My first group

The first group of my time here came the week before Christmas. Sorry that was so long ago as I try to keep you more up to date. A group of 12 from Malibu Presbyterian Church, CA,—many of them Pepperdine students plus another couple from Wilmington, NC, joined them for the week. They had amazing energy and great attitudes—up for anything and everything. Their project for the week was helping to build a soccer field at Repatriate, one of the HOM campuses. It’s hard manual labor, spreading a thick layer of sand over a thick layer of gravel from piles at the edge of a large field. We thought that it would take them all week using buckets and wheelbarrows and it was pretty close. In the hot Haitian sun we encourage lots of breaks in the shade of the tent and lots and lots of water. There is also a school there with preK and K kids so the group would break at the same time as the kids and go to see the children who performed their song repertoire and introduced themselves with hugs and chants of I LOVE YOU. Each afternoon on their return they were ready to see other things—orphanages, a walk in the surrounding area, a drive around the city, anything. I would have been done for the day but they just kept going.
Most of the week I was busy at school but as the kids were taking exams and there really wasn’t too much for me to do, I went with them for 2 days…hot, heavy, fun, exhausting. They had a system down in filling up the wheelbarrows and dumping them and leveling the sand…taking breaks was no problem and they were hard workers! As careful as they were it did seem that each day another person or pair would be sick and in bed for the day but as soon as they could they would be up and join the group again. The evenings after dinner (food does get more variety with the groups though not a huge change—I’m getting ok with it) would be devotions and team time. The devotions were for everyone and the team time was a time where staff could excuse themselves while the group debriefed the day. And then came games if people were still up for it (and usually they were).

staff classes

This class keeps changing times as the staff is needed for different things throughout the day. The staff does speak English so this is just to improve English speaking and understanding. There is the habit to answer yes to everything here even when you don’t understand…so sometimes it is hard to figure out if they understand (when asked if they understand they still often say yes…and then ask a question that obviously means they didn’t understand). At the first class they said they want more praying vocabulary so that they could pray in English and feel comfortable with that so we did some different names for God. Our last class was on pronunciation of past tense verbs.
The other class I have is for the interpreters that work with the groups. More conversation. I’ve only had 2 classes with them. I had 4 the first day when I just kept asking questions to get them to talk. We got into a discussion of introverts and extraverts and whether one can change into the other…I’m planning on looking for some French podcasts or Haitian Creole ones to have them translate but the ones that I’ve found have been at what sounds like triple speed…The 2nd class only Rony showed up. I believe that he is by far the most advanced and really doesn’t need to come to the class. I told him so but also said that he was most welcome. We talked about pronunciation and how we run our words together. He’s actually been studying this (a lot) and is looking forward to taking his TOFEL exam so he can study or work in the states to help him get along.

Joyeux Noel

Merry Christmas!
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. May you be surrounded with loved ones and remember the joy that the very first Christmas brings to all of us.

I’ve been reading about John the Baptist’s birth and the big plans for him to make way for Jesus. That is what we are called to do. Make way for the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords. Offer to Him the best of ourselves as the Little Drummer Boy did—not materially but with what we can. Love to you!

Stars

The evenings are long. It gets dark early but even more than that we have dinner at 5:30. That is early! I’m not saying that I’m not hungry by then but when dinner is over at 6 the question is what to do with the rest of the evening. For the first week I pretty much went back to my room and read or watched a movie on my computer or played computer games, but definitely wasn’t social. Patty, my roommate) would disappear for the evening. Then I decided I was done with that. But I still wasn’t social…I went up to the roof (they are flat here) and watched the stars. We are in the middle of Port-au-Prince so there is quite a bit of ambient light (even with power cuts they don’t seem to happen to the whole city or there are a LOT of solar and generator powered lights). But I’ve found some constellations and Jupiter and 2 shooting stars. I’ve started to use it as my quiet time. I set an alarm for 30 minutes and I just think or not. One night I thanked God for everyone I could think of…and I ended up thinking of people that I haven’t thought of in ages. It has been cloudy some nights but that doesn’t take away from the awesomeness of the night sky. I recommend it to you all either on your own or in the company of good people.
(I have also started being more social and watching movies with others in case you were worried about my being alone too much)

Cold showers

I’ve never been a big fan of cold showers. They don’t have to be hot but to not have any heat at all?! And yet after a day in Haiti, I welcome my shower. I feel dusty and grimy even when I’ve been in the classroom (shady) all day. I might have to do with the chalk that seems to get everywhere or the light colored dust that shows up on all clothing and shoes. Of course the temperatures here in Haiti also make it easier to get into that cold shower. So far the evenings do get a bit cooler when the sun has set and only 2 nights have passed that I have really dreaded getting under the water. One was actually a cool evening and the other was just very windy…
I’m grateful for everything that I have…and while maybe wishing for more, I know that what I have is often more than most of the world has. Thank God for my many blessings.

