Haitian cuddles

Today was our first day of being in the classroom. School in Haiti starts early, we had to be at the orphanage at 8. There school days are also a little different, they start school at 7 and our done by 1. Upon arriving at the school we were greeted by the principal and all the orphan children. These kids literally have there own little life style. They have a little garden in which they had planted potatoes. Along with buckets where some of the older orphans wash the clothes and small clothes line where they hang up the clothing. You will also see the older orphans preparing the food for all of them. They also have a small farm where they have goats, chickens, cats, and dogs. One of the things that makes me super nervous out here is that the area the kids play on is not that safe. I mean they have a fire cooking all the food and the kids are just running all around. The ground is covered in rocks and the kids are just running across the rocks with no shoes on and they just pick anything off the ground and put it in their mouths. They are also building a secondary school right now and kids are just play on the construction site! It makes me super nervous but these kids don't know any different.

After arriving at the school we met with the principal (Elisse) of the school. He explained to us what all his goals for the school were. This man is a very driven and has big aspirations for his school. One of his main goals for the schools is to have it be the best school in Jacmel. Elisse is also a very faith driven man. When we started the meeting he first said a prayer about how thankful and lucky he was to have us here. I forgot to mention this in my blog yesterday but we had just crossed the river before climbing the mountain and Elisse had stopped the whole group and asked us to get in a circle. We prayed in the middle of the street with cars zooming past us. He has no shame in showing his faith! He also told us that the reason he is going to have the best school in Jacmel is because they believe in God and anything is possible with God. It is just crazy to see how much faith these people have. Elisse showed us around the classrooms they are very small and compared to our schools are not set up in the best way possible. After we got done seeing how the school was set up we got a chance to hang out with the kids.

Today while we were meeting with some of the teachers discussing plans a young gentlemen walks into the room. He didn't say anything but he pulled one of the volunteers outside. The man then walks to the back of our van and writes in the dust " I am deaf." The guy was trying to sell us necklaces. These were very pretty necklaces and I ended up getting one. Soon the principal was explaining that they have a huge deaf community out here. I think it was so cool to see all the diversity and how these people make a living out here. This guy did not give up he found a way to communicate with us and try and sell his necklaces.

Barb the founder of Love takes root talked to us about the importance of just being there for the kids. She asked to just go sit on a bench and play with the kids and show them that someone cares about them. She said that we just need to love on these kids as much as possible. So I went and found a bench and within seconds I had kids jumping all over me. They were all asking what our names were. These kids are also very good at pronouncing our names along with remembering them. It has been quite a struggle for me to pronounce there names. I have to sit there for like five minutes sounding it out. They have way different names then what we have. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have them down. One of the hardest parts was the language barrier. I have no idea what these kids are saying. I now know what it feels like to be an English Language Learner in the classroom. I am slowly starting to pick up on the French. Each night I look up a few new phrases so I can talk with kids.

I also made a new little friend today. She is a feisty little girl when I first came across her she was hitting some little boys with a branch. So I just picked her up and brought her to a bench. She seemed really upset. After a little while she dragged me over to the swings and we swung for little bit. All of the sudden she tried to jump of the swing and fell pretty hard on the dirt. She got right up and didn't even cry but she wanted to be held. So I went and found a bench and just let her sit. She soon got very comfy on my lap. Other Haitian girls were trying to get her off my lap but she would not move! Soon I had many girls piling on my lap. They all seemed very tired and just laid there heads down. The one little girl who fell off the swing just sat on my lap and sucked her thumb! It was so cute! I knew this would be one of the moments I would never forget. In the photo below the girl with her tongue out is my new little friend :)

After hanging around the orphanage we headed back to our hotel and enjoyed the perks of being on the Caribbean. Our hotel is nestled in a little cove that has small beach for guests. So Haley and I put on our swim suits and laid down by the beach for a little bit to relax after a busy morning. We also tried Haitian mac & cheese today! This mac & cheese puts ours to shame. It was so good. I have feeling I am really going to miss the food when I leave.

Tonight while we were eating our meal we were discussing technology and what a huge impact it has had on our society. For instance these last couple of days I have rarely been on social media except to communicate with people otherwise I put it away. It brings a sense of relief I feel like we are tied up in the use of our phones. We have become so dependent on them that we don't know how to operate without them. We also noticed that Haitians are the same way. These people are walking out of there shacks carrying iPhones. Somehow they have found ways to purchase a phone. The kids at the orphanage also know what an iPhone is because they are constantly asking to take photo with our iPhones. I swear that is one of the few English words these kids know.

With Love,
Abby
" Let all that you can do be done in love." 1 Corinthians 16:14