Summer in Ontario

Getting ready to go.... m'alle

In less than two weeks I will be in Haiti, hopefully enjoying a hot summer night! I have been super busy tying up some loose ends before I go. I have to apply for a permit to live in Haiti once I am there but many of the documents I need have to be completed here. So I've been to the police station, the OHIP office, the bank etc. And who knew it was so much work to change your address with every organization that you've ever received mail from?
I am thankful that I've also been able to fit in a few visits with friends and family. I spent a weekend at a cottage with friends and another weekend with my family. Needless to say, the time is flying by. I have to admit that I'm getting pretty excited. I hope that I'm not being overly optimistic and only remembering the parts I love about Haiti, but I honestly can't wait to be back. It's been too long (the last time I was there was March 2008). I can't wait to sit with my friends and colleagues and hear all about what's happened since I was last there. I look forward to the heat,the never ending sun (yeah for Vitamin D) and nights of sitting on the roof talking about nothing and everything. I look forward to fresh mangoes and Pate and rice and beans. I look forward to new challenges and new adventures.

Random Pictures

Home never smelled so sweet

I am home safely and have spent the last hour relishing unlimited internet time. I've sorted through some mail and chatted my parent's ears off. It's great to be home.
Yesterday's travels went relatively smoothly. I had 10 minutes in between trains to jump off, buy myself a ticket and then get back on the train, a seemingly simple task except when you have two large suitcases and there is often not an elevator or escalator in sight. Regardless, I managed to purchase a ticket with a few minutes to spare. I made it to the airport with time to spare and then discovered that my plane was delayed. I was quite concerned that I would miss my connecting flight in Frankfurt but despite only having 15 minutes I was able to make it, unfortunately one of my suitcases did not.
So I'm home, one suitcase lighter, but feeling good. I slept well and am excited to be attending my church this morning. I hope I have an uneventful month of visiting with family and friends and relaxing in preparation for a busy two years ahead. Pictures to follow...

For everything else there's Mastercard... except in Holland!

In case you haven't noticed, I can't seem to get spell check to work on this computer so I apologize for any spelling errors, which I know are lurking around but I can't quite find them.
I had a nice day in Amsterdam today with my cousin. We walked around, saw the floating flower market, did a little shopping, had lunch with my old friend from University and managed to avoid the rain until we arrived back home. It was a warm and sunny day and a beautiful day to be a tourist. Over dinner, my cousin informed my aunt and uncle that I needed to buy a train ticket back to Brussels and perhaps we should go tonight since the station will most likely be closed in the morning. So off I went with my uncle to buy myself a ticket. We arrived at the station only to realize that they don't sell international tickets there and they don't accept credit cards. Some confusion ensued as my uncle speaks very little English and my Dutch is not much better. Next we tried the ticket machine, it wouldn't accept my credit cards or debit card or cash. We drove to another train station that had a different machine. My uncle was able to purchase me a ticket for tomorrow morning that will get me to another city in Holland and from there I will try to buy a ticket to Brussels. When we returned home I had the thought that perhaps the train station tomorrow will also not accept my credit cards (strangely I had no problem using my credit card in Brussels) so I asked my uncle to take me to the bank to get out Euros just in case. So now I have enough Euros in my wallet to get me safely to Brussels, now I just hope that the station will be open and a real live person will be there to let me buy a ticket the rest of the way. Here's hoping....

Bike rides and movie making

I am enjoying my time in Holland immensely. Last night I went for a bike ride with my aunt and uncle all around Helmond. We stopped at my cousins Alinda and Patrick's home for a cup of tea. It was wonderful to see them, their English is very good so we were able to have a lovely conversation and get caught up on each other's lives. Today I spent the day with Marjan, Jeroen and their children. Although I can not understand their children, I found their stories and antics highly amusing. They found it very amusing that I did not understand Dutch and told their Mom that my English sounded very silly to them. We went for a walk in the village and bought a few groceries at the local super market. The afternoon was spent relaxing, watching the children swimming in the pool, and I caught up on my journal writing.
Tonight, the whole family came together for dinner to spend some time with me. My cousin's children quickly discovered that I could take small movies on my camera and for the rest of the dinner begged me to "take a picture with sound"and then show it to them. I now have MANY videos of them chatting away in Dutch. Hopefully my dad can translate them when I am home:)
Tomorrow Marjan and I will travel to Amsterdam and enjoy the sights there. In true Dutch form we bought water bottles and raisin buns for the train ride, because the food will be too expensive on the train:) We will hopefully meet up with a past University roomate of mine who currently lives in Amsterdam. I look forward to visiting some old familiar sights.

The Mother Land

Our flight out of Freetown was uneventful and everything went according to plan. We enjoyed our last Star beer in the airport restaurant and opted to not pay extra to sit in the VIP lounge, although the comfy couches were inviting.
It's so good to be back in Holland. It's been too long. I couldn't sleep on the train because I didn't want to miss any of the sights. It really reminded me of travelling Europe, except this time instead of a well packed backpack I had two large and heavy suitcases. Not ideal for train travel in Europe, in fact my suitcases caused me to miss one of my trains as I couldn't run from one track to another fast enough. I saw the train pulling away just as I arrived on the platform. Thankfully another train left 30 min. later and my cousin only had to wait an extra 10 minutes for me.
For some reason I was confused about dates and I thought that today was Thursday and that I only had one full day in Holland, but today is Wednesday and so I have two full days in Holland. Today I will relax, have a nice nap and tomorrow I will spend some time with my cousin Marjan and her kids and Friday Marjan will go with me to Amsterdam. I'm very thankful that it worked out for me to spend some time here with family.

Farewell Sierra Leone

Well it's goodbye Sierra Leone and Hello Holland. Tomorrow is the BIG day, we don't fly out until 7pm but we're leaving the hotel at 10:00am, welcome to Sierra Leone! The last few days have flown by. What a whirlwind of activity. Here's a few highlights to share with you. Thursday night was "Sierra Leone night". The participants put on quite the show with traditional dances and skits and a professional dance/drumming team was hired. We loved the entertainment and were enjoying ourselves immensely when one of the drummers took a python out of his backpack. This broke up the party quite quickly and everyone scattered. We were forced to spend the rest of the night in the bar with our co-tutours, what a drag!! Friday night was our second "Canada Night". We started off with a weak rendition of our National Anthem in English and French, which the participants loved. We played floor hockey, a trivia game, watched a slide show, played musical chairs and then danced to Sierra Leone music. Overall another success. Saturday night was the closing ceremony. Several dignitaries attended and it was quite the formal affair. We were presented with gifts and we presented several gifts to those we have worked with for the last few weeks. We ended with a dinner and then we went out with our co-tutours for a farewell reception. It was a nice ending to a wonderful time. Sunday we relaxed, we went to a church near by the hotel in the morning. It was quite the experience, although I really appreciated the message, I wish I had brought ear plugs as the noise from the microphone was tremendous. We were well received and invited back next week. Today we were back at the beach, a different one this time. The weather was gorgeous and we had a lovely day, sitting and relaxing.
Tomorrow we leave, but something tells me that I'll be back some day. We'll just have to see what the Lord has in store for my future.
I am looking forward to seeing my cousins and Aunt and Uncle once again. It's been too long since I was in Holland.

