Saturday, November 28, 2009

Ok, I just realized that I lost a bunch of pictures.....so, text only.  blogging has become kind of tedious here for me, just being honest.  I find that this has kind of become my life for now, and it's hard to think of it in a sense that needs sharing that much.   I know there are things happening with school and the kids and such, but things here just kind of roll one into another and it all kind of starts to seem natural.   Like Wednesday, one of our workers had her son kidnapped for a few hours.   It happens here, especially around the end of the year and Christmas and the season.  Part of it is a voodoo thing, yes occasionally it happens that especially kids are kidnapped and killed, sacrificed.  No other way to say it.  This appears to be a run of the mill, maybe we'll get some money thing.   Thomas was kidnapped along with 5 other boys and held in a room for several hours before being released.  the other boys were afraid and crying.  Thomas prayed and sang the whole time.  It appears this eventually irritated the kidnappers enough that he let everyone go.  Thomas returned home and Friday we found out about it, had a meeting with the kids and talked to everyone about it and what to do.  I know this sounds crazy, life is boring but, oh, by the way, a boy was kidnapped.   It just becomes part of life and you go from day to day. 

Yesterday, they actually began to work on the road down the hill from us.    Dumped about 3 loads of rock and started grading the road, which is really bad.   Wonderful, but when they do this, the road is completely blocked, so you have to find another way out, which in the other direction can be hard to do, as the road is often blocked by trucks and stuff just parked in the road.  but we got thru, got the kids home....except for one little girl, Nikka.   she was supposed to go with some other kids who lived on the road blocked by us and walk home.  but she was in the back of the truck and no one notices until we were across town. so after I made my last drop, Nikka and I drove back to the school where her Mom was waiting to get here.   She was happy to see her Mom, as she is about 3 and not too sure about the big bald guy driving yet.   :)

Thanksgiving was nice, turkey and everything, believe it or not.   Gary and Caroline got a turkey from Agape ministries and we had a nice meal.   The other part of the day was spent working on the truck, as the wheel bearings were shot on the front driver side.   completely rusted out, so Al came over, he and Gary worked on it, and I went and got stuff and got dirty under the truck when that was needed.   Us gophers know where we belong...in the dirt!

School is evolving, I guess.  We find more ways the kids cheat by sharing books and tests.  It is frustrating, but we can only do so much with the staff and resources we have.  It is impossible to tell kids that cheating does them no good, it sure wouldn't have changed me when I was a kid.  We do what we can and I can tell it is having an effect.  We have made it a lot harder for them to cheat and scores are dropping on tests, so they are having to retake them and grumbling is becoming more evident, but they will get used to it. 

I am coming more to an understanding of the culture here that I will never be a part of.   I have heard others talk of time in other cultures, and no matter how long you spend, especially when it is racially different, you just can't "enter in" to the local culture as an outsider.   I hope that in the school we can impact the kids lives, bring them closer to Jesus or just get them to know Him, and give them some chance with a better education.  This is long term mission work and discipleship, and it is hard.  Whenever you hear of people having crusades and saving thousands at a time every night in a foreign land, doubt it.   Honestly, it really doesnt' work that way.  Everyone around will raise their hands to get saved every night usually, because they want the Bible, or tract or whatever is given out.   Then the next day you see people in the market selling Bibles, tracts, etc., by the box fulls.   Real change is hard, and slow and long term.  A culture that rejects God, or just dances around spirituality to get what they want (and I include most of America in that)  is changed little by little, person by person, unless the Holy Spirit falls over a whole town.  As I have said before, victories here are person by person.   Slow, but well worth it. 

I hope everyone is well, hope you are avoiding snow, (it is 7:30 am and it is 90 here) and Christmas is a blessing for everyone. 


Dieu benis ou,

Dan

Saturday, November 21, 2009 extra

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hYb-YBOPdzyBKF0WINIgbG6uBifwD9C36VTG0


a link to a story found on the front page of my blog, I found it there and it is pretty good reading.  about kids around the world, and how we adults treat them.  I think Jesus had it right when He said we (adults) need to be more like the kids, not the other way around. 

