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I think I may be moving to the Dominican Republic... I love it there.  Except for the small problem of not speaking Spanish, and not being able to communicate at all...   It has all the good things about Haiti, great temperature, palm trees, ocean and beaches with the added bonus of lots if great stores with even better prices!  It was worth the 13 hour drive (we had a 4 hour delay at the border - it was market day)
To put it mildly, I had a great time away this past weekend.  I don't want to bore you with lots of pictures of the amazing resort, partly because I didn't reallly take any pictures.  I was so busy relaxing that I forgot to take pictures...
Our speaker was Rev. Paul Mpindi, the French Team Leader of the Back to God Hour. He spoke about Spiritual Power, he really challenged us and gave us lots to think about and work on. 
The resort was great, I ate too much, lazed around the pool and walked along the beach.  Some more adventerous people went to visit a cave in the area (I choose to relax by the pool some more).  It was neat to meet some people who live and work in the DR and get to know some poeple from Haiti a bit better.
We didn't check the internet all weekend so when we arrived at the Ministry Centre in Santo Domingo, we all whipped out our computers and plugged into the "world" once again.  We heard about the elections and decided it was safe enough to return to PAP.  The trip home went well with almost no wait at the border.  We saw the residue of left over burning tires on the road but didn't see any riots, although we took a longer route home as we heard some areas were still having problems.
It's Tuesday morning, the school is open and about 30 students are present.  Many other schools are still closed, the government hasn't officially closed anything today but poeple are still afraid and many stayed home. Many taptap drivers also stayed home creating difficulties for people to find transportation.  We'll take each day as it comes and decide whether to keep the school open or close it.

We're still alive and well....

Met Asselhomme and the Grade One class playing a game outside

The Special Education Class doing streches on their new mats (Thanks Gwen and Andre!)

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I figured it was time to write a quick note to let everyone know that we are alive and well here in PaP.  If you've been following the Haiti news, you'll know two things already.  Cholera is quickly spreading through the city, leaving quite a few dead.  As well, there have been riots in the north (Cap Haitian) and downtown PaP, and they will possibly get increasingly worse as the election day approaches.  If you are worried about me please don't be.  I'm right where the Lord wants me to be, and that's the best place to be.
It's been an exceptionally busy time lately and I've been working some long hours, but overall I'm doing well.  I complain a lot but I shouldn't, I work with an amazing staff that despite very difficult circumstances work very hard and continue to impress me time and time again. I keep reminding myself to praise and encourage them more and thank them for the work they do.
Despite the many troubles around us, our school community is relatively doing well.  Many of the teachers have been ill lately, and one has been in the hospital for several days.  Cholera has not yet hit our community, but we continue to educate about prevention and treatment of the desease.  We count our blessings as well as mourn with the communities around us who are struggling and suffering from this desease.
There have indeed been riots downtown PAP but they have not yet affected us here.  We will close the school at the first sign of trouble, especially if the government instructs us to do so.
On a very positive note, the CRC staff in Haiti have a spiritual retreat each year and they are always kind enough to invite me. This year it is in the Dominican Republic and it takes place this weekend.  If the borders are still open and they let us through we are going to enjoy a long weekend at an all inclusive resort studying scripture and relaxing!!!  I've been looking forward to it for quite a while.  We hope and pray that the elections go well this weekend, if there are any major problems we may decide to extend our stay in the DR until they pass.  This way, we don't have to be evacuated there, we'll already be there!!
To any Americans who may read my blog, happy thanksgiving! 

Presbyterian Church of Delmas, PAP

Pastor Octavius praying with the congregation

Leading Worship

During the transition to the new building, our church wasn't able to meet for a period of time due to a lack of location.  Thankfully we still have our big tent and were able to set up a portion of it on the lower half of the school yard.  Sunday was my first time being able to attend the service since it reopened.  (I signed up to teach Sunday School at Quisqueya Chapel and they were at the same time).
It was a great time of worship and studying God's word, with the added bonus of patè and really sweet juice.  The Hopp family (Ben and Heather) have a team visiting this week and they were able to join us on Sunday, we even had the benefit of a guest preacher!  This same team has been working at our school, setting up some pre-fab homes on the roof of the school.  Pictures to follow I promise!

