Originally posted on March 30, 2011.
I sat down this
morning for my breakfast of toast, peanut butter, fresh mangoes, and scrambled
eggs. Randy picks up the jar and asks, “What is
coiffiture?” as he hands it to me.
I answer, “Jam. Looks like it’s grapefruit jam.”
Randy decides to try some and announces that it’s okay.
“Tastes like it’s been spiced with cumin or something.”
Both Anna and I try some with our toast and peanut butter.
It’s okay, but it really doesn’t taste like any jam I’ve had.
Okay . . . really . . . it didn’t go with toast and peanut butter at
all. And, if there was grapefruit in it, the grapefruit was hiding
pretty well!
Enter Gertrude. She looks at the table and says something
in Creole to the cook. Gertrude picks up the jar of suspect
grapefruit jam and continues to talk in Creole. The two of them
laugh. I look at her and say, “That’s not grapefruit jam, is
it?”
Gertrude answers, “No, you don’t eat this for breakfast.
It’s something I make on my own. It’s mangoes with hot red
peppers and curry. You’re supposed to eat it on rice.”
No wonder it
didn’t go so well with peanut butter!
Other than the
slight mistake at breakfast the day went well. My ride picked me
up at 10:30. His name is Denie, and he is Miquette’s
brother. He took me to the school at which Miquette works.
It’s an American school in the Delmas area, and the students are both
American children and Haitian kids. Miquette works there as a
nurse. We took some time to talk about her plans for the jewelry
school that she has set up at the TeacHaiti School of Hope site.
She is teaching the some kids who are in 7th/8th
grade to make bracelets and necklaces to sell. Then a portion of
the profit goes into a bank account that Miquette established for the
kids. The money will be saved to help pay for more schooling for
the kids such as high school and college.
We did drive
over to the school site itself so that we could drop off some supplies.
I learned that Miquette does have an address in Haiti to which mail can
be sent. She will have the students at TeacHaiti write letters
back to Rotolo’s 8th graders who wrote letters for me to
bring. Rotolo students can then continue to write, and we hope to
set up a pen pal system between the two schools!
When I returned
to the orphanage I took a short break before taking Michael, Shirley, and Wolton
for their walk and treat. All three are around 4-5 years old, and
they are just adorable! After their walk I took the older kids
across the way to the “soccer field” so that they could play “football” for a
bit. I have some great video . . . I just wish the internet would
move faster so that I could download it for you to see!
Oh!
I forgot to mention the goat head! We walked the kids to
school this morning which means we went through the market. We
passed one stand, and the lady was cutting up the goat to sell, and staring at
us passers-by was the goat’s head. I’m used to seeing fish
presented that way, but I must admit it was the first time I’ve seen the head of
a goat waiting to be sold. Goats and grapefruit . . . what more
can a person ask for in a day?
Lots of talk
today about making plans to return for an extended trip and spend 5-6 months
here. Miquette suggested that I look into working at Quisqueya
Christian School. She said it would give me time to work with
Gertrude’s children on weekends and become a part of the culture while having a
place to work and live. Gertrude and I talked about opening an
English school on the property next door. We decided we would
offer English, music, art, French, math, and history. We think we
could convince Oriol to teach the music. I could live at the
orphanage and work right next door. We had it all planned and
figured out in about 30 minutes!
Who knows what
will play out . . . I just know that I want to keep coming back and seriously
look at how I could live and work here for 5-6 months. During that
time I want to use any skills that I have to help the kids here have a better
future, and like most places in the world, an education is the place to
start. So, I ask you to pray for opportunities.
Opportunities for me to return. Opportunities for me to
make connections and develop relationships with people.
Opportunities for me to listen and hear what God is telling me to
do. And, as always, pray for the children of Haiti . . . that
opportunities arise for them
Love,
Jamie
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