My new wheels!

Since I moved to Gonaives, I have not had my own form of transportation.  I take motorcycle taxis, ride tap-taps, borrow my roommate's motorcycle, and walk.  It really hasn't been bad, but I did miss the freedom of being able to just go somewhere on my own.

Thanks to some incredibly generous people back home, I have been recently blessed financially.  I decided that I am going to buy a motorcycle of some sort in the near future, once I find the right one.  In the meantime, I went to a small area of the market where they sell bicycles.  The selection was not big but I found this little beauty and bought it.

I love being able to get around faster and easier, while getting exercise at the same time!

Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel...the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood."

~Susan B. Anthony,

The boys are back in town!

Many times, I feel like I am fighting losing battles here.  Or, I feel like we take two steps forward and one step back in everything that we do.  I feel like I fight for our students, and the victory seems far away.  But today, I feel like we won a battle.

I'm sure many of you remember my post about my students' mama who died just before Christmas.  The day that she died, the boys' father (who had been an absent parent) unexpectedly took them away from their aunt and uncle.  For a while, no one knew where he had taken them.  After some time, we learned that he had taken them to some relatives in the rural countryside.

That was almost two months ago.  For the past three weeks, I have been speaking with their family members in Jubilee trying to figure out where they were and how to get there.  Their uncle explained to me that their father didn't want to take care of them and he didn't want them to be suffering over the death of their mother.  The uncle told me that he would do his best to provide for the boys because they would have a better life in Jubilee.  He said he would take us to them so that we could bring them home again.

Two of our Haitian teachers volunteered to go with the uncle to try and get the boys.  They wanted me to go along, but I explained that I wanted the boys to see THEM: their Haitian teachers fighting for them.  I wanted the boys to see their Haitian teachers bringing them home again.

So, the four men left early in the morning.  It was a two hour trip out of Gonaives and then they had to take a motorcycle up a mountain.  Both of our teachers said they thought they were going to die on that ride up the mountain, it was treacherous.  But, they made it to the top to find Manius and Manickson.  They said there were no other houses around, no other children to play with, and no school.  Our teachers said when they arrived, they could see the suffering and sadness in the boys' eyes.  They said that when they told the boys' family that they were teachers, the family did not believe it.  They could not fathom that their teachers would travel so far to make sure the boys could continue their education.

They successfully got the family's permission for the boys to return to Jubilee and live with their uncle again.   When they arrived in Jubilee, both boys looked shell shocked and acted shy, and rightfully so.  Not only did their mama die two months ago, but they spent all that time away from their home, school and friends.

When I told Manius and Manickson how much we had missed them and how much their friends had missed them, I got both boys to smile.  I can't wait to see their faces back at school on Monday!

As they left the school to go home with their uncle, I told them, "It is a miracle to see your faces today!"  Fresnel one of the teachers said, "No, today was more than a miracle!"

Loud, loud, louder

My house is always loud.  I live directly on one of the main roads in the city.  Thankfully, I have gotten accustomed to the normal noises.  But, some days when a parade randomly starts on your street, it is even louder than normal.

Even the dog was trying to figure out what all the fuss was about.

School days, school days

Happy Sunday everyone!  I finally have the time to sit down and give you all an update on what has been going on for the past three weeks.  When I got home at New Years, my internet connection was not working and it has been out for three weeks.  We just got the problem fixed a couple of days ago.

School started back up on January 7th and things have been going really well.  My students were very excited to get back to school after their three week vacation.  There is not much for them to do in Jubilee (unlike homes in the states) so they love coming to school.  My school schedule has changed this week.  We decided that my low level first graders are no longer going to be learning to read English.  It has been a HUGE struggle teaching them English and we feel that we are doing more harm than good by trying to teach them to read and write three languages.  So, that particular class will only be learning to read and write Creole and French.  My other classes will still be learning all three languages.

Instead of teaching that class English for 85 minutes a day, we cut the time down to 30 minutes.  During those 30 minutes, I am simply going to be practicing conversational English with them.  The change in my schedule has given me an extra hour of free time during the day.  So, I am filling that time by partnering with one of our new Haitian teachers.  He has no teaching experience, no classroom management skills, and he teaches simply by rote memorization.  Keep in mind, he was raised in Haiti and taught in a COMPLETELY different way than we teach in America.  So, I am basically going to be teaching someone who has zero knowledge what-so-ever about teaching.  For the rest of the year, I will be in his room helping him teach Creole and training him how to be a better teacher.  It is a big challenge, but I am really excited about it.  Please keep me in prayer as it is requiring lots of patience and baby steps.  My hope and prayer is that once he learns how to be a better teacher, he can share that knowledge with other teachers.

 

Update for the New Year

It has been nearly a month since I've blogged.  Needless to say, I've been extremely busy.  I flew out of Haiti on December 14th and spent two weeks with my family and friends.  During that time, I was driving all over the area visiting friends and family.  It was WONDERFUL.

I hadn't realized how badly I needed a break until the night before I flew out.  I had hit my breaking point.  Two weeks with friends, family, hot water, and good food were just the ticket.  I am feeling refreshed and ready to take on the next 6 months of school.  Thank you to the amazing people that made my trip to the states possible!

I spent New Year's Eve driving around Port-au-Prince and then eventually back to Gonavies.  I was exhausted from all the traveling, but I managed to stay up until midnight to ring in the new year.  On New Year's day, I had soup joumou (pumpkin soup).  It is the traditional food to make on January 1st, which is also Haitian Independence Day.  The center of town was FILLED with people for the celebration of their independence and 2013.  The president of Haiti came and spoke in the city.

In the afternoon, Grace and I went to Jubilee.  A friend of ours had invited us to learn how to make fresh juice.  She taught us to make a delicious juice using passion fruit, grapefruit, and sweet oranges.  We were so surprised when her husband came in an they announced that they wanted us to stay and share a meal with them.  So, Josh, Grace, and I sat at their table with them and enjoyed rice and bean sauce together.  It was a perfect start to the year.  Haitians and American friends together, laughing, eating, sharing stories, and talking about God.

School starts back up on the 7th so over the next few days I will be working to get myself back in gear and getting my classroom reorganized.  I can't wait to see what this year has in store!