Sneaking the internet...

As I'm sure all my faithful fans have noticed, we haven't had access to the internet for a while now. And in typical TIA (This is Africa) fashion the satellite provider is not rushing over to fix it for us. So tonight I'm sitting in the front lobby of the Union office, borrowing their wireless signal on my friend's laptop. (Don't worry we got permission and didn't sneak in under the cover of darkness)
Things are going well. We had a snag in our program schedule as the second session of participants received the wrong start date for the program so we were not able to start on Friday as planned and had to shift the entire program back one day, which eliminated our "free" day in the middle of the program so now we are working 8 days straight with no break. Sometimes we comment about how it's ironic that we are working with a union:) We don't really mind because this time we are teaching all the same things as the first session so we don't need to prepare very much, regardless they are long days starting at 8:30am and ending at 9:oopm. We did receive an extra day break before the second session started so we headed back to River No. 2 beach for the day. The day wasn't exactly sunny but it didn't rain so we were happy. I have one funny story from the day. Karen and I decided to go for a walk and explore the beach area. When we neared the end of the beach I suggested that we take a look at a lagoon that was behind us. I remembered someone telling me that the lagoon was nice to swim in because it is calmer than the ocean. As we neared the lagoon, Karen told me that one of the Sierra Leone co-tutours told her that there was quicksand in the area. We were just getting close to the water when the sand all around us started to cave in. Of course our first thought was "quicksand"! I panicked, I started clawing at the sand trying to get out of the hole that was quickly forming all around us. I really thought it was the end and that my body would never be recovered! Shortly after the sand stopped sliding and we were both able to climb out. We dusted ourselves off and looked around. No one even seemed to notice what had happened. We were so relieved to be alive! We told some of the Sierra Leoneons about it but they didn't seem the least bit concerned and just stated that they'd had a lot of rain lately and that it wasn't anything to worry about. Regardless, our team leader said we had to stay in her sight for the rest of the day:)
The second session is going well. I am tiring of teaching the same thing over and over again, I could never be a rotary teacher. The practice teaching will begin again shortly and then we will sit and critique their lessons.
Time is flying by. We calculated that in 6 days we will be leaving. The time has flown by. Our team has done really well together. We keep saying that for four women we have had relatively no drama, pretty good hey?
I am starting to daydream about some new food options. We are convinced that the restaurant at the hotel only had 5 items that they prepare in many different ways! We are happy to be eating well and are careful not to complain around others but we sometimes make lists of the foods we will eat first when we are home.
I am looking forward to spending a few days in Holland and re-connecting with my Dutch family. I better get going as others are waiting to use the computer.

I feel like Paula Abdul...

Sunday we headed out to the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary to see the chimps. It was amazing, they can really make a lot of noise when they want to. A few years ago 31 chimps escaped, all but 4 were captured or returned on their own. Unfortunately, one man was killed by a chimp while the chimps were at large. The sanctuary is well kept and we met some interesting people from the US and Britain who are also volunteering in Sierra Leone right now.
After the sanctuary we went to No. 2 River Beach. The beach was gorgeous. It rained the whole time but we had a good time nonetheless. I even swam for a bit.
Today the participants began their practice teaching. It feels a lot like the beginning episodes of American Idol, we have a Simon and so the rest of us take on the role of Paula Abdul. (sorry for those of you who don't watch this show and can't decipher the code)
Tonight, Angie and I went to visit a small village to check out the building of a school that is being funded by Canadians in Thunder Bay. It was a great visit. Of course we had to tour the entire village, meet the chief and have several impromptu speeches delivered to us. We loved it. After the busyness of the days here and the noise and pollution of Freetown, it was lovely to get out and walk around and breathe in the fresh air.
I'll update pictures when possible but it takes so long to upload and it's getting late.

Participants

A dear friend of mine e-mailed me and asked me to share a bit more about the participants of the workshop. Unfortunately, when we're not teaching we are preparing for our next workshop so we haven't had a lot of opportunity to spend time with them outside of the classroom. However, we have made an effort as a team to split up over lunch and sit with different groups and try to get to know them. Unfortunately, people from Sierra Leone don't as a habit talk while they are eating, so it is a bit difficult. Last night when we were working on the computers and the electricity went out, I had about 20 minutes of waiting so I talked to a few teachers. They are truly amazing people. They have all lived through the war and therefore have lost valuable years of education and yet they have persevered to achieve their goals. All the teachers we work with are from the rural areas and have had no education past secondary school, in fact many of them have not completed secondary school. It is for this reason that they are invited to the workshops. One man I spoke to last night must be in his 60's. He worked for 10 years in a mine as an electrician, during the war he was not able to work but after the war he was asked to be the teacher of the local school. Most often, the teacher is the smartest or the most educated person in the village and is asked to take on the role of the teacher. Many of them are not paid for months at a time, sometimes even years, and yet they get up every morning and teach their students because they feel it is their calling. Despite the fact that they do not have access to regular newspapers or the internet, they are surprisingly quite informed about world events. They truly inspire me and I have a lot of respect for them. I am learning so much from them.
Tomorrow is Saturday, we will continue the workshop but Sunday will be a day of rest. We hope to visit the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and visit a popular beach. Monday and Tuesday next week we will continue with the same group of participants. Wednesday is another day off (lazy aren't we?), and Thurs. night our new participants will arrive for the second session. Action packed, not so?

Pictures are worth a thousand words, not so?

Canada Night!

Some pictures of the participants hard at work. They are divided into groups for the morning, these are pictures of group two, they're my favourite group!

Not so?

