Day 1 Mon 3/28/2011

This was originally posted on March 29, 2011.  I am re-posting it because I needed to create a new blog address.

I’m back to recount the first full day in Port-au-Prince! As usual, the skies were blue and the sun blazed down all day. I had hoped to visit a school run by Gertrude’s sister, but school was canceled today because of a strike to protest the high cost of gas (some issues are the same everywhere, I guess). So, I improvised.
I haven’t shared this with all of you, but I want to let you know about this amazing thing that one of my students did. One day before school, Andrew came into my room and handed me a wad of bills. He said that he had been saving it up for something (his word) but he wanted me to have it so that I could use it to help the kids in Haiti. I was floored. My mouth hung open as I tried to find the words to thank him. I fill you in on that because I decided to use the money he donated to take small groups of the kids on walks everyday and stop along the way to buy them treats that they otherwise don’t get. This morning two other ladies staying here came with me, and we took Lovely, Mimose, and Ketia down to the market so that they could have some one-on-one time and have a treat. This afternoon, I took some boys—Wilson, Edson, Jameson, and Mickey (he’s in a wheelchair)—and we walked around the neighborhood. The boys looked at a number of little stands along the way, scoping out the one that had the best snacks! Looks like kids are kids, no matter where they are.
I made sure to take pictures and get some short video of the kids; I hope to be able to share with Andrew the good he did by being willing to share his money with kids he doesn’t even know. I’m still in awe of the generosity of a 14-year-old boy.
The rest of the day was spent teaching the kids some English, taking them to the dirt field across the way to play soccer, and teaching them (make that trying to teach them) Simon Says. With Gertrude’s help the kids finally caught on. The biggest problem was my limited Creole skills! With the help of some of the nannies I was able to get the kids to do some crazy things . . . my plan is to use the game to work on English skills later in the week. Of course, I have to demonstrate everything right now, so I probably will look a bit goofy, too!
The last thing on the agenda tonight is to find the match box cars so that the kids can play with them before bedtime. Then, I get to clean up before hitting the hay.
I have so many thoughts running through my head that it’s hard to put them into words. I hope to find the time tomorrow to sit down and go through all those thoughts and make them coherent before I try to share my observations. For now, good night. And thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.