Communication is key

This morning we headed over to the school for our morning of teaching. One of my biggest regrets of this trip so far is not being able to speak the language. The teachers are also unable to speak English. Elisse is able to translate for us but sometimes he does not understand what we are saying. This makes teaching very difficult. One of the things I think that would be very beneficial for this school is to get a translator. This way the teachers would be able to understand what we want the students to do. The teachers out here truly do an amazing job with what they got. The noise levels in these classrooms is insane. I mean one of the rooms has three different classes going on at once with only a chalkboard separating the classes. So just imagine three teachers speaking loudly trying teach plus fifty kids in the classroom. That is a challenge. Haley and I were sitting in a class just observing and we couldn't focus to save our lives. There were kids running around outside poking their little heads in the classroom and giggling. There were multiple people talking trying to conduct a lesson but somehow these kids seem to be able to learn in this environment. On the right is one of the kindergarten girls!

This morning Haley and I had the opportunity to teach the kindergarten class. This kids are so stinking adorable but they can also be a little bit naughty. The kindergarten teachers do an awesome job of classroom management. These kids listen to the teacher very well, better then in the states. Haley and I started teaching and it was like the blind leading the blind. We tried teaching them the alphabet the students knew the song but were unable to recognize the words. We tried multiple methods of trying to teach them and none of them were working. Haley and I walked out of the lesson so frustrated because the kids had no idea what we were asking and we had no idea what they were saying. On the left is one of the kindergarten classrooms.

We sat in on a couple other classes today too. We watched a fifth grade history lesson. I found out that I have no problem with reading French. The teacher wrote all the notes on the board and I understood what he was writing about. He started reading the board and that is when I lost him. They enunciate totally different parts of the word and there sentence structure is set up differently. Slowly but surely I am catching onto to this language.

After the school day was finished Haley and I got asked to tutor. There were three nurses that are trying to learn English. They are coming to the states in March to observe hospitals in the states. In order for them understand what is going on they need to learn English. They had a dictionary with all the hospital terms they need to learn. First we pronounced all the words with them and then started doing a little role playing. That is when it got interesting. I have no nursing background so to hold a medical conversation in English was interesting. I was trying to remember all the things my mom always talks about along with what I have seen on Grey's Anatomy. Haley and I finally got the hang of it and they were able to speak a couple of complete sentences. On the left is Michelle giving me a ride on a moto he lives and works at the orphanage.

Once we completed the tutoring we headed up to where the orphan kids were playing. I love going up there and just hanging out with the kids. These kids get so excited when we come and play with them. When we walked up most of the kids were just playing with rocks. They don't have toys to play with so more often then not we see them playing with rocks, sticks, or garbage. When we come up they have so much fun just because they are getting attention. I can also tell that they are warming up to us because they talk a lot more when they are around us. Indiana the girl who always hangs around me fell asleep on me again today. I feel bad for her because she should be getting naps throughout the day but that just doesn't happen here. Whenever I come and visit she always falls asleep on my lap. Today the poor thing was so tired that she left a huge drool spot on my skirt. On the right Indiana is holding my hand. After school she grabbed my hand and would not let go.

I think after today I can finally say that I have used all forms of transportation in Haiti. Today we used what is called a people mover. This is like a motorcycle but it has three wheels. It has a little box in the back kind of like a bed of a pick up where people can ride. So when all got into the back we headed back to the hotel. This was probably the most uncomfortable ride I have had so far. I sat on like a two inch wide bar and hung on for dear life as we bounced along the Haiti roads. On the left is a people mover.

Tonight we headed over to Sean and Carolines house tonight. It is so nice having a house we can go to whenever we want. This way we can get a change of scenery instead of being at the hotel all the time. I also like being able to talk to them. They are doing about the same things we are doing each day so we can compare stories and relate to what we have been doing. We also help each other think of ideas to help make the orphanage better. There kids are also adorable and fun to play with!

With

Love,
Abby