OUTRAGED!

Another week in the books!  

We’ve settled into a good routine—most kids who registered are attending, the kids are used to the schedule, the teachers know when to go to music and recess and snack, Friday-morning chapel is evolving. Life is good.

So . . . why the outrage??

Here’s why:

            Friday morning a father came in with his almost three-year-old son.  Dad had already registered him at another school but wanted to know whether we had space in our K1 class.  Unfortunately, we didn’t.

Like that prosthesis would be a problem!

            I asked why he wanted to enroll the boy at the Haiti Center for Inclusive Education if he had already registered him at another school.  Dad pointed at his son’s foot—he had a prosthesis.  

            Dad explained that his son had been born with a club foot and that at three days old the doctors amputated his son's foot.

            We asked again about why Dad wanted to enroll him with us.  Turns out the other school felt the boy’s prosthesis would be too much of a distraction for the other students—that they might not be able to learn because they would be focused on his leg.  Outrageous!

            The school then said that the boy could only come if he wore long pants so that the prosthesis would be covered.  That may not seem like a big deal (long pants), but in Haiti it’s a big deal!  Younger boys wear shorts as part of their school uniform.  It’s not until middle/high school that boys wear long pants. So, this little guy would look different from all the other boys in his long pants.

More outrage--not only on my part, but also on the part of the other administrators.

            We still had to decide whether to accept him.  Our K1 class is not only full, but we are overbooked—22 kids instead of 20.  The administration talked through options, but we couldn’t really think of any good ones. So, my next step was to ask the K1 teacher what she thought because if we accepted him, she was the one who would have to live with the decision every day.

            We called Mme. Barbara in and explained the situation.  Her immediate response was a “yes.”  

Have I mentioned that the Center has great staff???

            I am so glad . . . so happy . . . so thrilled . . . so humbled that the Haiti Center for Inclusive Education is (and will be for others) a safe place for this little guy.