On My Bookshelf: Kisses from Katie

I thought it might be fun to occasionally share about the books that I'm reading.  Right now, I am so excited to be reading Kisses from Katie: A story of Relentless Love and Redemption by Katie Davis.  (Thank you, Ang and Julia!!!)

I first heard about Katie Davis by stumbling across her blog (which I suggest you check out).  Her book, Kisses from Katie, is about her journey as a missionary in Uganda, Africa.  She moved to Uganda when she was only 18 years old.  She is now 22 years old and she is a mother to 14 adopted girls.

The book tells about her challenges, struggles, triumphs, and most importantly her love of God.  It has been particularly encouraging for me to be able to relate to many of the emotions that she writes about.  It is also encouraging for me to see how drastically God has used a young girl simply because she put all her trust and hope in Him.

Progress

Lately, I've been so excited about the progress that I've seen in my students.  We are roughly halfway through the school year, and it is hard for me to believe how much my kindergarteners have learned.

I'm sure you remember me writing early on in the school year about some behavior issues.  After time, behavior management techniques, and just getting a better relationship with my students, they have come SO far.  Now, that's not to say we don't still struggle with behavior from time to time, I mean they are still kids after all.  However, in general my "trouble students" are doing great!

Aside from behavior, I've seen improvements in so many other ways as well.  The students know letter names and sounds for most of the alphabet, their handwriting has improved immensely, they can count, they are understanding lots of English, and even starting to speak a little English.  Their attention span is longer and they know the classroom routine.  Miss Katiana, my helper, has also been noticing all of the improvements in the students.  Since this is my first class, this is all very exciting for me!

Treasured Conversations

After my recent blog post about my frustration and struggles with my "street boys", I just knew that I had to write about something that happened last night.  When I got home from teaching my English class in the evening, one of the boys was standing outside my gate by himself.  It was unusual that he was alone.  Most times, there are at least two or three boys together.

We small talked for a few minutes and then I asked him if he was hungry (that is usually the case when they wait outside my gate).  "Yes, Miss Katie," he replied.  After giving him some food, I sat down on the ground in front of my gate with him.  We ended up sitting and talking for nearly an hour (all in Creole).  It was one of those conversations that gives me joy, hope, and encourages me to keep pushing forward.

We talked about many different things, some serious topics and some just joking around.  He asked me if I love Haiti.  When I told him, "yes, I love Haiti a lot" he responded that he doesn't like Haiti.  I asked him why and he said, "It smells bad, there is trash everywhere, people lie and people steal all the time."  I agreed that, yes it is very difficult here.  I explained that being here is hard for me sometimes and I do miss my family, friends and country.  He asked, "If it is difficult for you, why don't you just stay in the United States?"  I explained to him that God wants me here in Haiti.  I told him that I love the people here, and I want to help them change their hearts and make this country a nice place.  He asked, "People in the United States don't lie or steal?  Everyone there loves Jesus?"  I chuckled and said, "No, there are many people in the United States that do not love Jesus.  There are many people who lie and steal.  The difference is that in the United States people have lots of money and lots of nice things.  On the outside, it looks like they are fine.  In Haiti, people don't have as many things.  But, both places have many problems.  The people in the United States have as many problems in their hearts as the people in Haiti.  Many Haitians think that if they could get to the US and have money then they would be happy and all their problems would disappear.  But, there are many wealthy Americans who are lonely and sad even though they have many material things." After explaining all this, he did not say much.  He nodded and said he understood.  I could tell that he was processing and thinking about everything that I said.

We talked about the way that Haitian men treat white women, and women in general.  I told him how angry they make me when they make kissing noises and cat calls at me all the time.  He said, "Well, that's because Haitian men love American women.  American women are pretty so the Haitian men want to talk to you." I laughed and explained that the way they talk to us is rude.  I told him that if men here would like to talk to a woman, instead of making rude comments or noises they should say, "Good afternoon, madame.  How are you?"  He thought that was funny.  I told him that when he gets older he better not treat women with disrespect.  Maybe if I can teach all the boys this at a young age it will stick once they get older.

We talked about his family.  His parents were killed in the earthquake and he lives with his aunt and uncle.  He said he loves his aunt a lot and she takes good care of him.  He said that neither his aunt or his uncle have jobs.  Sometimes, his aunt sells food on the street to earn a little money.  He said they have no money for food, but whenever they do have food his aunt always lets him eat before her.  He said that sometimes he comes to my gate because his aunt tells him to go ask the white people for money, food, or a job.