The language here continues to intrigue me. A common expression here is "not so?". It is basically asking someone if they agree with you, but it appears at the end of almost every sentence. For example: Canada is a wonderful country. Not so?
Tonight we taught the teachers how to use the computers. Most of them have never touched one in their lives. We decided to start them on google and let them search for a topic of their choice. Most of them started typing sentences in the search bar so we switched them over to Microsoft Word and let them type away to their hearts content. They loved it. At one point the electricity went out. When it came back on one person was shocked to see the wallpaper picture of fish on their screen. They yelled, "come quick and get these fish off the screen, I want to type!" It was priceless.
Last night's Canada night went well. We played hockey with mini sticks, played Canadian Trivia and watched a slide show of pictures of Canada. We drank some Star beer and soft drinks and danced the night away. (okay so we ended at 9pm but that's late around here, since morning prayer starts at 5am and is broadcast over a loud speaker)

Teaching

We've been very busy teaching the last few days, (my excuse for not writing more often). Our lunch meals are quickly eaten and then we rush back to our room to prepare more "Vanguards" (aka posters) for the afternoon. For the most part I am working quite well with my co-tutor. I've been behaving myself and have quietly followed his direction. The participants are lovely and I try not to make it obvious that I have favourites:) It appears that they understand us despite our accents and funny word choices. I find language so fascinating, although we speak the same language, there is much potential for misunderstandings. For example, sending a text message is called a "flash", of course this word has a different meaning to us. It is quite strange to ask someone to "flash you". There are more but that is all I can think of right now.
Yesterday was a wonderful day, we were given a new toilet seat (after I suggested that I could fix it myself) and our air conditioner was fixed!
We are gelling well as a team and despite a few dinner conversations about topics that should never be discussed over a meal (read between the lines), we are in good spirits!
Tonight is Canada night and we have a fun night planned. I'll try to upload some pictures but it took me almost an hour to post the previous pics. and our time in the computer lab is quite limited.

An African Mass and Formal Opening Ceremony

This morning we had the privilege of attending a Catholic Mass. I have been to very few Catholic Masses before but one of the team members regularly attends and she informed us that is was quite similar to mass in NA but much longer:) We were not given much attention (thankfully) but all new visitors were asked to stand and introduce themselves, which we willingly did.
I am finding so many things here that remind me of Haiti, in fact sometimes I have to remind myself that I am in Sierra Leone and not Haiti. Although strangely enough, things appear to be better off here than in Haiti, but I know that appearances can often be deceiving and I will not be here long enough to really determine if this is true.
This afternoon the participants began to arrive and received an orientation to the hotel. They were shown a room in the hotel and all the "gadgets" were explained to them and how they work. They listened so intently, some of them will use electricity for the first time! I hope they enjoy the A/C and that it works in their rooms:)
This evening was the formal opening ceremony and formal it was. Long speeches, many thanks and of course we sang "Solidarity Forever" quite a few times! Afterwards we had a huge dinner of rice and chicken, I better get used to it, many more meals like that to come.
It's late and we start teaching tomorrow so I will say goodnight.

Pics

Marian and myself The famous Cotton Tree The First School We visited

Hotel 5:10

Hurry up and Wait

The team at Lumley Beach

The last two days have been very interesting. We've had meetings both days with the leaders of the union and our co-tutors. It has been a very formal affair with everyone going by their titles (e.g. secretary general, project coordinator) and everything has to follow protocol. We've managed to approve the workshop schedule and plan out the first four days of the workshop. My co-tutor is a university professor from Milton Morgai Education and Technical College, he works in the education department teaching History. We will team teach the morning workshops together on the topic of Social Studies. In the afternoon and evenings, the rest of the CTF team and myself will teach various topics such as multi-grade instruction, special education, peace education and gender equality. It has been great to work alongside the co-tutors as some of the ideas we came with may not work in the classrooms here in Sierra Leone.
This afternoon we ended a bit early and were able to make it down to Lumley Beach for a few hours. We walked along the water, but didn't swim because the red caution flag was out. (this didn't stop me last time I was here but this group is a bit more cautious)
Tomorrow we hope to attend a Catholic mass near the hotel and then spend some time relaxing before our busy week. We found out that all our Sundays will be free as well as two days in the middle of the two sessions. We hope to do some short travels around the Freetown area.
Our team is getting along fabulously with lots of laughter and jokes. We keep each other in line (especially Karen).

I have mentioned in the past that we are staying at a hotel. Before you think you think that we're living it up, I would just like to inform you that the air conditioning rarely works and the electricity is off more than it is on, and our tiolet seat is broken in about three places. On the bright side, it's preparing me for life in Haiti!

Hotel 5:10, Freetown, Sierra Leone

So much has happened since landing on African soil. The flight over was quite uneventful, I met an interesting woman from Sierra Leone but most people on the plane were from Senegal because we stopped in Dakar before going on to Freetown. We were met at the airport by a Representative from SLTU (Sierra Leone Teachers Union) which helped considerably with getting through customs and having our luggage safely loaded in the van that was to take us to the new Pelican Water Taxi. What an experience that was, last time I took a helicopter one way to Freetown and a hovercraft back, the water taxi was a new experience, and an experience it was. The water was quite rough and the taxi was quite small, I thought we were CRAZY to get into it and although it was quite bumpy, no one became sea sick and we arrived safely on the other side. Our accommodations are lovely. We have yet to have the air conditioner work but the fan works great and the room is cleaned every day. No towel swans on the bed but clean towels are good enough for us!
We have been busy touring around. We've visited three schools to see the conditions of some local schools. We've been to the "Big Market" and "Victoria Park" to buy a few souvenirs. We managed to get to a nice grocery store to buy some snacks. We met with the Minister of Labour which was an honour. The STLU staff have been wonderful, showing us around and answering all our questions.
Tomorrow we will meet with our co-tutors and start planning for our workshops. Opening ceremonies are Sunday and the workshops start on Monday. It sounds pretty packed but hopefully we'll get a night or an afternoon off sometime during the workshops.
Last night I tried to put my workout plan into action (a skipping rope). I figured the best place was the balcony in front of my room. Unfortunately I quickly had an audience, who counted how many times I could skip without messing up! Very encouraging.
We've been eating really well. Until the workshops start we can choose our meals at the hotel, after that we will eat the same as the participants (rice, rice and more rice).
Today at one of the schools the principal told us that they found out today that school may be extended for another week. Can you imagine? The last week of school and then the students find out that they have an entire week more of school! Talk about a riot!
That's all for now.

Brussels

Well travelling is never free of mishaps altogether. We arrived at the Ottawa airport only to realize that a team mate´s passport was missing. We searched everywhere and were just about to leave without her when she found it. In Belgium we had a difficult time finding a taxi able to take all our luggage and ended up taking two. Everything is considerably more expensive here. We are currently in Brussels, seriously sleep deprived but going out for some Belgium waffles in a minute. Tonight we hope to have a solid nights sleep and ready for Sierra Leone. Internet is hard to find and someone is waiting for me now so no pictures unfortunately. We are in good spirits and eagerly awaiting our new adventures.