Food

I love food. I find that I’m also pretty easy to please when it comes to food. I was warned before I came that I would be eating rice and beans. At other times it would probably be beans and rice…so I knew what was coming…and yet I wasn’t ready for this. (I've been assured that it is better when groups are in the compound--I'll find out soon)

Breakfast: bread and bananas everyday (no problem with this)
Option 1: spaghetti with a tomato, onion, and sometimes sausage coating more than a sauce. (I haven’t been able to eat this yet…it is offered but it just doesn’t smell like breakfast for me and my stomach)
Option 2: porridge—it tastes like oatmeal but is smoother and runny. Not too bad with banana and bread in it.
Option 3: scrambled eggs—almost omelet style with onions, peppers. This is by far my favorite especially as it is served with fresh mango slices.

Lunch: rice and beans in some variation everyday
Option 1: Stop Hunger Now mix as this is what the children at school get each day and we are eating a bit of that. It comes with a bean sauce (really bean juice with a few beans in it) or sometimes an oily tomato sauce that sometimes has anchovies in it.

Dinner: fresh juice—orange, grapefruit, passionfruit, lemon—it is the best!!
And then usually (not always but mostly) rice and beans and an oily sauce with meat, onions and okra…not much extra flavor though sometimes they throw in some hot spice that is great! An occasional salad which is some green plant and sliced tomatos.

and no dessert...

where we eat--you can't beat the view

Teaching teachers

In the afternoons (and sometimes Tuesday and Friday mornings) I have classes with some of the staff of HOM and the teachers from school. These are some very fun classes. I had no real idea where or how to start so I figured from the beginning (as if I know where that is). I’ve been trying to remember my first French classes and learning some Spanish—start with greetings and introductions and go from there. Of course where to go from there is the big question. But it seems to be that was a good place to start. I was trying to get a feel for where they were in their English and of course they come all over the scale. The teachers are at the beginning so we are doing lots of vocabulary…using the questions of what you like to do, what will you do this weekend and then what did you do last weekend which led into past tense verbs and all their complexities. English is really an impossible language…

Example: For regular verbs, add –ed to the end to make them past tense. This –ed has 3 different sounds depending upon the last sound of the verb. It can sound like a , a , or a as after enjoy, wish, and need. Listen carefully when you add the –ed. Also for pronunciation the th is somewhat specialized in English—it is not found in French, Creole, Chichewa…taught and thought sound a lot alike. But they are fun classes with lots of laughter and smiles and questions. I will ask a question and then we go around the table…answer the question and then they have to ask the next person…as much talking as I can get them to do…

LETTERS ONLY

I asked about an address and was told LETTERS ONLY as they charge a lot to receive packages here (even as small as a dvd). The JS will be for me.

Leon Dorleans (JS)
c/o Mail N More
Box 240
10900 NW 21st St.
Suite 130
Miami, FL 33172

He told me that he checks it twice a month but as it is in Miami I feel that it might be every other month…

as well as my phone number for those who might be interested...
I have a Google voice number for when I'm around my computer and the electricty/internet is working
828-419-0163or I have a Haitian cell phone (that I haven't really started carrying around yet-but I'm sure I will)01150931704911

First week

Discussing my schedule before the week began

It went really well. Classes did anyway. I am at the school 3 days a week with so many classes. Each grade is big enough for 2 classes. I teach 1st-6th grade. The classes are 30 minutes each. 4th-6th grade have 2 classes each week. So that is 9 hours of English lessons a week at the school. On Tuesdays and Fridays I have classes with the staff and teachers. 2 hours a week for each of those groups and the teachers are divided into 2 classes. As well as 1½ hours with some of the interpreters who work with the groups when we have them. That is a lot of planning! And for the first week I’ll have to admit I didn’t do a whole lot of planning. The other confusing thing about my schedule is that not all of the grade classes are back to back. If I have the 6th grade A class on Monday it doesn’t mean that I also have the B class (which would be the same plan) but that might happen on Wednesday along with the A classes second session for the week. But I think it is going to work out. All week I got the new class jitters—what if I screw up, do a bad job, blank, I don’t know, but that didn’t really happen.
The 4th-6th grades have been studying some French all year with Wahite Frick (pronounced Wyfrik) who had worked with the Canadian English teacher who used to be here. The 1st-3rd grades were new additions…so for the 1st-3rd grades we sang ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ with key words being star, diamond and sky…it came out sounding like “twinkle twinkle twinkle STAR” with the motions that we used in Malawi and a few extras that I threw in. Next came ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’. A huge hit as I heard it all around school all week though I don’t know that they really took in the names of the body parts. In 4th-6th I introduced myself very briefly and then had them ask me questions. I could tell they had just learned about family relationships as I was asked ‘how many cousins, aunts, uncles, grandpas and grandmas I had as well as their names. I was even asked if I had a brother-in-law. Well what his name was…my age, if I was married, if I have kids, etc. Then we just did some vocab that I had on me—classroom objects.
The coming week is for Christmas carols…it will be more singing than I think I’ve done in a very long time!