Introducing Alix Jean Pierre



As I mentioned in an earlier entry, this is a year of transition for myself and the school.  Alix, our former grade three teacher, is working alongside me this year with the purpose of taking over the role of school director.   Alix has worked in education for a long time and has a good understanding of the Haitian education system.  So far it's been great working together and we are learning a lot from each other.  I asked him if he'd be willing to do a short interview so I could introduce him to my 'readers'.  Below are my questions and his answers:

Can you tell me a little bit about your family?
I have a big family, I have a wife, and five children, two girls, and three boys. I love my wife with all my heart. God had blessed our family with beautiful children. We are Christians and members of the church. We share the same faith, and know that Jesus Christ is our Saviour.

How long have you been in education?
I started working in Education in 1993. Before this, I tutoured several students but officially starting working in the classroom in 1993. During my career, I’ve worked in variety of schools.

What do you like the most about education?
I see that our country has a lot of needs in Education. There are many children and adults who need assistance in learning how to read, it’s important for them to read in order to function in society and change their lives.

What is the most difficult part about working in education?
Education in Haiti has a lot of difficulties. There are people who have jobs in schools that aren’t aware of their responsibilities. Many teachers don’t get paid regularly, and therefore some of them don’t work with all their hearts. This hurts the students. For Administration, there are many schools were administrators don’t take their responsibilities seriously. They run their school any way they like, they don’t follow curriculum, and the government doesn’t do a great job of supervising schools.

How long have you been with Adoration Christian School (ACS)?
For two years.

What are your future hopes and dreams for ACS?
I have big plans for ACS, I would like for all the teachers to work in a professional way, and to work together as a team. I would like the school to expand to include a secondary school; when our students graduate they will be able to stay at our school and not be sponsored elsewhere. I would like to there to be a professional school here as well. I would like ACS to have another sister school in another part of Haiti, to help even more people in Haiti. I would like if we could organize teacher seminars once or twice a year to help teachers improve their teaching.

What are your hopes and dreams for Haiti?
My dream for Haiti is for Haiti to change, in all areas. To develop further and for all students to be able to go to school, for adults who haven’t had a chance to go to school, to have education programs for them, so they can live better each day. If everyone can read and write, the country will develop better and faster. I would like for myself personally to help a lot of people in education.



Klinik Medikal ak Dans

Dr. Ed explaining a medication to a teacher

Dr. Ed. consulting with a patient

The two lovely nurses who assist Ed

Cleaning some teeth

For the last several years, we've had the pleasure of working with Dr. Ed and his two lovely assistants, Esther and Martine  Every time we move he's been gracious enough to follow us wherever we go.  When we were blessed with our new building, he got busy setting up two rooms to use for his clinic.  He's been open for a few weeks now and continues to provide both medical and dental services to the Delmas 31 and surrounding communties.  He is also kind enough to see our students and teachers and even myself from time to time!  We are certainly blessed to have him work alongside us.

This is Haiti...

