To all of our sponsors thank you, thank you, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.
We are over half way through the school year already! Despite many challenges and much turmoil within the country, the school staff continue to work with all their might to provide a quality education, as well as a positive and motivating environment for our students. We are thankful that we have not had to close so far this year for any reason.
Below, you can enjoy some pictures snapped from the day-to-day in the school. I hope they can bring you joy by giving you a glimpse into the school's world and the positive developments that have been happening there.
Of course, the biggest major event has been the construction of the roof on the second story. We are so grateful that God made this possible, despite many delays and difficulties. Judy shot this great photo of the completed school roof with the drone!
Once the roof was up, the school staff worked very hard to get the 7th, 8th, and 9th grade class rooms ready for use. They kept it a surprise for the students.
"They were even more excited than I thought they would be!" said school director Almaïs.
Below, you can catch a peep of classes in session on the second story.
Over the years, Judy---along with special visitors from time to time---have worked really hard to train and encourage our teachers in using creative and innovative teaching methods. Billy (3rd grade teacher) is one example of a teacher who has taken these trainings to heart and shown lots of initiative in bringing new ideas into his classroom. In the picture below, he and his students change out of their normal seats to go through a Haitian Creole reading lesson. (He painted and decorated his classroom out of his own motivation and ideas. He continues to add to it from time to time throughout the year as the kids learn new things.)
In the picture below, Michelet (fifth grade teacher) shows his students a country on the globe. Did you know that this is the VERY FIRST GLOBE EVER in the school? For most if not all of these students, it is the first representation of the Earth as a globe that they have ever seen. (The globe came on the Box Truck!)
As you may have seen in a previous post, the Kindergarten has a special learning project this year: a garden! The kindergartners helped to plant the corn in the beginning of the year.
Unfortunately, marauding, incorrigible chickens wreaked havoc on the corn bed. However, the Kindergarten has quite an impressive surviving patch of bell peppers!
The Kindergarten staff (with some assistance from the kids) take care of the garden. Recently, they also planted some amaranth. (See photo below.)
The kids also help by watering once or twice a week.
In this picture, the littlest class of kindergartners observe, while their teacher Marquise waters the bell peppers. (At least, they were observing before I distracted them for a picture. 😊 )
Recreation and sport also play a role in education and morale. In February, the school held a mini-soccer tournament between grades.
The teachers also had a chance to de-stress through a friendly match. That's second grade teacher JR going for the ball below.
The girls had their own special day of tournament games. Believe it or not, it is extremely rare to see girls playing soccer in our area of Haiti.
Even Mme Tiferne got in on the fun. She's 70 years old!
The kindergartners had their own fun!
At the end of the soccer tournament, the school held an educational competition. Each of the grades had to prepare an exposition about a commune in Haiti.
They even prepared a dish for which their chosen commune is known for.
A few more candid shots...
Despite incredible strain on resources during these times, the cafeteria staff continue to provide a hot meal every day with a smile.
Members of the school administrative and pedagogical staffs discuss a few items in the pedagogy office. (Missing are school director Almaïs and kindergarten supervisor Elicia.)
Three young ladies sit together at recess and study their history lesson.
A shot from one of Friday's chapels...
I came upon this sweet moment as one of our employees (Fle) caught up with her oldest daughter during recess. They must have two of the most beautiful smiles in the world!
Fle is a single mom and works hard to put her two oldest through school. However, the reality is that despite all her hard work and efforts, we could never run our school on what Fle and the other parents in our area can afford. That is why our sponsorship program is so vitally important for families in our community. By sponsoring a grade, you give an empowering hand up to parents like Fle; you help open doors of opportunity to kids like Abi who would otherwise never receive this education.
Someone once did the same for another little boy, and they never knew the incredible impact it would have on so many others. Our founder and director, Manis, was chosen by a missionary couple to be part of a sponsorship program without which he never would have been able to go to school as a child.
To all of our sponsors thank you, thank you, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.
Because of the extreme instability of the Haitian gourde and the resulting increase in costs, we have had to increase our number of sponsors per grade. Our current number of sponsors cannot cover the costs to run the school, so it has thrown a good deal of strain back onto the already-strained general fund. We need more sponsors!
For more information about our grade sponsorship program, please click here. If you already sponsor or are not able to at this time, please consider sharing the news with someone else who might be interested.
Thank you!
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