Saturday, November 21, 2009

So things here are settling in, and becoming slightly chaotic both at the same time.  as an update, over the last few weeks, Gary has become more present in the house, working in the Bible school area, and getting new things done for the orphanage, so his time for school has basically vanished.   I have taken over as principal of the school, and with Nancy Hibbard, the new secretary, we are slowly trying to implement some improvements in the school.  So I guess the role things are settling in, and the chaos is of my own making!

As I have been here a full year and a part of another, I slowly gain a vision of how life, culture, things work here.  Having some background as a baseball coach in the states when my kids were little, and being exposed to a higher level of select baseball with traveling teams has given me a view of people in authority over a team, both good and bad.  It seems I am falling back on my coaching time to view this as trying to build a team of people to accomplish goals.  Ok, guys today we are going to learn to bunt....   So we are developing a plan to try and get more order into the school, a more focused plan and start a process of evaluation of the school to see what assets we have and how best to use them to help these kids grow.  I also look back on my own parenting life and feel a great sense of remorse that I didn't have these things figured out better when I actually had kids of my own at home.  I love my son's greatly, but I can see now the places I failed them more clearly since I have responsibility for 70+ kids now.  And in turn, this places me more squarely in front of God, seeking His mercy and grace, both for my mistakes and for my son's futures. 

So, in school we will, over time, become more old school, as this is what I know.   Hopefully it will be an improved version though.   Kids are disciplined regularly as needed.  The level of responsibility for the kids in how they do and more importantly, how they put forth effort will be raised.  I am becoming more aware of some of the advantages of American culture, while becoming even more aware of the disadvantages. American kids are exposed to so many things, different ideas and such, that it stimulates conceptual thinking in a way that is almost completely lacking here.   My hope is we can in some way bridge that gap and help build concepts in these kids, and use that in a more proactive way to share Jesus with them.  Each day I become more aware of my complete inability to accomplish this, I am not an educator.  But I know that God equips and provides and in this my faith is built by relying on Him even more.  I guess since I know I am not really a teacher, I will be what I can be, which is maybe a coach and planner, and let God do the rest.   And now for your viewing pleasure, some pictures of our kids.

These kids have a lot of backgrounds.  some are well of Haitians, some were restaveks in the States, some were kicked out of their homes and sent to a country they really didn't know because of step parents.  For whatever reason we are all in the same place now, and hopefully we can change their lives in a good way. 

thanks for reading, I now return you to your local stations.  remember, if this had been a real emergency, you probably wouldn't have gotten the message anyway.      :)

Bondye benis ou                                                                                                                                          

Dan                                                                                                                                                               

Sunday November 15, 2009

pictures of our broken bridge.  if anyone knows what I did to make the type start in the middle of the page, and how I can fix it, please let me know!    the downtown bridge clogs up with garbage each time it rains and floods the downtown area with mud, debris, garbage, sewage, etc.    so they finally got around to knocking down the old bridge and they are putting in a new one!    this will take months to get done though.  first pic is as you approach the bridge that isn't there anymore from the north side.  next is of the concrete forms being placed, then we have the street level (people standing in background) where the old street was, and hopefully the level the new street will be there.   fun in St. Marc!    we have to drive around old, worse roads to get around the roadblock here, but eventually it will be an improvement.   tried to load video this morning w/o success.  will work on that and hopefully have that mastered to start sending weekly video of life here.

plans for me sliding into the principal's job here are going along.  Gary and Caroline, Nancy and I had a long discusstion this morning about it and I think it will go fine.  Nancy is our secretary, score reviewer, painter, excel spreadsheet person, and generally what ever else we need.   Many skills needed here to give organization and good information to make decisions on.   I expect the next few months will be hectic with the transition, but it seems God is busy at opening doors here again for me.   I have my audiology equipment here and I hope to get to the local hospital to start discussions for space after Thanksgiving.  by the first of the year, maybe hearing testing will be going on in St. Marc.  that's all for  now, everyone take care in the Midwest. 

