That's the sound of artistic Haitians hard at work. After a very hot day teaching classes at the Village of Hope school, we excitedly traveled down the dusty road to the metal workers' artisian center in Criox de Bouquet. There we witnessed talented Haitians busily crafting works of art from old oil drums and walked through their shops purchasing new treasures to take home. Their works of art and the process to create them is amazing! Just wait till you see them.
At school today, we continued to work on our projects with our students who are creating their own works of art and honing their new skills. We're excited to see the final projects next week!
Tomorrow is a day of rest ... we're going to the beach.
Blessings from Haiti,
Kelly and Cynde
Friday, July 18, 2014
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Wednesday, July 16th
Magical day at The Little Children of Jesus
Yesterday, we spent a few hours with the children at the Little Children of Jesus. It was very emotional for many of us, as these children are challenged in many ways. I was particularly touched by Darlene, who cannot speak and yet did a great job of communicating. She works so hard to take care of the others around her, such as the boy who couldn't use his hands to eat. Darlene
broke off pieces of Twizzler and fed him every bite. And her smile - it was amazing!
Many of the children wanted to have their nails painted, and we were happy to help! the most popular colors were the bright neon ones, and Darlene chose red for many that couldn't speak.
David is another special friend to many on the team. David cannot speak either, but remembers his friends and gets SO excited when he gets visitors. He was given a device that will play the Bible in Creole for him, and he was very excited.
We had a lively game of soccer with several of the children, and everyone loved it.
I was so touched by how they wanted to hold our hands, sit very close, and pull us around with them. They just want to be loved, and we were happy to oblige.
We look forward to visiting our new friends again next Wednesday!
Anne and Jenny
The Haitian Marching Band.
Hi friends!!
We have a lot to share so thanks for reading. I want to just give a quick recap from today. Our schoolday was great. I want to share some teaching collaboration- Brena and Hayley's music class. They combined their classes and came around to sing, dance, and beat their drumbs. For me, that was the highlight of my schoolday. It was such an experience having beautiful live music and having a class of dancing students. Everyone works together here. We sing together. We encourage everyone to be bold. We all love our classes.
Tonight we finished organizing and sprucing up the Hope House. It's an awesome accomplishment to clean up our space and see a difference. I am looking forward to Alex's devotion tonight! (-:
With love,
Meryl
We have a lot to share so thanks for reading. I want to just give a quick recap from today. Our schoolday was great. I want to share some teaching collaboration- Brena and Hayley's music class. They combined their classes and came around to sing, dance, and beat their drumbs. For me, that was the highlight of my schoolday. It was such an experience having beautiful live music and having a class of dancing students. Everyone works together here. We sing together. We encourage everyone to be bold. We all love our classes.
Tonight we finished organizing and sprucing up the Hope House. It's an awesome accomplishment to clean up our space and see a difference. I am looking forward to Alex's devotion tonight! (-:
With love,
Meryl
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
The Views of a 1st Timer in Haiti, Tuesday
Wow, what another great, amazing, and interesting day we had today. We had two great teaching sessions with all the children at Village of Hope. For Kelly's and my sessions today we had 8 kids in the 1st session and 4 in our 2nd session. We taught the children many entertaining games today, including ultimate frisbee, tennis ball toss, spoons, and jenga (the kids absolutely loved these two games). The younger kids in the morning session also made many symbols, including team crests, crosses, and other religious icons. Every child was so eager to learn all of the games, it just made teaching so much more exciting.
I would just like to thank Kelly, my partner teacher, and our translator Wordson, without them teaching just wouldn't be as fun or at all possible. Kelly and I just seem to mesh perfectly, and Wordson understands everything so easily, and he is so excited and eager to learn the games as much as the students, making teaching just so much more enjoyable. I hope that the children continue to enjoy our class, and that they will continue to learn more games.
After the sessions and when we returned to to the Hope House, we did yard work that was very tiring, but very helpful to the Dixon's , who have been so welcoming to us, we are all so grateful for their hospitality. We also experienced a terrific devotion led by Marni, so many people opened up, and shared their thoughts and experiences. Haiti is an amazing place, and I'm so glad I'm able to experience it with all these amazing people
Enjoying everything,
Alex Hughes
I would just like to thank Kelly, my partner teacher, and our translator Wordson, without them teaching just wouldn't be as fun or at all possible. Kelly and I just seem to mesh perfectly, and Wordson understands everything so easily, and he is so excited and eager to learn the games as much as the students, making teaching just so much more enjoyable. I hope that the children continue to enjoy our class, and that they will continue to learn more games.