It is one-on-one conversations like these that remind me why I am here: its not about what I am "doing".  It is about relationships.  It is conversations like these that give me a glimpse of what life is like for the kids.  It is conversations like these that I can be real with the kids, and teach them.  It is conversations like these that I thank God for.

Sleepover!

This weekend, I invited Claudine and Rosa (two of my little girls from Dorothy's orphanage) over to my house for a sleepover.

When we got to my house, I asked the girls what they wanted to do.  The first thing out of their mouths was, "Manje!" which means, "eat!".  So, I made a little dinner for us (even though I knew perfectly well they had already eaten at Dorothy's with all the other kids).  After dinner, I showed them a surprise.  When I came back after Christmas in the states, I brought my old American Girl Doll from when I was a little girl.  When I was little, most girls my age picked out dolls that looked like them.  I, however, asked for Addy, the little black American Girl Doll.  That works out perfectly now considering that all "my kids" are black.

This is a picture of me with the doll when I was little.

And these are my girls with the same doll.

When I gave the doll to the girls, I explained that they can play with her any time they come over, but she has to stay at my house.  They were very excited and they played with her all night long.

Later that night, we got to Skype (video chat) with my family.

After the girls said hello to my parents, the first thing out of their mouthes was, "Where's Jake??"  If you have been following my blog, you will remember that Jake is the Haitian puppy that I rescued while living at Dorothy's house over a year ago.  The kids and nannies at Dorothy's often ask me how he is doing.

My mom was cooking dinner while we were skyping, and my dad felt the need to show us their pancakes, ha!

Before bed, the girls put on the pajamas and then we watched a movie on my computer until the girls started to get sleepy.

I made a little bed for them on the floor (since I know they still wet the bed occasionally).

I tucked them in and then laid down on my bed.  They were both restless, so I asked them if they wanted me to lay on the floor with them to help them fall asleep.  They responded, "wi!"

It was a little crowded in the space on the floor so I squeezed in between my bed and Rosa.  However, both girls wanted to hold my hands while they fell asleep.  I had to contort my body to be able to hold hands with both of them, but it didn't matter because it was a precious and priceless moment.  When they finally fell asleep, I crawled up into my own bed.

Around 5:45 AM, I heard their little voices giggling and saying, "Miss Katie!"  When I rolled over, they were both standing beside my bed starring at me.  I said, "Girls, go lay back down.  When you see the sun come up, then you can wake me up again."  That worked for about 20 more minutes until the sky started getting orange and the girls said, "Ok, Miss Katie!  We see the sun!  Can we wake up now?"

Parent Teacher Meetings

Today, I had my first ever parent teacher meetings.  The second marking period ended yesterday.  The first  marking period parent teacher meetings were in October while I was in the United States.  So, I was very excited to meet some of the parents that I have never seen before.

After lunch, the parents came into the classroom one by one.  I was able to tell each and every parent that I have seen their child improve from the first marking period to the second...Praise God!  It was very encouraging for me to hear some of the feedback from the parents.  Several of them told me that their children talk about me at home and that they say they love me.  One parent said, "My daughter practices her English when she gets home.  She tells me that she loves you very much and you are her mama."

The only concerns that some of the parents raised were concerning English.  Because none of the parents speak English, and many of them cannot even write their own name, they wanted to be reassured that their children are in fact doing a good job and learning.  One parent said, "my daughter can count really well in English but when she counts in Creole she gets stuck on some of the numbers."  So, I explained that once the students get to 2nd grade, they will start having French class each day.  I also reminded parents that they can practice counting in Creole at home with their kids.  It is an understandable concern.  If my child was going to a Chinese speaking school, how would I know if they were actually learning or not?  Miss Katiana was with me for the conferences, so I think that most parents felt reassured of their child's progress by the time they left.

A few of the students came along in with their parents and it was adorable to see their sheepish grins as I told their parents how smart they are and how well they are doing.  I could tell by their beaming smiles that the students were very proud to have me meet their parents.  It brought back lots of memories of my own parent teacher conferences and elementary school open house.

Please continue to pray for our electricity situation.  The power has been off for over 24 hours again, and neither the generator nor the inverter are fixed yet.  I had to throw out some of my food today.  I am going to have to start grocery shopping one day at a time.   I am currently at Dorothy's house with my laptop so that I could check my e-mail and post this blog.  I pray that you all have a safe and blessed weekend!