Blue Cactus

Last night my team went to the "Blue Cactus" for dinner. I almost ordered a rice meal but my teammates reminded me that we'll be eating rice for an entire month so I ordered fajitas instead.
We had a nice time of getting to know each other. We had to share what we do when we're stressed and how we want others to respond when we are stressed. The team that went to Sierra Leone last year underwent a lot of stress with lost luggage, a team member leaving at the last minute, deaths in the family, no planning time in country and a possible root canal. Hopefully this year is less stressful but if not we'll deal with as it comes. The days have been packed and today is no different. Starting at 7:15 and not ending until 8:00 tonight, I'm feeling like I could go for a LONG nap right now but I guess that's what plane rides are for:)

CTF

Today we spent the entire day at the CTF (Canadian Teacher's Federation) building. It was a great day of meeting the other teachers and we went through a tonne of material. Right now my brain feels a bit fried but it was good to cover so much important information and get to know my team a bit better. It was hard to be on the "other side of the desk" for an entire day and I have a renewed sympathy for my students who have to sit all day in one desk and ask permission to use the washroom:) Tonight we have "team bonding" time, which will involve going out for dinner and hopefully a walk if the rain stops falling for long enough.
Tomorrow, more information sessions on cultural awareness.

Ottawa

While waiting for my plane to Ottawa I met a whole bunch of "Project Overseaers" (other people who are participating in Project Overseas). We had a very short and pleasant flight to Ottawa. After checking into the hotel, I had some time to kill so I walked around downtown and took in the sights. I had a few flashbacks of my Grade 8 class trip to Ottawa!

Tonight we had a brief information session and tomorrow we meet at 7:15am for breakfast, so much for a vacation! I better get to sleep so I'm ready for our action packed day tomorrow.

Goodbyes

Unfortunately I have no pictures of the past few weeks because I left my camera at my friend's house and have not had a chance to retrieve it.
Regardless, it's been an action packed few weeks. I said a tearful goodbye to my students, the girls were much harder to say goodbye to then the boys. Although I love them all equally of course. Some of the students have been in my class for two years, that's a lot of bonding time and we've grown quite attached to each other. One student (a boy) said, "Ms. Gringhuis, two years is a long time. I'm going to miss you. I hope our teacher next year is not a boy". Another student said, "if our new teacher is rude I'm going to be rude right back". I told him to keep up his positive attitude:) I will miss their funny comments and stories.
Several of the teachers are still in denial that I'm leaving and wouldn't say goodbye, that's okay because I know I will see them in August before I leave for 'good'.
I have to admit that when I drove away from Lawrence Heights MS, I shed quite a few tears. LHMS is where I began my teaching career and I haven't taught anywhere else but there. I have poured a lot of myself into the students there and enjoyed much laughter and joy from them in return. The staff has truly been a family to me over the past six years. They have supported me through a lot and I will miss them.
As I type this, I am sitting at my parent's house. The move out of my place went amazingly smoothly. I had many friends help in Toronto and my family helped unload in Dundas. All my worldly possessions are now sitting in the basement awaiting my possible return.
I went to the lawyer's today and dropped off the keys! It's a done deal! No turning back now.
I am getting pretty excited about my trip to Sierra Leone. I leave on Thursday to spend three days in Ottawa, meeting my team and participating in cross-cultural training.
Please keep myself and my team in your prayers. I'll update as often as possible and I promise to include pictures.

Haitian Accomodations

When I lived in Haiti last time I lived in two different locations. I started at the school where I was working. My bedroom doubled as my office and I had NO privacy, there were always kids at the school, those who also lived there and those who did not, and they would often look into my room through the windows. When I finally got tired of that I purchased curtains and put them up, then they would stand outside my windows and ask my why I had closed the curtains:) I didn't have a car and therefore I spent A LOT of time at this location (school/home). Finally it became too much so I arranged to move out and live with a friend. Jenny was house sitting for a family who were on furlough in the USA. I stayed with her for approx. five months.
When I decided to return to Haiti, I didn't consider living with Jenny again because she already had a roommate and I thought it would be too crowded with the three of us. However, when I asked Jenny about possible places to rent in Haiti she mentioned that her roommate was getting married in the fall and I could possibly live with her again. When I visited Haiti the last time I visited Jenny in her new place and thought it was quite lovely. So I have taken her up on her offer, her roommate gets married in October so all three of us will be there for a short time but after October it will be only Jenny and I. I wish I had pictures for you at this point, but you'll just have to wait until I am there. I am thankful that the Lord had provided so graciously once again.

Thank you!

Last night I presented a brief overview of the work I will be doing in Haiti. I would like to thank everyone who came out to show their support. I feel very blessed to have so many family and friends who love me and who will uphold me in prayer in the years I am away.
I am very excited to begin my work in Haiti, working with the teachers and putting my faith into action in a place desperate for God's love and grace.

Late Night Reflections

Time is swiftly passing by. There are four weeks until the end of school, which also means four weeks until I have to vacate my classroom, my condo and life as I currently know it! I leave for Sierra Leone only days after the last day of school and in between I have to move out of my place. These days life is so jam packed that I have little time to reflect on all the major changes that will happen in my life in the near future. During the day my mind is so busy with work, socializing or doing "stuff" that I give little thought to what lays before me.
Each night as I lay my head down on my pillow and I'm just about to fall asleep I think to myself, "what have I done? Can I really handle all this?" I know that with God's help I can do it but right before I fall asleep, just after I turn off the light (that always has electricity) and I set my alarm clock (that I know will work in the morning) and I snuggle into my sheets (that aren't covered in sweat) and I listen to the silence of my home (no mosquito's buzzing in my ear), I wonder, "why did I want to leave this place?" Of course I'm being melodramatic, I am very eager to go to Haiti to live and work once again. During the day I day dream constantly about what I will do when I'm there. I am so excited to see my old friends and talk to them, really talk to them about all that has happened since I was last there. I look forward to working with the teachers and together improving the quality of education. I love the challenge of starting a special needs program in a country where little is available to assist those with special needs. I am enthusiastic to love people and to show the love of God on a daily basis. It's only at night, when I have a second to reflect, that the doubts come flying in. However, after spending time in prayer and when I wake up in the morning refreshed from a nights sleep, I count down the days until my exciting adventure begins and I can't wait to get started!!

SOLD

I am happy to report that my place has SOLD! Praise the Lord! I am relieved to have this loose end tied up. I received the amount I was hoping for, another item of praise.
Things are slowly coming together. I am now able to slowly start to pack up my things and decide what to keep and what to give away. What a blessing to have enough stuff that I need to sort and pack it.

Ode to Sammy

I found out this week that someone very special to me passed away. Sammy, was someone who lived at Coram Deo (in Haiti) when I was there in 2005-2006. Sometime after I left, he was sent back to the countryside to live with his family. I heard this week that he passed away there.
Sammy was developmentally delayed and an absolute joy to be around. He exuded a kind of joy that you don't find very often. It was a rare day when Sammy was sad or unhappy. He rejoiced in the simple pleasures of life, food, laughter, and people. Many afternoons or evenings, I would find him on the jungle gym in the yard. There was a fake steering wheel there and he would pretend to be a tap-tap (taxi) driver. He would ask me for my money as I sat beside him and I would pretend to hand him a coin. One time, I decided to really play along and I yelled that he has almost hit a pedestrian. He reacted quite strongly to my pretend yelling and he told me that he quit and that I had better drive instead:)
Whenever I had a bad day, I would find Sammy and he would cheer me right up. On my last day in Haiti, I was very sad to go and cried as I said my farewells. When it was Sammy's turn I gave him a hug and told him that I was going far away and I didn't know if I'd see him again. He turned his big eyes to me and asked, "have you seen the cat?". He knew how to make a tough situation much lighter.
It is for Sammy and other's like him that I desire to go back to Haiti. I look forward to starting an education program for students with severe learning disabilities, providing them with food, life skills, and the love of God.
Sammy, you will be missed.

