Day 3: First Day at PEF School

Last time I was in Haiti in 2010, we stayed at the school so I didn't not have daily experiences with traffic in Port-au-Prince. On our way from the airport, Kathy asked Patrick, "Is this traffic typical?" He chuckled and said it was quite light given that is was a Sunday. Traffic was quite busy this morning on our way to school, but the drive home was one worthy of an entire blog post...Ben & Eli will tell you about it later!

School: We arrived at the school a bit late, which is not unusual give the traffic previously mentioned (on way home Will commented, "Now do you see why I was late this morning?) Since we missed the morning gathering and thus the opportunity to introduce ourselves, Jordan took us into each classroom to introduce us. Each class greeted us by standing and singing a welcome song in English. Here's what the team says about being serenaded, "Special; they were prepared; joyful." I loved scanning their smiling faces, although I felt a little awkward as Jordan kept telling them I was the one who paid for their t-shirts. I did not want or need credit, although I did enjoy seeing their reaction when he told them it meant no uniforms on Fridays. It was a moment when these kids seemed much like ours - the news about no required uniform prompted smiles and shouts of glee! After our tour of the school, we unpacked the bags filled with school supplies & glasses and organized our work for the week. We taught the Geoboard math lessons to our translators Mario and Dell who happily tried out the tasks. Next was pure entertainment provided by Christopher and Steve as they practiced partner juggling. Mario and Dell watched with interested, so I invited them to join in, although I encouraged them to start with two balls rather than three. We have some great video footage of the event and look forward to showing the kids tomorrow.

Recess: Recess in Haiti is an activity to behold - our descriptions won't do it justice, but here's our attempt. Most students gather in the courtyard to play, dance and sing and if we could bottle & sell the energy, we'd be rich. Ben and Steve played basketball while the rest of us played with large inflatable dice. Of course I took the opportunity to merge fun and learning by encouraging them to "roll" (throw with joy) the die, call out the number, roll it again, and add the numbers together. Students watched with great anticipation as the die bounced around the space and landed on the final number. Soon the die were kicked and tossed in the air like one might do to keep a balloon from touching the ground. After about 15 minutes, the teachers called for a circle and some of us joined in the fun of chanting, dancing and singing. Some of the moves seemed suggestive so we didn't completely imitate what we witnessed. Recess wrapped up with Ben, Eli and Kathy teaching the kids various hand games.

We spent the late morning teaching the 4th - 6th graders how to use geoboards. They explored basic shapes and re-created various designs from the laminated cards we provided. A geoboard is a flexible tool that can be used by many different grade levels from identifying basic shapes to more advanced geometric concepts such as reflection and symmetry. I provided a teacher guide with lessons in French in hopes the teachers may be able to use these tools after we leave. That's always a tension when coming to another culture - I didn't want to assume what makes sense in US classrooms automatically makes sense here. However, it was heartening to hear from Dell, a translator and parent, how excited he was to work with his 4th grader daughter. His gratitude almost made me uncomfortable, although he seemed sincere. Like all parents, he wants his daughter to have a great education and a bright future. During the final minutes before lunch, the 6th graders kept asking us to sing for them. We taught them hand motions to Jesus Loves Me, Steve sang a gospel song and Ben sang Go Tell It On The Mountain - all impromptu of course! They begged for Eli to sing a solo but we convinced them to wait for that until tomorrow. They are working hard to pull the shy out of Eli! A few students cornered us and we realized they wanted to practice their english. Jordan selected a group of students to come on Saturdays to learn English thanks to a tutor from Michigan. They use Facebook Messenger to interact, but I love that they took full advantage of having us here to practice face-to-face. It took me a moment to realize a girl was asking, "What is beside you?" While it makes sense in a language classroom, it didn't make sense in conversation. I chuckled when the next question was, "How old are you?" That seems like a great question among students but not something students typcially ask of middle-aged adults. I happily answered, thrilled with their bold desire to learn. At least they didn't ask my weight :-).

The middle schoolers arrived after lunch and participated in more advanced math lessons using the geoboard. They were more easy going and the classes were smaller. Tomorrow we hope to introduce them to Kahn Academy so they can prepare well for their state exams in June. The school has 6 Chromebooks and strong wifi, so it seems like something they can do once we are gone. We planned on giving out glasses tomorrow, but three of the students recognized their names and asked to have theirs early. Mario and Dell translated for Kathy as she gave them instructions for car and fit their glasses. The students seemed pleased and said they could see better. It will be interesting to see if they bring them to school tomorrow. One girl seemed a bit hesitant, so I asked for a photo of us together, showing off our glasses. My hope was to give her the confidence to wear them. It was another moment that seemed universal to all kids - it's not easy to wear glasses when most of your classmates do not.

We had a great pasta dinner with our hosts Rocky and Meliana and ended the evening with in-depth conversations about life in Haiti and American's role in their economy. It's very complex and we are thankful for the guidance from our pastor Hilaro, the books we read about the impact of charity in developing countries and for the wisdom we gain from conversations with others. During dinner we heard loud cheers from across the valley. Rocky said it was the

people cheering because the electricity came on. He described life when electricity is intermittent and suggested 24-7 power is a game changer for a society. At that point Ben said, "Electricity isn't THAT important in my life," to which Christopher replied with a questioning parental tone, "Oh really?" He began to list the ways electricity affects Ben's life and quickly Ben interrupted saying, "I just dug a hole the size of the Grand Canyon with one sentence!" We laughed and appreciated his willingness to own his overstatement. As I write this, I can hear Ben and Daniella, Rocky and Meliana's adopted 17 year old Haitian daughter, chatting on the porch outside. I am thankful Ben makes friends easily and is embracing all aspects of this adventure in Haiti.