This entire school year has been wacky! We started just fine, but then schools were closed for a week in November due to manifestations. I missed that round of school closings because I happened to be in the States helping my parents recover from surgery and helping them to move. For a variety of reasons, I ended up staying Stateside until after the new year. That was two months away from the Center that I hadn’t planned on.
I returned in January and was here for about two weeks before flying back home to attend the funeral of a dear friend who had died unexpectedly. Another week away from the Center. I returned to Haiti on February 1, and on the 7th MASSIVE violence broke out in the country, and I returned to the States on February 14 and stayed until late March. By this time I had spent more of the school year in the States than in Haiti.
The spring months went well until the June 9 when another round of violence erupted and closed schools for another week. We re-opened on June 17, and only 30 students showed up because parents were still concerned about the safety of the streets (and I don’t blame them!). As an administration we decided to end school that day. No big, formal, sit-down discussion. We just decided that it was in the best interests of the kids to be done.
Even though the school year ended early, kindergarten graduation has been postponed a week! Why, you ask?
Ironic: we ended early, but finish late. Figure that one out!
Well, during the week of violence, the seamstress responsible for making the graduates’ dresses, slacks, and shirts couldn’t work because the streets weren’t safe. Couldn't leave the house to get to work to make the clothes. No new clothes means no graduation. We also couldn’t get pictures of the kids in their gowns and caps, so we weren’t ready for graduation. Even if we had had the pictures, we wouldn’t have been able to print their certificates—most folks don’t have computers, printers, electricity, etc., so none of these things could be done at home.
I’ll be honest . . . kindergarten graduation doesn’t mean a lot to me. I don’t think pre-school and kindergarten graduations should be done in the States, and I really don’t get the BIG deal it is here in Haiti. But, it’s an important cultural piece of Haiti. So, regardless of what I think, it needs to be done the Haitian way. The “Haitian way” means a number of things: fancy new clothes, dances, musical pieces being played, lots of food and drink, numerous outfits and costume changes, recitations, presents, speeches, and a passing of the torch from the graduates to the 4-year-olds. Family, friends, and the entire school attend.
This year’s graduates, though, won’t get all that. Because the leaders of this country can’t figure things out, this year’s graduates won’t have the same experience as their older siblings. They will have a scaled down version--maybe one song/dance, snacks instead of full meal, only parents in the audience instead of a crowd. I feel sad for them that they won’t have the same special memories of such a major cultural event.
Last year at the end of the school year I was so excited. I was like, “Yes! Year one is in the bag! We did it. We succeeded. We can do this!”
This year I’m like, “Uh, we’re done. Thank God we made it to the end.” We limped across the finish line instead of finishing strong with hands raised in the air.
It’s as if this year needs a footnote:
2019-20201
1Extenuating circumstances in the country affected the quality of experience for students,
staff, and parents.
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