the whole school at chapel

Sunday

Sunday Diane and I started church here at Terre Noire (where I’m living). Church starts at 6:30am…and we can’t sleep in because it is on the compound. We were there long enough for me to be introduced as a visitor…and then we took off for another church. We went to Repatriate as Pastor Leon Dorleans was preaching there (under a tent as the church hasn’t been rebuilt yet). He is the Executive Director of HOM. The church there was just beginning when we arrived around 8 (I think). He let us use his hymn book to sing along—very helpful for the French hymns. I was again introduced as a visitor (Diane has already been to the churches). When Pastor Leon started his preaching he had us stand up again and introduced us with more information. Matt was an anesthesiologist and now is the volunteer coordinator for HOM. Diane is helping to get the high school started as she is an expert at high schools at home. Jessi is here to teach English for a year. She is single and living at Blanchard. All this was in French/Creole. I have to admit I usually try to keep that fact out of the announcements because I would have to say it comes in handy at times to have a husband or a boyfriend no matter how far away they are (or how imaginary) but ok. I find myself able to follow some of the sermons as they are a mix of French and Creole…I understand for a bit and then wonder what is happening and then realize the speaker has switched to Creole. This sermon was 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The Word is inspired by God to help us to live for him in all that we do.

After church we took Diane to the airport—hard to see her go but I know she is coming back and Monday was my first day in the school!

Beach

Saturday was a scheduled staff retreat. The staff from the Guest House all piled into the van at 6am to head to Jacmel where there is a beach so that we can build some rapport and get to know each other better. 4 American volunteers, 2 pastors, 2 cooks, a cleaner, the construction manager, one pastor’s wife, guesthouse manager, accountant, and a field staffer. What would have been about a 3 hour drive (so I’ve been told) was extended due to multiple breaks—gas, breakfast, at least 2 market stops to buy fruit, etc. I think we arrived around 11. A devotion and prayer followed by a get to know you game. Say something that you know about the person sitting on your left and then that person says something about themselves that people probably don’t know (not hard as I didn’t know anyone and could have said anything) and then continue around the circle. While I was a bit skeptical about the game when it was introduced, I think it went well. Then we tried to figure out lunch but the options didn’t look too appetizing at the stall across the street with the fish, lobster, or conch and everyone walked off. So some of us headed for the water. Beautiful, salty, sunny (a little bit too sunny). I went for my usual swim away from shore and got yelled at for ‘going out too far.’ (also the second time I did it—well not yelled out but told I’d gone way out). It was beautiful—but too far to go for just a day…Fish in a spicy sauce for lunch…a whole one with bones and tail :( but it was tasty. Then we went to tour another town. To tour a town by Haitian standards is enough to just drive through…and that is exactly what we did. 30 minutes out of our way and we didn’t even get out of the van. We made it back home around 7 that evening…way too long in the car and yet I am so happy that I’ve been to a beach (and I’ve been told there are closer ones!)

First 4 days

In my first 4 days I went to 5 schools which is more than most people do the whole time they are here! HOM has 4 primary schools (preK-6th grade) under its umbrella. I am living working at the Ecole Christienne Terre Noire (Christian School in Terre Noir) so that will be number 1. With Diane here as well as Bill and Linda Glass (president and first lady of HOM) we made visits to the other schools. Linda takes pictures of each of the kids that has a sponsor so that their sponsors get updated pictures with the kids’ report cards each year.

So we went the school at Ebo Beach (there is no beach) to get more pictures and saw some of the hurricane damage as the roof has been taken off the church/school.

The 3rd grade teacher showed me the French lesson they were working on.


The next day we went to the school at Repatriate to get more pictures and do a valentine’s day project with the kids (for sponsors).

That school is all preschool so far—they are adorable!! HOM is undertaking to build a high school (7th-13th grade—not a typo, there are 13 grades) so that they can better follow the kids that have sponsorships. Thus on Friday we went to visit 2 existing HS to get some feedback from the principals about how to get and keep good teachers, layout, curriculum, etc. They were good and interesting visits showing real foresight and planning and aspirations as the earthquake in 2010 did so much damage that the schools are still trying to recover.

Arrival

Haiti! Here I am! It was a breeze! It was an early morning last Tuesday (flight left at 7am) but it was only a 5 hour flight. I remember waking up trying to prepare myself for the flight, subconsciously expecting the Africa flight, and then smiling with the realization that it wouldn’t take a fifth of that time! Diane (family friend who has had her heart here in Haiti for a long time and who agreed to come with me) and I flew through Raleigh and Miami with no problems but no extra time either. I had been warned many times by many people about the airport and the chaos on arrival. When we arrived it was a breeze. They have just opened the new arrival gate so everything was new and different, but not too crazy. When we tried to leave to get our ride we walked the wrong way but were caught in time to not get too far away. Haiti is hot (not sweltering yet) and green (though not many trees from deforestation and natural disasters). I hear Creole and French and try to respond but Chichewa comes automatically. That is changing some now as my first week is nearly over. The roads are terrible (bumps and potholes), nothing is signposted, the people are friendly, and I wonder what am I doing here…here's to the next adventure!