After the sessions and when we returned to to the Hope House, we did yard work that was very tiring, but very helpful to the Dixon's , who have been so welcoming to us, we are all so grateful for their hospitality. We also experienced a terrific devotion led by Marni, so many people opened up, and shared their thoughts and experiences. Haiti is an amazing place, and I'm so glad I'm able to experience it with all these amazing people
Enjoying everything,
Alex Hughes
Monday, July 14, 2014
Marshall.
This post will be updated daily...all about Marshall. Marshall is the Director and operates the Hope House/Village of Hope and the project down here. His family (wife and three wonderful children) live here. We want to recognize and thank them for everything. Such a hospitable group!
1- He is awesome.
2- He drivers just as well as the Haitian drivers....which is intense.
3-He turns the generator on.
4-He plays a mean game of beach volleyball and soccer.
5-He has a huge heart.
More awesome facts about Marshall to come!!!
1- He is awesome.
2- He drivers just as well as the Haitian drivers....which is intense.
3-He turns the generator on.
4-He plays a mean game of beach volleyball and soccer.
5-He has a huge heart.
More awesome facts about Marshall to come!!!
Marshall is awesome.
Monday-- Today went better than I expected. Waking up early was difficult but the excitement got me moving
. You could feel the excitement at the breakfast table and around the compound. After leaving 15 minutes behind schedule, we still managed to get to the school in time to set up our classrooms. I was very lucky with my classroom, since it's the chapel, there's an open breeze and much cooler than the other rooms. The kids filed into the chapel and welcomed us with prayer and a song. My first class only had 3 kids, but my second class had 15 and they were all boys. Two kids that I had from last year showed up and immediately started playing the cup song for me, which I taught them last year. To say I am happy is an understatement. They even sang songs for me. My class received tambourines and maracas, and decorated their own bags. It couldn't have gone better. My translator Rodolph is a musician as well and bounced ideas off of me, making us a great team. After classes we either go out in the towns (such as the iron shops), or we hang out at the compound. Today we went to an overlook at Goat Mountain. We drove all the way to the top and looked down on Haiti. It was breathtaking. We took so many pictures (and selfies) and was the cherry on top to the first day. If this is any indication to how the rest of our time is going to go, then we are in for something amazing.
Also, Marshall is awesome and is a great director/driver.
Hayley
PS-visit Brena (team members) blog... Goinggoldinhaiti.blogspot.com
PSS- leave a comment so we can say hi!
. You could feel the excitement at the breakfast table and around the compound. After leaving 15 minutes behind schedule, we still managed to get to the school in time to set up our classrooms. I was very lucky with my classroom, since it's the chapel, there's an open breeze and much cooler than the other rooms. The kids filed into the chapel and welcomed us with prayer and a song. My first class only had 3 kids, but my second class had 15 and they were all boys. Two kids that I had from last year showed up and immediately started playing the cup song for me, which I taught them last year. To say I am happy is an understatement. They even sang songs for me. My class received tambourines and maracas, and decorated their own bags. It couldn't have gone better. My translator Rodolph is a musician as well and bounced ideas off of me, making us a great team. After classes we either go out in the towns (such as the iron shops), or we hang out at the compound. Today we went to an overlook at Goat Mountain. We drove all the way to the top and looked down on Haiti. It was breathtaking. We took so many pictures (and selfies) and was the cherry on top to the first day. If this is any indication to how the rest of our time is going to go, then we are in for something amazing.
Also, Marshall is awesome and is a great director/driver.
Hayley
PS-visit Brena (team members) blog... Goinggoldinhaiti.blogspot.com
PSS- leave a comment so we can say hi!
The Red Light is On.
Sunday: everyone slept well Saturday night and woke up ready for church. We went to a small church and it was ran by the French/English teacher at the school. They are building a church and it is important to note how welcomed we were. Each member of our team wore a flower, gift from the church. We sang, prayed, and received an awesome introduction. The Pastor introduced the members of the church and his family (sweet little baby :). Our afternoon included lunch at the Hope House and meeting our translators. 13 translators came and shared who they are and met us. We were paired with a Haitian and immediately bonded over our Enrichement program. The translators come from different academic backgrounds (law, communicaton, and business). The main part of our conversations were simply explaining what our classes were about and how we would take on the two weeks. Once they left we headed to the school for a walk through. We picked out of classrooms and stayed for a bit. Our evening ended with a devotion, lead by Tom. Awesome way to spend a Sunday!!
Love,
Meryl
Love,
Meryl
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