I have two stories to share that took place the last two days that made me stop and think, "this is Haiti!".
(this first story is gross so skip it if you love animals or get grossed out easily)
Yesterday, someone came running over to talk to me with a very concerned look on his face. With much animation he told me that a street dog in our neighbourhood had died and someone had dumped it on top of a large pile of garbage right outside of our gates.  He told me that the smell of the dead body was really unpleasant and then proceeded to ask if I would please burn it to get rid of the smell.  I told him that this was beyond my area of expertise and that I didn't feel comfortable doing that! I haven't ventured outside of the front gate since, in fear of catching a glimpse of the dog in the pile of garbage.  (it's not our garbage for the record, there are MANY piles of garbage all over PAP)
Today, as I was leaving a grocery store with my car full of groceries for the school, I realized that one of the tires of my car was a bit on the low side.  Because my car was loaded quite full I decided I should get some air for my tire on my way back to the school.  I stopped at a "shop" at the side of the road that offered this service.  I got out of the car and a young boy came up to me and asked how he could help me. I  explained what I needed and he proceeded to start the generator for the air pump. I was quite surpised that a kid so young knew how to do this.  He then proceeded to release all the air from my tire, leaving it completely flat.  When he realized that he had flattened my tire completely he politely told me that the machine was not working and therefore he could not refill the tire with air for me.  He then left me on the side of the road with a completely flat tire.  At this point I started to get animated, I yelled that he had to get the machine working and fix my tire NOW!  Of course, a white woman, flailing her arms yelling in Creole quickly gathers a small crowd.  Some of the other shop owners came over to defend the boy, saying that he didn't know the machine wasn't working and that I shouldn't be concerned because the owner of the shop had left earlier to buy a peice to fix the machine and would be back shortly.  They mentioned that perhaps I should just replace the flat tire with my spare tire.  I gave them a dirty look and explained that would require me to take ALL the food out of the back of my car in order to get to my spare.  They all nodded their heads and agreed that it would be better for me to wait for the owner instead.  After I finished ranting and raving about how unacceptable this was, I decided to try and relax and enjoy the moment of quiet, think of it as a short break from the usual business of the school.  I sat down on a cement brick and proceeded to get to know another 'shop' owner who was trying to calm me down.  He was an artist, he showed me some of his work and told me about his business.  We enjoyed a moment of friendly convernsation and shortly after the shop owner returned.  He fixed the machine, filled my tire and I was on my way once again.  (he still charged me for the air, after all that!)
All in a day....here in Haiti!

TOMAS

We've been laying low the last few days, waiting for Tomas to hit us here in Haiti.  Late Wednesday afternoon one of the teachers mentioned that he heard on the radio that schools should close for Thursday and Friday.  Of couse all the students and the rest of the staff had already gone home for the day, so it would be difficult for us to inform them all about this change of plans.  When I got home I called my co-director and we discussed the pros and cons and another friend called to say that the government was now strongly recommending that all schools remain closed for the next two days.  So we got on the phone and started calling all the staff to inform them.  The gatekeeper agreed to go to school early to inform students and their parents when they arrived that they needed to return back home.  I went down to the school as well to help out.  When we arrived there were no students and the gatekeeper said that most students didn't bother coming because they had already heard that schools were closed.  We spent the morning, cleaning up loose pieces of tin that could easily be snagged by the wind.  Several staff members worked on the big tent that was set up in the back yard, making sure it was tightly secured.  The government then announced that all businesses should close at noon.  We went home and took it easy for the rest of the day.  It rained on and off the remainder of the day with some strong winds coming through from time to time.

Today (Friday) it has been raining gently all morning with the occasional wind but nothin severe.  We've recieved word that areas in the south were hit bad and low areas surrounding PAP have experienced flooding.  It appears that we may be alright for the most part here, but time will tell.

I'm staying home again today and taking it easy.  The internet is actually working so maybe I'll get caught up on some work and write some e-mails.  It feels like a snow day, it's even actually a bit cold (26 degrees), I'm swearing my warmest clothes and huddled under a blanket!

Mountains beyond Mountains




Mountains beyond Mountains

 


Cadeau trying to "help" Jenny up the moutain:)





How GREAT is our God!!



Almost at the top....

Monday and Tuesday of this week are holidays here in Haiti, and although I had a mountain (pun intended) of work waiting for me, I decided I needed to get out of PAP for at least a day and enjoy some nature.  I convinced Jenny and Cadeau to accompany me on a hike in the mountains.  We packed a picnic lunch and started off with no real plan in mind.  We drove for a while and then parked the car and started hiking.  It was wonderful.  The cool breeze, the warm sun, the flowers, the view, the fresh air, the silence, the smell of pine trees mingled with smoke from a wood stove... a little slice of heaven right here in Haiti.  Jenny and I stopped and smelled every flower and admired every view.  Cadeau was slightly less enthusiastic and more focussed on getting to the top:)  It was a lovely day and I'm glad I didn't spend it sitting in my office