Ok, I have so many pictures I can't possibly put them in one posting, so let's start with kids. They are getting bored and anxious to finish school....until about a week after it's out then they want to start again. I am told that because there are basically no activities for kids here they get bored easily and (drumroll, please) eventually into trouble. At least some do.
This is one of my favorite kids, Ti-Gar. Ti-Gar is about 16 now and he is mentally handicapped. He is in kindergarten and likely won't be able to do much more than 1-2nd grade work. His family is thrilled he is at school however and he has the best attitude of the kids. He works hard, is friendly to everyone and most kids take to him pretty easily. He is lonely at times, as there are times when he just can't mix in with the others and the things they do or talk about.
There are so many kids, here is Sophonie. She is in my class and I have about a dozen pictures of her.....with her eyes closed. apparently she has a spiritual gift of closing her eyes just before the camera clicks. This is the best I could get of her, as she is with Madam Homme, the wife of one of the music teachers and a kindergarten teacher herself.
Ok, I have favorites and here is Daydeed (da-deed). She is about as cute as she can be...and she knows it. Her mother, Madam Pierre, works in the house and basically keeps us all going, she manages the other workers in the house (Gary and Caroline have many more workers than they need as over time case after case of those desperate for jobs have presented themselves. It can get rather crowded at times) and her father is Pierre, shown in the next pic, also a pre school teacher. Pierre was burned in a fire when he was 8 years old and was so badly burned that when his mother saw him at the hospital, she fell dead from a heart attack. He was raised by an aunt and now is married to his wife, a quite beautiful woman herself. I am working on getting a pic of her also.
And, here is Kesmy. Kesmy is about done with school. He will graduate first in his class this year..... a class of one. His writing skills and comprehension of English are growing. The plan is that his "adoptive mother" (not really adoptive nor his mother, but you get the point), Anne, will take Kesmy to Michigan to live with her and her family this summer or early fall, where he will enroll in a community college and start his pursuit of higher education. His goal is to eventually go to Moody Bible College. His "entourage" includes, in front, Mary and Daydeed, Angie, Mary's sister, and in back Ashterline. Kesmy is a joy to me and I am grateful to have had a chance to make a small difference in his life. There are so many others, both in school and outside of school. Like the boy, around 12, I saw today, pushing a wheelbarrow down the street. This is an occupation here, they are the small trucks of transportation here. There are 50-60 year old men who work this no skill job for almost no pay. This boy was pushing a wheel barrow that was empty, but usually for a trip that is dangerous, through traffic carrying heavy loads across town, a trip that may be several miles, they get about 3 Haitian dollars. That is about 15 goulds, another local currency here, which is about 35 cents. At age 12, this young man is set on his career, heavy, hard work up and down hills, for pennies. The likelihood is that he will do this for the next 50 years or so of his life....if he lasts. The kids in the school are actually the lucky ones, and their stories are still forming, for better and worse.
More to come.
Djebenis tout moun
Bondye benis ou.
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