Bondye benis ou                                                                                                                                       

Dan                                                                                                                                                              

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Yes, I know I am not posting much.   I have to admit the "thrill" of blogging has worn off.  I am feeling less inclined to attempt to put my day, thoughts and emotions in a couple of paragraphs.   I feel like I can't really do it well unless I try to impart part of how it effects me and I also know that many really don't want that.  I have no problem with others feeling like their day is busy enough to only want the highlights, I remember life there believe it or not!      I know I often only wanted the bottom line, and now from the other side, the bottom line seems so inadequate.  

ANYWAY, as principal of the school now (I think I mentioned that, right?)  the kids and staff kind of look at me a little differently now, and that is ok.   I think the initial year of dealing with your own stuff while here is winding down some, and I don't feel the need to try and solve all the problems of everyone here now because.....drum roll, please.....I can't.      We are instituting some new procedures for dealin with rampant cheating in the school and with the obvious lack of basic math skills.   We will have, every morning (as soon as we have enough flash cards to do it with)  about a 20 minute drill in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division right after the opening and prayer.   The kids have some serious deficincies in these skills and it shows in their work, so I expect after a few months of this, that won't be an issue anymore.  Those that can test out of the skill will move on the next one, decreasing class size so those struggling will get more help until everyone can do them all.   Nancy Hibbard, our new office administrator,  is doing a very good job of organizing the office and getting information to where it needs to go.  With the change of procedures in the taking of tests, teachers won't have to grade the tests anymore, leaving more time for hands on teaching.  We all hope this is going to improve the kiids skills and abilities and give them more time for study. 

Personally, I am struggling some with health stuff.   I seem to be getting sick on about a 3 day cycle.  Not bad but just enough to make life slightly less enjoyable!   Today is a good day...so far.   I had similar problems last year, so I guess this is just life in Haiti for me.  Eventually it seemed to ease off and the last part of the year was better, so I will hope for the same now.   I have finally gotten all my audiology equipment here, though I have no idea when or where this may be used yet.   I am just praying for doors to open if this is in my future here, and if not, I am fine with it also.   I have a fellow missionary who has a friend coming to visit who needs a hearing test, so I hope to get back into it a little when he arrives in a few weeks.  We'll see where it goes from there. 

We have some new students in the older classes.   Jephtae returned to school and is showing a better attitude and willingness to work and seek help.   Another new student is Termitus, and he is showing what may be to this untrained eye some learning disabilities.     He tries hard though and is bright, so we will do our best to help him thru it.   Christella is from the states, she is 15 and has a bit of the American attitude, though she is a very nice girl and, with recent "encouragement" seems to be trying more and is finishing more tests.   Tanya (her real name is about 285 letters long so I call her Tanya)  is about 12-13, talks quietly but definitely talks, enjoys her day at school, has been to the states and really doesn't want to return.  She has a small cousin in our preschool class (don't know the name) and Tanya wants to get her to the states when she is older, but she tells me she likes Haiti and doesn't like the culture or lifestyle in the States.    I guess to many that is surprising, but having been here some, it really doesn't surprise me much anymore.  It is a difference in cultures and values, and what Americans want, many Haitians don't want.  I am glad she is able to make that judgement.   Yes, I will try to remember to get pictures to send, I know I suck at remembering that. 

Almost forgot, found out last night.   Remember Kesmy?     Kesmy has a sponsor to send him to Moody
Bible college for next year, full room and board, tuition is free for him!!!!!       His dream was to go to Moody and he has his start.    We are all so thrilled for him, I know those who know him will be also.   Had to edit the post, I had to add this.   Very good news.

things are going actually pretty well overall, I pray everyone back in the states is well. 

Bondye benis ou

Dan

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

internet has been down, posting to blogger has been problem, not enough speed to get it done before it crashes.  hope this goes.   anticipate repair this week.   things going well at school,  making some changes to help kids reduce the effort spent on cheating!     weather is very warm, sleeping even with a fan leaves a soaked bed in the morning.   hope everyone is well in central America. take care will send more later.

Bondye benis ou

Dan