School Iniative Team - Friday, January 17th

Wow !!! What an incredible day. After getting some rest from the travel, we rose early, said goodbye to the men (Kurt, Mark, Trace, Darren), had our morning coffee, and took off for a full day. Yes, we did ride in the back of the truck over very bumpy roads, but actually I enjoyed getting to have the experience. Our first stop was at the school in Chardene. We sat in on their chapel service and then visited classrooms to observe education in action. What adorable children! It was so interesting to see that teaching is universal and many of our teaching techniques are being used in Haiti too. We moved on to the school at Degeance. By the way, to get there we rode in the truck part of the way and then hiked up the rugged path for about 1/2 hour to reach the school up in the mountain. There is only one permanent building at this school and the other classrooms have walls made of woven coconut branches. This visit was so very enjoyable. I got to actually teach a sixth grade math class through a translator. What fun it was to see the huge smiles and hear the laughs of the students. How rewarding for me. I must comment on the joy that seems to bubble out of many of the students here. They have the biggest smiles and are so very, very friendly. They loved us being there and we loved being there. Our next stop was at MPCA where the vocational school is located. We munched on our granola bars for lunch and then got to experience a high school chapel service. The singing was awesome to hear. Following this, Patti and Becky went to watch an

English class and Nicole and I had the privilege of giving a seminar on the different learning styles to teachers who are teaching elementary classes in Mission Possible schools. They were very receptive to our suggestions and had a good time "moving" to the music and trying some of the techniques we discussed. Once this was finished we loaded back in the truck and headed back to the mission center. We were hot and tired, but very, very fulfilled. We freshened up and then had a delicious Haitian meal. I cannot accurately express how blessed I feel at being given the privilege of being here. God is so good and is faithful in giving these Haitian students hope and a future. How wonderful it is to be able to be part of this ministry.