Balon e Pale

Ball and Parler

Class Photo

For a couple of days while we were serving at Haitian Christian Mission (HCM), we were able to assist in two of the teenage/young adult English classes. And by assist, I mean fully teach the class.This was perfect for me, since I have a degree in English, and to be honest, it was nice to have older students, instead of primary age, that were very serious about learning. This experience actually made me seriously teaching college-level English. Or possibly teaching abroad, which I have thought about doing in the past.

The students who take this course desire to work as interpreters in the future. I think this is amazing because I have looked into what it takes to become an interpreter, and it is not easy. All of the students are bright and have a lot of determination. Once again, this shows how much Haitian students care about education.

Similar to advanced foreign language courses in the United States, English was the only language that was supposed to have been spoken during class time. This weeks lesson involved the introductions, human body and body parts, finite and infinite verbs, past, present and future tense verbs and verbs ending in ‘-ed.’ We broke up into small groups. The two ladies in my group were Nerlie, 24, and Darlene, 21. They spoke English well and were able to learn the lessons quickly. They even went home and studied to prepare for the next class. I was very proud of them. To help them with their studies, I decided to record myself reading different words from their study lists onto their cell phones. This way they can hear how the words sound when spoken by a native English speaker. This seemed to help them as we went over the different lessons.

At the end of each class, we played a game with all of the students to test their knowledge. It was kind of a mixture between Simon Says and Mother-May-I. You can take us out of America, but you can’t take the competitive American out of us.

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Meet my students

Nerlie

Nerlie

• 24-years-old
• Married, eight years
• Mommy of three; two boys, one girl; ages seven, five and two
• Stay-at-home mom

Darlene

• 21-years-old
• Married, 5 years
• Mommy of two boys
• Stay-at-home mom
• We’re now Facebook friends

Darlene, Regina, Nerlie and Me

En Pou En

One For One

Our visit to the Center d’Action le Development (CAD) was one of my favorites; it was definitely my favorite orphanage. This was the second year in a row that members from our team visited this orphanage to share God’s love. CAD is sponsored by the government and is home to about 100 kids — and they are expecting to receive at least 200 more this summer. Even though they receive government funding, they still do not have much. They barely have enough money for food or to pay the teachers who teach at the school there.

Many of the orphans who reside at CAD were found homeless on the streets. Some are sent here by the government because they were deported from the Dominican Republic. Others are sent here, lovingly, by parents who are unable to fully care for their child at this time. For those children, they are able to leave and return to their families once their family becomes more stable, but several children actually decide to stay at CAD because they love being here so much.

We were able to spend a lot of time with the kids and their teachers — it was a blast! We did several arts and crafts projects, which included designing maracas. Afterwards, the kids made different beats with them and we formed a conga line and danced. We also jumped rope, which they really loved.

Since the kids know French (it is taught and used in the classroom), I was able to parler francaise with them. I think they were impressed. (Another shout out to my French teachers.) Well, at least, I think they were probably glad they didn’t have to speak English, which I totally understand. When you don’t use your non-primary languages often, it can be a little intimidating when the time comes for you to actually speak to someone who speaks that language. Our mission team also presented CAD with some French books for the children.

One For One.

One interesting thing that I noticed was that several of the kids were wearing TOMS shoes. With every shoe that is purchased, TOMS donates a new pair of shoes to a child in need. I, personally, own a few pairs, and I think it is amazing to see the company’s promise in action. TOMS does a lot of work in Haiti, and that is awesome. Read more about how TOMS is building a shoe industry in Haiti here.

After jamming out and having fun, our team split up to do room makeovers in the boys’ and girls’ dormitories. The girls in my dorm were very eager to help us change their linen, even though we tried to insist that we were there to serve them. They were so kind and helpful. We even left some stuffed animals on their beds. I think the girls really enjoyed picking out the linen sets for their new bedding. Proof that every girl has an inner Martha Stewart.

Dorm roomies.

Room makeovers.

Bondye Fe Sa Pou Mwen

God Has Done This For Me

Students gathered at the morning assembly.

On Monday morning, we went to the school at Haitian Christian Mission (HCM). We stood in the courtyard to watch the students line up to say an opening prayer, raise the flag, and sing the national anthem. Afterwards, we went on a tour of the entire HCM site. The first stop was the clinic.

My favorite thing about the clinic was the paint job done on the interior walls. They are painted with bright colors and positive Bible verses to help create an environment with good vibes for the patients. I think this makes the doctor’s office look less intimidating. We saw where the doctors do medical exams, different lab rooms and rooms for patients to stay overnight. Some of the team members decided to volunteer in the clinic and at the pharmacy, but I am not about that medical life, so I continued the tour.

One of the painted clinic walls.

Next, we went to the women’s clinic. They are currently working to expand this building. It should be completed by next summer when our team returns. In this clinic, they care for females, and, most importantly, deliver babies. There were two new mommies with their babies inside. One delivered the night before, and the other delivered 70 minutes prior. This was my first time seeing brand new babies! They were so cute. Also, I’d like to give kudos to all the Haitian moms who have no other option but to deliver without drugs. In addition, most moms only stay at the clinic for about six hours before leaving to go home. Less than 40 percent of Haitian births take place at a medical facility, and about one in 80 mothers die during childbirth.

Another thing I learned, which made me sad, was that the infant mortality rate is really high in Haiti. It is even higher for those who live in the mountains. Due to this, many mountain mommies choose not to bond with their newborns for days, even months in some cases.

Next, we visited the school office where the staff members work on finding funding for education. The school at HCM is not free, like many other schools in Haiti. Several students are able to attend school here through sponsorship. It’s only $30 a month to sponsor a child to go to school, and you are able to choose to renew your sponsorship annually or not. The children go to school from fall through spring and have summer school programs as well. One day, when my life is more together, I plan to sponsor a child. If you are interested in sponsoring a child, check out the information here.

We then went to the wood shop. After that, the new peanut butter factory. This new facility is almost complete. By next year, it will be up and running making smooth, cramy peanut butter (although I did mention that they should also consider making crunchy). As a Tuskegee alumna, I am all about peanut butter — thank you George Washington Carver!

#CarverTaughtMe

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The end of the tour took place at the school, and we had the opportunity to visit all of the classrooms. The kids seemed nice and well-behaved. When we entered into each class, they all stood and recited a greeting. Although everyone speaks Creole casually, the official language inside the classroom is French. Shout out to all of my former Madames who helped me to learn French (Mmes. Buzzella, Wise and Hoytt). Merci beaucoup!

At many Haitian schools, there are two different schedules. Some come from morning to afternoon, and others come from afternoon to evening. (Almost similar to how my high school had two schedules: early bird and regular schedule.) For some reason, some of the teachers did not come to work that day, so some of the classes were being taught by students. This shows that they, clearly, care about education more than Americans. Who stays to learn if the teacher is absent and there is no substitute? And who volunteers to teach?

Kindergarten class.

All of the students wear cute little uniforms — yes uniforms are cute. Haitians take pride in how they look. All of the students look as presentable as possible in their uniforms. Also, girls come with their hair laid for the gawds; it is clearly the standard here, and they do it well.

What an awesome day this was! God is truly blessing HCM in so many ways. I’m thankful for all of the new knowledge and experiences that I have gained. Even though I came to help others, this trip has also been beneficial for me.