The Fall 2023 Annual Fundraiser event in Niagara-on-the-Lake aimed to raise $100,000 for adult literacy. We exceeded it thanks to the many who sponsored, who attended, who bought raffle tickets, and who bid on live auction items. Lawrence Hill, author of “The Book of Negroes” was our guest. His book centres on the story of Aminata, and her transatlantic journey on a slave ship as a young girl. It is the shared history of Haiti, a population who, to this day, suffers from the generational scars of slavery and, most notably, “the twin demons of fear and mistrust”. This is accelerated by the high rate of illiteracy which continues to be one of the greatest obstacles that prevents Haiti from being “free”. Literacy is the theme in the life of Aminata that contributed to her eventual freedom.