Good News and Even Gooder News

School classroom

           I know I haven’t blogged much in the time since I moved here back in May 2016.  It’s not for lack of wanting to blog; it’s just been more about being overwhelmed about everything that I’ve experienced.  I didn’t know how to put into words all that I was feeling, experiencing, and thinking.  So, I just didn’t write.

School cafeteria

            However, I can’t keep not writing because it seems like too much.  I plan to pick up the blogging with the good . . . no, great news that has developed in the last month.

            As many of you know, four years ago, I took a leave of absence from my teaching job at Rotolo Middle School o spend a semester here in Haiti working on opening a school for special-needs children.  That initial work seemed promising in that I was able to use donated funds to pay off land that would be used for the school.  Well, it seemed as if God had other ideas!  Plans for the school pretty much came to a halt at that time.  It’s not that the dream died—that never happened!  It’s just that the plans slowed down . . . pretty much came to a stop.

Seminar particpants

            Though the school plans slowed down, my desire to work with the special-needs kids never did.  With the help of other groups and numerous interns, we were able to develop a viable physical therapy room and a therapy schedule for our kids.  The plans were different, but progress for the special-needs kids was being made.

            Fast forward to 2016.  I made the decision to move to Haiti and commit to the special-needs kids.  I wasn’t sure exactly what that would look like, but I figured if I were in country it would be easier to work with the kids.  I took a teaching/counseling job at Morning Star Christian Academy so that I could make a living and be closer to the kids at Notre Maison.  It was going okay . . ., but not great. I still wasn’t spending as much time with the kids at Notre Maison as I wanted.

Where It Gets Good

Seminar activity

            Upon my return to Haiti after Christmas break in the States, I learned from Gertrude that we had been granted the use of a school that had been used by a group of Catholic nuns that could no longer run a school on those grounds.  So, now Gertrude and I had a school.  Not just land.  Not just a small building that we could improvise with.  But, this is a real school.  With classrooms and offices and therapy space and a cafeteria.  You name it, we have it!  Go God!

Where It Gets Even Gooder

            It was great that we had facilities, but I still needed a way to have an income while working at our new school.  Enter Morning Star Christian Academy.  The school has agreed to let me work part time as the school counselor, which gives me two days each week to work at our new school!  How great is that???

Therapy room

            So much of this year has been a roller coaster ride that I wasn’t sure whether I had heard God’s voice right in coming to Haiti.  With time and patience—not just this school year, but also over the last four years—I do believe that I am in the right place at the right time.  A dream that started years ago is coming closer to being a reality.

Next Steps

            As awesome as all this is, I realize that the we are still at the very beginning stages.  But, I am jazzed!  Today a group of teachers/professors from Florida came to do in-service with Haitian teachers about effective teaching methods to use when working with special-needs students.  The presenters were amazing, and the Haitian teachers participating were top notch—I can hardly wait till tomorrow’s sessions!  There is such hope in this area.  These teachers are passionate about working with special-needs students; now we just need to keep them all connected and learning from each other. 

            The networking that happened for me today did wonders for my soul.  I no longer feel as if I am creating something by myself.  There are others out there who want to help . . . who have the resources and the connections to help.  I finally feel as if I know how to connect to some of those resources so that we don’t have to go it alone.

            For me personally, these next steps are going to be huge.  My “take-home pay” will be reduced yet again because I am going to part-time hours at Morning Star.  That scares me some.  But, God has provided so far, so I have faith that He will continue to provide.  However, in addition to learning how to be an administrator for a school, learning how to be an advocate for a school and its students, I must also learn how to advocate for what my needs are financially.  God is really stretching me on that one!

            Thank you to everyone who has come along side of me on this journey.  You have faithfully stood by me—I’ll keep you posted as things progress in the coming months!