Learn more About Kim's Adventures in Haiti

Since deciding to return to Haiti, I have begun to tell my friends, family, and colleagues about my plans at varying times. Now, I can't remember who I told and what details I have given. So, in order to eliminate my confusion, and to elaborate on my plans for next year, I am organizing an information night this month. Here are the details.
Date: Saturday, June 6, 2009
Location: Leaside Bible Chapel, 826 Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto, ON M4G 2L1
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Light refreshments will be provided.
I would love to see you there if you are able to attend.

Goodbye Oriole Parkway?

Since moving out of my parent's house at the age of 19, I have only twice lived in a place for longer than 12 months. Oriole Parkway is a record, almost 3 years now! It's been a great place to live, I love the neighbourhood, my neighbours are friendly, and it's the first place I've ever owned. It's been a good three years, but I'm ready to go. On to bigger and better things. I put it up for sale on Tuesday. So far, no amazing offers have come in that would make me rich for life, but there's been a lot of showings. It's tiring to keep the place looking clean all the time and vacating it at odd times. Now it's just a waiting game. I'd love to have all the loose ends tied up before I leave for Sierra Leone on July 2nd. I have to admit I find the whole experience quite stressful. I like to be "in charge" and right now I'm not. I know that if it's the Lord's will that I go to Haiti then the details will work themselves out. Perhaps not the way that I want them to, but they will be worked out:) So, here I am trusting in the Lord.

Mission Fest 2009

Today for the first time I attended Mission Fest here in Toronto. It is one of those events that I always think about attending but it comes and goes without me remembering and then I vow that I will attend next year... and on and on it goes.
So this morning bright and early we headed out to check it out. It was worth the while. I attended three workshops about getting ready to engage in missions and ran into a few people I knew.
The first workshop I attended really got me thinking. The workshop's purpose was to tell you all the things you will wish you knew before you go and I went with the idea that it would answer all my questions. Instead it left me with a lot of questions, but good questions, things to think about. I realize that each culture is so different it would be impossible to have a workshop that prepared people to work in any given culture. The emphasis was on being culturally sensitive and carefully observing those around you and following their lead. As I was listening I reflected on the summer I spent in Sierra Leone and the year I spent in Haiti. I was reminded of many times when I refused to follow the cultural norm because it made me uncomfortable or I just felt too inconvenienced by it. Most of the time I tried to be culturally sensitive but when I was tired, or in a rush or felt out of my comfort zone I naturally reverted back to the comfort of Canadian norms. For example, when I was in Sierra Leone we were in a very small village in the North of the country. We spent all day teaching at the local school and the house we were staying at was about a 5 min. walk from the school. The school only had a communal washroom which I was not comfortable with using so whenever I had to use the washroom I walked back to the house. This in and of itself was not a problem, the problem was that I had to walk quickly and I had to walk by many people and many houses between the school and the house. Our breaks were short so I had to walk quickly back and forth between the school and the house. This is not the norm in Sierra Leone. First of all you don't walk quickly, secondly you do not pass by that many people and not stop and "greet" them (this takes anywhere from 2 -10 min/person). I did not have the time, so I would try to avoid making eye contact and quickly walk by, sometimes saying a general greeting to a group of people. I'm sure this single act did not undo all that was accomplished in the workshops but sometimes cultural insensitivity does much more damage. Needless to say, I resolved to be more informed and more culturally sensitive this time.

Side bar - Sierra Leone

Shortly after joining the Toronto District School Board I heard about an opportunity called "Project Overseas". This project is completely funded by the Canadian Teachers Federation and it involves teachers volunteering to go overseas and teach workshops for teachers with little or no teacher training. I was immediately interested but quickly learned that I could not apply until I had 5 years of teaching experience. This year was the first year I was eligible to apply, so in the fall I put my application together, had an interview, and was selected to work in Sierra Leone (where I've been once before). I found out I was selected at around the same time as I found out I was accepted by CDIA to work once again in Haiti. There was a moment when I thought that perhaps I couldn't do both, but the moment passed and I agreed to do both.
Therefore, July 3rd I'll be flying to Ottawa for a weekend of training and then I'm off to Sierra Leone for one month. On my way home I will be delaying my stop over in Belgium by 3 days so I can visit my cousins in the south of Holland as well as return to Amsterdam for one day to revisit my favourites places from the 3 months I lived there.
Needless to say, I will be busy in the near future, finishing off the school year, preparing my workshops for this summer, sorting and packing all my stuff, and generally tying up lose ends. I will use this blog during my time in Sierra Leone to keep family and friends posted on my adventures there.

Haiti once again....

It's true. I'm moving back to Haiti once again. Since leaving Haiti in July 2006 rarely a day goes by that I don't think about Haiti. Each time I've been back I've told myself that this will be my last visit, I'm moving on, but something keeps pulling me back. A friend of mine asked me what is it about Haiti that draws me back? I had a hard time answering the question. Mostly I think it's the people, or perhaps it's the mosquitoes, the vicious dogs or the lack of electricity? Just kidding, those things I do not miss:) To be honest, all the things I love about Haiti are also the things I don't love (my niece told me "hate" is a bad word) about Haiti. It's often said that love and hate are very closely related.
So, how did I end up going back? Well, as I said I can't seem to get Haiti out of my mind. In the fall, friends of mine came back to Canada after travelling much of the world. Looking through their photo albums and hearing their stories made me long to live elsewhere once again. Shortly after, I had breakfast with a friend who is a fellow traveller and we spent the whole time talking about where to go next.
So I started spending a lot of time searching the Internet to find an organization that I could work overseas. If I want to teach overseas, I could go almost anywhere, make a good salary and work with the children of the elite or missionary kids. This has never appealed to me but I tried to convince myself that this would be great, but I couldn't do it. I found a few interesting positions in various countries but there was always something "wrong" with them and so I never applied. Then I heard that Randy and Karen (the couple who replaced me when I left last time) were expecting a baby. I thought that perhaps the organization would consider hiring another person for the time that Karen would be on Maternity leave. I approached the board of Coram Deo and the rest is history.
So I'll be going back to the same school that I was at before, doing the same job. I will not be teaching but will be working with the teachers to develop a strong education program that will enable the students to prepare for their government exams. In addition to that, I will assist with the starting of a special education class. In Haiti little is available in the way of education for students with intellectual disabilities. If parents can only afford to send some of their children to school they most often do not choose those with intellectual disabilities. If they do choose to send them to school, they often do not pass the class they are in so they stay in the same class for several years, not receiving the support they need.
I won't be leaving for Haiti until the beginning of September but until then I will be updating my blog to let you know how my preparations are going.

