october 2014 visit.

Enjoyed a quick visit with JP’s Haitian family – Junior and Guerline…Published October 2014.

60 hours in Haiti.

Gosh, where do I begin? It has been a whirlwind trip once again to my favorite little island nation. I took advantage of a few days away from work to connect with the children and staff in Port au Prince, Haiti. There is soooo much to share…I think I will just let the pictures tell the stories.

Connected with ANA Director Rock Cayo regarding the paperwork for one of our students seeking a student visa…Brought Creole Storybook Bibles for the boys. They read and read…and fell asleep with open bibles every night…Held a parent meeting with Director Rock and Administrator Roselaure…30+ parents attended!  Each family received a Creole Storybook Bible (thanks to the donation from Celebration Lutheran in Sartell)…Observed the water distribution system – thanks to the initiative developed by my niece Avalon to make water more readily available to the students each day…Interviewed 13 new students with Administrator Roselaure and Interpreter Stanley (he filled in when Rock needed to make an airport run)…Savored some sweet moments with these beautiful children…Checked out the division of the rooftop classroom into 2 rooms for grades 4 and 5. While I was up on the roof snapping the pic, neighbor girl and student, Rolande waved to me!  Love to see the children in the neighborhood...Enjoyed a quick visit with JP’s Haitian family – Junior and Guerline…Taught an English Institute Class and joined in the worship session/English lesson as students practiced their language skills while singing Ten Thousand Reasons…(lighting is dark, because the lyrics were projected on a man-made screen on the wall)…what an awesome experience…Led a three-hour Teacher Seminar – Agenda: vision, student needs, brain research/differentiation, backwards design/planning, news and announcements     *adding a weekly English lesson for our students, planning a spring field trip, the Spektak is scheduled for June 18th…Conducted a Finance Meeting with Accountant Edelyne to negotiate the budget – good thing I am taking a finance class in grad school!  I needed to translate Haitian goudes to US dollars and question the # of lbs of rice to purchase…Introduced Flat Stanley to the real Stanley and gave him a quick tour of Haiti…Shared some fun conversations with “waiting families” back home…gotta love technology and Facebook Video Chat. Now we just need to get them home! And best of all…bonded with these buddies of mine.