Digging out the foundations for our new center!
Nelson doesn’t mind the construction at all!
EDUCATION AND FIELD TRIPS
For the first time ever, we took half of the summer off from our normal class schedule. The children were almost all enrolled in summer classes at the school they’ll be attending for the 2016-2017 year. The school, Kay Mere, has been a real blessing. It is run by nuns who are extremely involved and have been supportive and helpful. We’ve been impressed with their organization and communication with the parents and us, something which we had not yet experienced with schools on this island! We are paying for tuition and books for our children to attend.
During our time off from classes, we’ve had a lot of fun organizing field trips and other activities. We’ve spent the last two weeks taking groups to downtown Jacmel and a place in the mountains called Cap Rouge. A Haitian-American man lives there that kindly gave our children a tour of his extensive gardens, talked to them about sustainability and conservation, and even gave some seeds and plants to take home! It’s been educational and inspiring for the community garden we’ll be starting with the children at the end of this month. Cap Rouge has become a famous place in the community, and now the smallest kids to the adults are asking when their turn is to go. We’ll be putting more emphasis on this sort of education in the future.
Here, the kids are in Cap Rouge. They were given trees and vegetables to plant.
VISITORS AND WORKSHOPS
We also had some visitors, a past intern and a group of high school girls from California, who stayed for 10 days and helped organize activities with the children. They led a workshop that guides students to brainstorm and decide on a problem to tackle in their community. There were overwhelming votes for cleaning up the trash in the community, and they have formed task groups that are in charge of carrying through different solutions. Of course, there have been obstacles. We’ve heard them say things like, “If nobody wants to help, I’m not doing this alone,” referring to the apathy of some of the adults. They are learning important lessons about what it means to work together and get something done. it’s been amazing to see their passion and motivation for making their community a better place to live.
One of the ideas that came from the workshop was to instruct a class on reusing trash. Here, Yanirisa helps give a class on making decorations from plastic bottles.
Lastly, we had a great time hosting the group of high school girls who visited. They opted to stay in the community for their ten-day duration and were each hosted by a family. The families were compensated generously, and the girls received lots of love and care and more food than one could eat. They spent their time living just like the families- chatting, playing, helping with belts, dancing at night, using the latrines, sleeping without a fan, etc. David was waiting for the phone call in which we’d be asked to arrange their hotel rooms, but the girls stayed toughed the whole stay, and did so with constant smiles and helping hands. The last night they were in town, they treated their host families to a dinner downtown. For most, it was the first time they had ever gone to a real restaurant (versus an outdoor “cart” in the street). Throughout the dinner, people took turns crying and sharing what they loved about the visit. We were really pleased to see that the community made such a strong connection with visitors, and we’re grateful to the group for their generosity and passion.
The four American girls with their host families in downtown Jacmel.
Thank you all for your continued support of our work!
