November 24, 2008

school is very busy these days. it seems like all I do is grade tests, help in other classes and try to keep my kids busy and in line. we have another student, D'Jean, who is transferring from another school. he is not pleased with the move and I hope he will come around soon. it can be very hard to change schools in the middle of the year, more so given the circumstances here and some of the reasons they change. things like, one parent re married and their new spouse doesn't like having kids around and makes the parent send one back to Haiti where schools are cheaper and the kid won't be in their hair. this or things very similar happen REGULARLY. the kids view it as punishment and blame and you can see in their faces how hard it is.

dealt today with some staff problems. it is very hard here to really trust the Haitian staff. please don't tell me I'm biased, it is based on their lack of trust of the missionaries. if you want to argue that this is caused by some of the misionaries here, I won't argue that point. but in individual relationships, trust is VERY hard to come by, especially between the Haitians and the blans. a staff member came to me and asked for money and said I couldn't tell Gary because he would get mad. so Gary called her and her husband in (he was in on it also) and we had a talk, not angry but informative. I wound up giving them the money she asked for, it was a small amount. an effort to build trust. but they know not to do it again. I felt bad as the husband basically let his wife take the whole blame, made an excuse for himself to get out of it which we all knew was false. relationships are so hard here, and unfortunately that leads to very superficial. and that does not lead to trust. but "we endeavor to persevere".

got to drive in Haiti the first time Saturday!!! Gary is ordering his new right side mirror for his truck now. :) I feel bad but driving here is INSANE, and the capitals are not enough to express how insane it is. so we go on. another trip to Rousseau tomorrow, I will try and get more pics and a short movie to send. hope all is well with everyone out there in middle America. bye for now.