HOME

Hello all. I arrived at the Toronto Airport on July 18th at 11:30pm and was back at my parents just after 1:00am. It is great to be home and I'm still basking in the beauty of Southern Ontario. It hasn't really hit me yet that I'm back and I'm sure it will take a few more weeks until it really sinks in. I am taking it easy for a few days and just adjusting to being back. It was difficult to say goodbye to everyone at Coram Deo. I only cried when I gave Manman Manise and St. Marie a hug goodbye. I think my excitement about coming home helped to make the whole experience a bit less painful. I think the hardest thing is that I don't know if or when I will be back and how difficult it is to stay in touch.
Well, my adventure is done and seeing that my life in Toronto is not near as exciting, this will be my last blog entry. Thanks for taking the journey with me and also keeping me updated on your lives via e-mail. For someone who had never even heard of a blog before this year, I have to admit that I'm thankful for the way technology helped me stay in touch with so many of you over the past year. May the Lord bless you and keep you in His precious arms.
Kim

Last Day Thoughts

Today is July 17th, the day before I leave my home of one year, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. My parents called yesterday and told me not to leave my house until tomorrow morning so they can be sure I will arrive home safe and sound:) Yesterday I walked through the neighborhoud saying my goodbyes to various people.
As I sit at my computer, I wonder... I wonder if I have accomplished all I set out to do. I wonder if I have done and seen all that I wanted to do and see here in Haiti. I wonder how long before my ties and friendships here begin to fade and are replaced with newer ones. I wonder if I'll ever be back. I wonder how long before Haiti becomes a distant memory and I once again take electricity, running water, and peace and quiet for granted. I wonder how much I'll miss little boys waking me up in the morning and asking me to read with them. I wonder how long before Sammy stops asking where I am:) Only time will tell....
I am surprisingly not very emotional these days. Maybe my intense excitement about going home has shadowed the sadness of leaving this place called home and these people I have come to love so dearly. I don't think it will really hit me until a few weeks after I have arrived at home and I start to really notice their absence.
As I put an end to my adventures in Haiti, I will also put an end to this blog. I would like to thank everyone who took the time to check it out every once in a while and especially those who took the time to say a short (or long) prayer for me!!!! I know this year was possible because of all those prayers. Thank you also to all those who took the time to write me a short (or long) e-mail. These e-mails boosted my spirits in ways you may never know and helped me carry on through the tough times.
I hope to run into a lot of you this summer and if not this summer some time in the fall.
Thank you again for your love and support. God is good and I look forward to continuing to serve Him back on my home front.
Kim

Apologies

Hello all, my apologies for not writing more often. It has been a very busy few weeks since school ended. The teachers from Canada; Marg, Carina and Joyce arrived safely on July 29th. We had a wonderful week of seminars which were a learning experience for all involved. They were packed with great information and pratical ideas to be used in the classroom. We had a great week together and we will all be praying that the ideas learned will become part of the teaching process next school year.
On the weekend we also packed in quite a few events. On Sat. we took the residents of Coram Deo out to the countryside to play soccer and have a picnic lunch. Sunday we went to visit Ysmaille's sisters house in the mountains and Monday we tagged along with Dr. Ed to the countryside again to help with his clinic. Although we had a great time we might have overdone it because now Joyce and Carina are both a bit under the weather. Thankfully they will be going home in one day so they will be able to recooperate at home.
Security has been a bit up and down these days. We are taking precautions and not venturing too far from the house. There has been a lot of shootings and we can hear them from our house. Many civilians have been caught in the crossfire. Please keep all of us at Coram Deo in your prayers and we will do our best not to put ourselves in any dangerous situations.
In less than one week I will be home!!!!!!

No more homework, no more books...

School is done for the year!!! The last day of school was Thursday and we had our last big event on Sunday afternoon. The teachers were amazing both these days. The last day of school they organized a little program to say goodbye to me and to remember the year. We had a small party for the kids and one of the teachers brought his "sound equipment" and so we listened to music for a while as we ate. Unfortunately, I foolishly planned the last day of school to be 2 days before we passed out report cards, so I was crazy busy proofreading and photocopying all the report cards. Sunday was the last parent-teacher meeting and we had a good turn out. We also had a sort of graduation ceremony for the students who passed Grade 5 and will therefore be attending a different school in the fall. Overall it was a great day and I was really proud of the teachers and was reminded of how far we've come this year.
So, what am I doing now?? Well, funny enough I'm busier than I was before. We have 3 teachers visiting on Thursday for 2 weeks. They will be doing a week long seminar with the teachers of Coram Deo. So I've tried to organize and arrange all the stuff from this year so I can show them what we've done this year. Also, I want to finish a lot of the end of year stuff before they come so that when they are here I can be of service to them and also be able to enjoy their company.
Other than that. All is going well. I am going to be moving back to Coram Deo on Thursday as it's becoming a bit complicated to get a ride back and forth to work every day and I would like to spend as much time with the visitors as possible. I will be sad to leave Jenny and the quiet of our house. I, however, will not be sad to say goodbye to Max!!!
I'm sorry this is so factual and not very entertaining to read but I'm feeling uninspired and I have to get back to packing up my stuff. Who knew I could accumulate so much stuff in only one year!!! I may have to leave some stuff behind!!!! I'm sure I will find someone who wants it:)

Medical clinic

Yesterday was a holiday so I was able to tag along with a doctor to a medical clinic in a small village near the Dominican border. I had heard that it was sooo beautiful, with a natural spring feeding the lake nearby. It was an interesting day. I witnessed a minor surgery. A young lady (17 years old?) came in with a growth on her neck just below her ear. Dr. Ed was a bit apprehensive because he was worried that it had grown into other parts of her neck, most importantly a main artery. But he agreed to open it up, take a look around and then if necessary sew it up again. Thankfully, he was able to remove it and the girl was very happy. I tried to watch the surgery but have to admit that I felt a bit weak and had to sit down on the other side of the room. After that I sat right beside her but where I couldn't see the operation and tried to encourage her. The rest of the day was pretty quiet with colds, fevers and sore stomaches. But then this guy walked in with his foot all wrapped in a bloody cloth and said he has just cut his foot with a machete. Because of the amount of blood I was worried that he had cut a chunk off his foot, but actually when all the blood was cleaned up it was just a little cut (only needing 3 stitches). It had so much blood because of where the cut was. So that was my exciting day out of PAP. We went to see the spring and I could see the potential for beauty but was saddened by the garbage and the evidence of human beings everywhere. Ah... the story of Haiti.

