During the pandemic of 2020-2022, N a Sonje staff presented their orientations through zoom sessions, here with Creighton University September 2021

For more about working with visitors and their experiences with the Foundation, see videos at the N a Sonje Foundation YouTube channel

-transformation with members of local community of Gwo Jan in participatory development, such as collaborating to rebuild after the 2010 earthquake damaged local homes:

(the first home reconstructed since the 2010 earthquake built using rubble of the original home in collaboration with CI (Conscience International) an organization from the US).

In 2016, N a Sonje was able to procure funds from a Canadian organization to rebuild the decaying local water reservoir together with the local community as engineers, managers and labor resources.

N a Sonje Foundation and the Gwo Jan community rebuild the local water reservoir in 2016

-through micro-credit for women in order to recapitalize their losses from the earthquake and provide start up funds for small commerce activities such as buying and selling of rice or corn. N a Sonje was able to provide the essential training to 25 women for this small, one-time loan (photo of woman counting money received for this loan).

-through educational scholarships based on long-term relationships with young people, Frantzy Desir (NSF was able to help finish his high school and then secure a passage to basically free university in Spain with lodging help from a US family and is now married with 2 children and working for women prisoner rights in Spain) Williamson Jacques (found a rare 4 year scholarship to Keystone College with help and lodging from NSF board member Dave Porter and family), Mackencia Jean Philippe, (started her nursing career from a NSF visitor and NSF took up the reins until her completion. She now is employed by the Mozayik Foundation as a clinical nurse outside of Hench. Dieuny St. Rosier has been totally supported by NSF visitor, who became passionate about education which Dieuny has become a leader in the renewal of the Haitian educational system. All have proved themselves academically motivated as well as visionary towards their country. There are many other well–deserving and brilliant students NSF has helped in their education, particularly secondary and university levels through supporters of the foundation.

-through transformation of the earth which began from the start of the N a Sonje Foundation.

Here, with local community members harvesting our first batch of rich compost, there was genuine surprise about the quality of beautiful soil produced with hardly any effort

In 2019, Carla created with local and distant neighbors and colleagues a movement called “Vandredi pou Ayiti” or “Friday’s for Haiti” in order to motivate local consumption at least one day a week.

This work grew into the 2021 creation of N a Sonje Vèt where Carla joined with 3 colleagues to create a reforestation, organic gardening and recycling effort to self-sustain while producing trees, vegetables, community involvement in recycling and products for sale. Beekeeping is envisioned as an ecologically and financial dream of becoming self-sufficient.