here is my first pic in haiti! i just took it over my shoulder sitting on the "porch" at the base. see that green field: yeah, that's the one with the 'recycled' water. that wall surrounds the base and the edge of the building you see is the school for the upper grades. 
here's a picture of the building that my classroom is in (unfortunately these images are flipped. thanks camera on a mac for not being legit).
the one on the left is actually a covered walk way that leads one school building to the other. so the white building in the first picture is pretty much directly across from the other school building (white on right) in this pic. My classroom is that second dark doorway.
i am sitting on the porch area (covered overhang) outside of the cafeteria (covered under-hang inside these pillars). this is where you can find me for breakfast @ 6:30, lunch at noon, and dinner @ 5:30 (everyday except sunday, where its served at 4:30). we also hold prayer and worship here M-W-F from 7-8; and staff meetings Thursdays @ 4 (before dinner, and then afterwards, women's group from 7-whenev). just getting my schedule straight, and giving you a glimpse into life on the base. where the concrete starts on the other side of the cafeteria (pictured in the back); above that are the dorms, where I am living until the 15th. then I will be moving into the apartments (where the covered walkway from picture two also leads to). by our standards, they are more like efficiencies. fridge, propane stove, three bare bedrooms, one bathroom, and a small shared-living space that contains the kitchen/living/dining room.
today was my first day on the base really. I woke up at 6:30 after an unexpectedly cold nights sleep. voice was still gone, throat still sore, but then a nagging cough and stuffy nose thanks to the cold and dust. i've got to get used to being caged in my mosquito nest (which, tangent: i likely won't get malaria. just worms and dengue. seriously. they told me i'll have to get de-wormed before i leave. am i a puppy? totes awes). fortunately, i had the best ear phones and eye mask (+1 for picking those up when i was home. totes neces). breakfast bell (oh, yes. for all the meals) rang at 6:30, and i had a roll with peanut butter and a banana. there was apparently cornmeal porridge, but i passed. 7-8 was prayer/worship with staff and dts-er's (YWAM slang for discipleship training school program that YWAM-ers go through prior to their outreach). it was a mixture of english and creole, and i was introduced as staff, so voila, i'm totes official!
School started at 8:15 with circle time, where all the grades start off together and just spend a few minutes in discussion about God (today, His different titles). (side-note: just thought someone was sneaking up on me. nope. just a chicken.) then we had a special guest, christian puerto rican rapper named Ruth. totes legit and the kids loved her. so that took up a little bit of the morning. spent the morning sesh with the little ones getting to know their names and observing jenna as she taught (she's been here a week and once we get settle, she will likely move up to upper grades). There are 8 students in my class, although once i get settled they talked about granting admission to others that have applied. several of them are not very good with their english, and they are all used to rote memorization. this is going to be a very hard task to break. no resources, and no store to acquire them from. its going to be a huge challenge, but I'm eager to get started. the morning concentrates on our memory verses, calendar time (which needs a lot of development), and ABCs. we worked on colors, shapes and animals using flashcards. these kids are a handful! sitting still and following directions are definitely not their strong points. so i'm going to have to implement a behavior plan for sure. but they've had teachers coming and going, so i know a lot of it is just a lack of consistency.
i'm just going to spill some ideas here so i don't lose them. feel free to skip this part. collect cans: personal jars for stickers/pencils etc. sharpened/unsharpened pencils. word wall: a MUST. centers, so that we can do guided reading groups. sound cards ANOTHER MUST. calendar, weather (velcro dots NEEDED! and poster board and clothes pins!). maps? classroom responsibilities/helpers. running records: letter recognition, sound recognition, sight words. spelling pyramids.
after a bathroom and recess break from 9:45-10:15, where we get a break too, and the "zach shack" off the back of the cafeteria offers glass-bottled sodas and snacks on the cheap. so i had a coke break today :) back to class we worked on our words from last week, spelling them out loud and on the board, and then writing them on writing tablet paper. its evident there is a variety of learners and skill levels. and possibly 2 add's. Lord help me.
after working with one of the boys on how to write his name for like, half an hour, we worked on some math skills (counting basics) (ooh, idea for dump: counting/adding center activity). then they got to play a little bit with some lego's and then it was 12 and time for lunch.
a schmorgasboard of leftovers. read: what to expect on the base 101. rice. okra sauce. rice and beans. left-over hot dog spaghetti (i heard someone call this the "good spaghetti"). hot dogs on rolls. tomato and onion slices. orange slices. its a good day when you get hot dogs, or so i'm told. i will NOT be losing the weight i thought i would here. such a shame.
after lunch, i had a meeting with keturah, the girl i had been in contact with before i came. learned that there are gourdes and haitian dollars. 40 gourdes (pronounced goo-dz to a Haitian dollar. and the conversion rate is 7.8. so, basically, i have NO idea what things cost, but will be a math genius when i return). since then, i've been talking with new friends (they are all coming and going so much, that its hard to really tell if i'll make any long lasting ones since they all seem to be volunteers on short-terms just staying here) and did my Esther study on the porch in the fresh air. it hasnt been hot yet. thank the Lord its been enjoyable. but the mosquitos are already out. and i hear the rainy season is way worse. i forgot bug spray. going to the market on wednesday afternoon, so excited to experience that. spent the most of the afternoon here on the porch, taking the opportunity to journal while i had it.
the chickens are everywhere. one of the MK's (missionaries kids) was carrying a baby chick around earlier feeding it pancakes. i don't ask. there is a pool at the back of the base near the families homes, might check that out tomorrow. trying to ease into my first week, but theres just so much to talk about. wish i could share this experience with everyone personally. ya'll would love it and be so blessed here.
i've learned to accept that my feet will always be dirty. and that i will have an inexplicable craving for mcdonalds until i leave just because i can't have it.
miss you guys. download skype so we can voice chat! RhiannonDean07
thanks for the prayers too. ya'll are incred with your encouragement and i can feel it all the way down here. so, who's up for a visit!?
No comments:
Post a Comment