Argentina or Brazil???

I already mentioned that Haiti is a little football crazy right now but I forgot to mention that their loyalties are divided between Argentina and Brazil. There are more fans for Brazil than Argentina but regardless the streets and stores are decorated with the colours of both teams and when either team is playing the streets are EMPTY!!! which is very rare in PAP. I of course am loyal to my home country Canada, just kidding, I know they don't have a team, I just thought I'd throw that in there for all those friends of mine who have endless fun with my lack of sports knowledge:) Go Orville!!!
We have a visitor staying with Jenny and I right now. She is a Calvin student who is volunteering at the CRWRC office right now. It's fun to have another person around and we have been going out more to try and make it fun for her, which is also good for us. I tagged along when she received an "official" tour of the city and went to a few places I'd never been before.
Tomorrow there's no school since it's "The Birthday of God" (I didn't know He had a birthday!) and so I will be leaving the city for the day. I've been invited to tag along with Dr. Ed to some small town (whose name escapes me right now) to help out with a clinic. I'm excited to leave the city and see a place I've never been before. Apparently it has amazing natural springs so that will be interesting.
The mouse situation has taken a turn for the worse and they seem to be getting bigger and mutliplying like crazy. We have found several mouse nests in the last little while. I remove myself from the situation until it's been "taken care of".
Other than that, things are well and I'm still staying busy and staying out of trouble.

World Cup Craze

So, Haiti is crazy for football(soccer) these days. Things seem to have come to a halt as people are more interested in watching the games than anything else. It is not uncommon to see a television set up outside an office or church with a large gathering of people (or shall I say guys) sitting around watching the game. The good news is that we have much more electricity than normal, which of course is always welcome. We've had so much some days, we sit around and wonder what possible appliance we can use before they take it again.
So I have some news to share, the good news is that Coram Deo has found a couple to fill the School Director role as well as a new position of Development Director. The bad news is that they can not start until March due to previous commitments. So I am very busy finishing off the school year as well as starting to prepare for the following school year. Needless to say I'm very busy.
The first week of July there are 3 teachers coming from Canada to teach a week of seminars for the teachers of Coram Deo. I am very excited about this and believe it will be beneficial for all involved. So I am preparing for that as well. The good news is that I'm too busy to get into any trouble!!!
So that's all the news from here. Oh, I almost forgot. I bought my ticket to return home. I will be returning to home sweet home on July 18th and I'm counting down the days until I see my family and friends again!!!

Random pics of PAP

Comments

I forgot to respond to the comments on my last entry. Nicole, I knew you'd be very happy with my new "nurse" position. Maybe I'll follow in your footsteps and become a real nurse when I come home:) And to my dear Leaside friends. I'm glad you are so eager for my return. I too look forward to my return. I have to admit that sometimes I daydream about what I will do first when I'm home. I think it may just be to eat a huge bowl of icecream and drink a really cold drink. (I do that here but it's quite the treat!)

No pictures, sorry

Well, the most exciting thing that has happened to me these days is that I have a HUGE swollen jaw. I have had a lot of problems with my skin in Haiti, I often have a lot of acne and I think it is from the air being so dirty and my pores getting clogged. However, right now I have 3 really infected pores and one is on my jaw so it is quite swollen and everyone looks at me quite strangely when they see me. At first I was hoping it would just go away by itself but I woke up Friday morning and it was horrible looking. I talked to a doctor who recommended an anitbiotic for me to take. Hopefully it works pretty quick, it's actually quite painful and it's difficult to sleep.
The temperature is rising and I'm find it hard to adjust to the heat. Usually I adjust quite quickly but these days I'm finding it hard to sleep. I've started to sleep in the living room hopefully to get a cross breeze but I'm afraid of the "crazy" cat coming in the house and cuddling up to me so I shut the sliding door and didn't find much of a cross breeze. Last night, I was so hot that I took the chance of cuddling up with a strange cat and left the door open. Thankfully the cat did not return. I think my coming after him with a large stick the last time he visited may have curbed his desire to visit our house:)
Other than that, things are calm. Jenny and I were chatting last night that we are actually quite boring. We spend almost every night at home reading. We sit with our little light one trying not to waste our invertor charge and read until it's time to go to bed. What crazy girls we are. Speaking of books, Jenny used to work for the Peace Corps and they just recently decided to pull all their personnel from Haiti and shut down their office. Jenny went by the office was able to take all the books in their library!!! So we have quite the selection of books at our house. It's like living at a library.

Nurse Kim

So these days I feel more like a nurse than a school director!!! There's a doctor that goes to my church (Dr. Ed for those of you who know him) who has agreed to stop by every week and take a look at the kids who have any medical problems. I am very excited about this as the kids often complain to me of the same things and I have no idea what to do. So every day I am dispensing medicine. Right now the thing that occupies a lot of my time is shampooing kids heads. I remember all too well being on "lice duty" at SMC and it feels a lot like the same thing. I have to put Selsan Blue on their heads and they have to keep it on for 24 hours and then I can wash it off and reapply it. So we have about 15 boys walking around with bright blue heads. I thought that they would be really embaressed about this but I think they are so thrilled to be getting rid of the scalp fungus that they dont' mind at all. In fact I think the idea is becoming quite popular because boys who don't have it have asked me to apply it to their heads as well!!!
So I'm keeping busy with that and all the other things that are involved with running a school. Jenny has been gone a lot lately helping out with a family up North. She'll be home for a while now and I'm glad as I don't love living by myself here.
I'm going to sign off quickly before they take hydro and I lose all that I've written.

Marie's Party

Marie's Graduation

So much to say, so little time

I'll keep this short because we don't have any hydro and I don't want to drain the invertor or use all the gas in the generator:) So much to talk about... we have three visitors here right who I never see because they are always working (they are nurses working at a clinic). Marie graduated from her 2 year course in sewing, floral arrangements etc. Went to her fashion show and her graduation. Had some strange personal space issues at the graduation, I think personal space is just not an option here. I threw a small party for Marie at the house afterwards, she was thrilled. Have a strange cat living in the house that scares the crap out of me and I end up hiding in my room in fear. (it's kind of freaky and I'm afraid it will bite me and seeing my history with animals in Haiti I will keep a safe distance). Jenny is gone for a week so I'm living by myself and the invertor is almost dead so I sit with a candle and try to read my book and not be scared!!! What an adventure living in Haiti is. Last night I was sooooooo happy because we got city water and I was able to put water in the cistern on the roof and have running water in the house but then I forgot all about it and it ended up filling the roof with water too.... I think by the time I figure everything out it will be time to leave. Speaking about leaving. I will be leaving in approximately 11 weeks. Isn't that crazy??? I am starting to feel really sad about leaving the people here. I guess that's part of life. I will try and post some pictures soon. Here's hoping...

