I will admit that I have been very poor about blogging during our time here. I apologize. I have really tried to just live in each moment, and absorb it all later. There are so many emotions that come from a trip like this. There is so much joy, yet sorrow too. It has been almost impossible for me to process it all to share (without sounding crazy).
One of the things we wanted most from this blog was to share the truth. It is so important to us that we share the good, bad, hard, pain, and joy that we are experiencing. We didn’t want to sugar-coat, and I believe that we have remained true to our promise to do just that. I know that I have shared about my extremely emotional Saturdays, but today I want to share about some of our triumphs.
Gary has become quite the handyman here in Haiti. He has repaired the roof over the kids’ dining area, replaced the roof beam in the outdoor kitchen, made a door for the boys’ bathroom, performed some electrical work, fixed many doors in some way or another, built shelves to hold all the 30Abes food, and a million other small projects (ok, not really a million – but he’s done a lot!). I’m really impressed with his skills and I think he is too. I know that his hard work has been greatly appreciated by everyone.
Gracie has been quite a help to all of us. She has helped clean out closets, organize baby supplies, helped me in the classroom, fed babies, played with big kids, and love on almost every child at Maison. And she has even managed to complete her own schoolwork while here! I’m crazy proud of this kid – she is a missionary to the core.
As expected, it took Clover about a week to adjust. She breezed through the schoolwork we brought for her to do and has impressed me by creating her own little assignments every day. She has helped me by working one-on-one with a few of the kids in class. Though the first week was rough, we knew it wouldn’t be long before this was her second home.
I feel so good about the progress we are making in the school. The kids are sitting, doing their work, not copying off each other! The workbooks that we brought have been a huge help for providing a phonics foundation. It has been fantastic for helping me assess where each child is, that way I can work with them at their level. My only complaint is that we aren’t here longer … I really need to work with them more and help them develop even further! There are a few kids that I would really want to work with one-on-one (even after school hours) to get them further along (praying for this time).
We are seeing small, yet fantastic things happen from the consistency of having all of us (our family + Ashley) here daily, reiterating them. Small things like apologizing when they do something that isn’t nice (without even being asked). I know it seems minor, but it’s progress!
I am so thankful for what we’ve been able to accomplish so far, and pray that we get to continue …