Sad News

To those of you who are familar with the people who live at Coram Deo, I have some sad news to pass along. Wisley's Dad passed away on Saturday morning. He was crossing the street when he was hit by a truck. He was brought to the hospital but died shortly after. Of course Wisley was really shook up as this news came as a total surprise. He seems to be doing better and is able to talk about it with others. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Often when I have a chance to daydream I think about what I want to write on my blog. But when I sit in front of the computer I often sit for a while thinking of what to write. It's not that I don't have anything to write about, it's that I have too much to write about and I don't know where to start. Last Sunday I attended a very interesting meeting. A group of people meet every Sunday afternoon at Coram Deo to have discussions. One Sunday is English the other is French. So I was invited to be the "guest speaker" and facilitate the discussion. I decided to have a discussion on one of my favourite topics since arriving in Haiti. "Our duties as Christian citizens of a country". I started with the story of Joshua and the fall of Jericho. I talked about how faith and action need to walk hand in hand. Joshua very much relied on God and lived his faith when he led the people around Jericho seven times, despite how foolish he must have felt. However, the point that I stressed was that he took ACTION. Now I would never claim to understand the frustrations of living in a country where the government does not fulfill its God given duties. However, I have heard just too often, "only God can help Haiti" as people sit idly by and do nothing. I asked the group who had come on Sunday to raise their hand if they had voted for the second set of elections. Two people raised their hands. So we discussed the importance of taking action so matter how little or significant that action may seem.
It's been a busy week again and it flew by. Karen will be coming back on Wednesday and things will return to normal around here. The kids will also finally stop asking me when she will return:) No matter how many times I show them on the calendar and we count down the days, they can't seem to grasp the meaning of 3 weeks.
Today we had parent - teacher interviews. As in the past we had a weak turnout and many parents arrived late. I'm thankful for those parents who value thier childrens education and make time to come and talk to us about their progress. But it's frustrating that more parents don't care.
Well, that's all I can think of for the moment. I will sign off now.

Dogs, Mothers and Elections

So apparently dogs and I just don't mesh here in Haiti. Remember the cute dog I showed you a picture of??? Well, the kids are very rough when they play with him and I often have to remind them that he is not a toy and that he is actually living. I always tell them that if they are mean to him now, when he is a big dog he will be mean too. So yesterday I walked into the yard and he came running at me and bit me hard in the leg. He bit through my pants and broke the skin on my leg. I don't get it. What is it about me that dogs don't like???
On another note I would like to salute all the mothers out there. Seeing as I am a temporary mom to 6 children and 7 teenage boys. I don't know how moms do it and especially single moms. Two days ago Manu was complaining about a sore foot. The kids here are always getting scrapes and asking for bandaids. I usually clean it for them quickly and give them a bandaid and then never hear about it again. Well this time he complained about it more than once. So I took another look. His toe was infected and before the day was done it had spread to his foot which was quicly ballooning out. Not knowing what to do, I read "where there is no doctor" and discovered that it could be a variety of things and there are a variety of ways to take care of it. I wouldn't have been so worried except that anytime I came close to his foot he would scream at the top of his lungs and wouldn't stop for about 45 minutes. Well I won't go into any details about what I did, but today a Doctor stopped by to see Karen and just in case I asked him to take a look at it. He said I did everything right. I was so relieved. I know it's not smart to take chances with infections.
Tomorrow are the final elections for the rest of the government positions. There have been no troubles on the street but everything is closed today and tomorrow. We will just sit tight and spend some time cleaning up around the house. I don't forsee any problems but then I'm no expert.

Surviving

I survived the weekend being the "director" of Coram Deo. Honestly it went fairly well. The kids for the most part behaved themselves although I did get pretty sick of hearing my name being called over and over again. They just need so much attention. We went to church Friday night for Good Friday and again Sunday morning for Easter Sunday. They were both wonderful services, I even had a speaking part in the Sunday service!! So nothing has fallen apart and we are having a nice time. I went back to my house for a little bit on Sunday just to have a quiet hour to myself. Yesterday I convinced Samuel and Cadeau to go for a walk with me:) Other than that I've been here but I'm surviving and not feeling too claustrophobic.
This week all the schools are supposed to be closed due to the elections on Friday. They are sooooo quick to close the schools here. There's no problems on the street and I really don't think there will be. I opened school today and about 25 students showed up, so we had school. I don't like to feed into the fear, if there's really something going on I'm more than willing to close the school. Until then we will teach for whoever shows up:)
I really feel like I'm coming to the end of my stay. In just over 2 months, school will be over. I have lots to do before then and I want to write down as much as possible for the next director. I want them to know all the things I wish I knew when I started!!!

Random Pictures

Too long, I know

I'm still alive to all those who wrote me a worried e-mail. We haven't had hydro during the day for about 3 weeks now so my internet access is really limited. I try my best to go to the internet cafe 3 times a week. But it gets sort of expensive after a while and by the time I check my messages the time is up. (they are very slow computers) A couple of times I've written on my blog but it takes forever because the keyboard always has about 5 keys that always stick so you have to write one word, wait for the key to unstick itself and the continue on.
Enough complaining, I will give you a quick update and then tell you a funny story. Things are going well here. The school is running quite smoothly and I gave a workshop this morning on literacy and it went well. Overall I'm very pleased with the progess the school has made this year. Karen (the director) is going back to Canada for 3 weeks and leaving tomorrow morning. This of course leaves me in charge. It will be very challenging as I felt very busy before just running the school and now I will be in charge of everything. Karen has been very busy to prepare for her absence and therefore it won't be too much extra work. I will be staying at Coram Deo again which is something I was trying to avoid as it's not healthy to spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week in the same place but somehow I will survive. Other than that, not too much is new around here. The dog is behaving himself in his "prison" and I really don't give him much thought these days.
So here's the funny story. Sunday night I was lying in bed trying to read and I kept hearing this noise. I tried ignoring it and told myself it was coming from the neighbour's house. But the noise continued and every few seconds I'd hear it again. Finally I decided I better investigate. I went to the living room and heard music but didn't see Jenny. I called her, no reponse. I walked down to her end of the house. "Jenny?" I said again. "I'm stuck in the bathroom" she replied. And she was really stuck. NO matter how much we turned the doorknob, nothing happened. I tried sliding a knife under the door but the space under the door was not big enough. Finally I found a thiner knife and slid that under. I found every tool in the house that was available and tried to open it from the outside. Needless to say it took us over an hour to remove the doorknob from the door but we manged to do it without breaking the door. I was tempted on more than one occasion (as I became more and more tired) to just take a hammer to the door. Jenny was amazingly calm through the whole thing. When the door finally opened I gave Jenny a big hug and then went to bed.