Visiting a Country School

Last week took us to the countryside and a mountaintop! First, I'll take you to the country. 

When we set out to go somewhere in Haiti, we never know exactly what to expect.  We take a book, water bottle and often a snack and brace ourselves for whatever might come. A lot of times the process is slower, hotter, more frustrating, dustier or more tiring than we initially expect. This week, our expectations were exceeded…in a good way!

We knew we were going to a school in the country and that it was “far away”.  But, with our fearless driver we knew we were up for the challenge.  We jumped in the tap-tap and took off.  We made our way through the traffic, people going to work, little ones in their uniforms walking to school, shops being set up, market & baskets filled…all the busy early morning activity. Soon, we were out of the hustle & bustle of the Port-au-Prince streets and seeing more plantain farms, dirt roads & mountain scenery.  It always amazes me how our driver has such an extensive knowledge of where things are located in Haiti.  We rattle off this school name or that orphanage and he squints his eyes and thinks for a second and the next thing you know we are weaving through all sorts of back roads, crazy steep hills in what seems to be mostly unmarked streets where much of what we see looks the same. 

This particular trip, our trust was put to the test.  We turned off the main road and it got bumpy…totally normal. Then we veered off to what seemed even less of a road and kept going for what seemed like forever.  It eventually turned out that the road was completely washed away and we were in what was basically a dried up riverbed.  There was a wall of dirt on each side with trees towering above us. I was lucky enough to be in the front of the truck, but Tim and our translator were being tossed and thrown around the back of the truck on a hard wooden bench.  After what seemed like forever down this “road,” I thought surely we must be getting close.  The view in front of us was a mountain and fields to the left and right. We saw little towns and people, but it seemed that it was impossible that anything was going to materialize at the end of the riverbed road we found ourselves on.

Eventually we stopped. We looked up and there was a little path up to a gate and we were there. We were instructed to drive around to a place where we could cut through a man’s field and come to the school the back way since the road was gone where we were.  We later learned that we were only 20 miles outside of Port-au-Prince…felt like we had gone 100!

At last, we entered the schoolyard. A small miracle after what seemed like being on a bumpy, though beautiful, ride to nowhere.  We were greeted by a wonderful woman named Maryse.  She gave us a tour of the school and shared with great pride how the school was making an impact in the community.  She seems like the mother of the school.  She knows the children, makes sure they are doing well and coordinates their sponsor program.  The school is in a rural, farming community and the 514 children come from the surrounding area.  The families struggle to provide for their children, so being able to attend school, receive a uniform, 2 hot meals each day, books and participate in sports and music is an incredible blessing.

We peeked into the various classrooms filled with lots of chatter and energetic kids. Sweet smiles and shy waves greeted us as we saw the children busily working. The classrooms are simple and without electricity, but the entire schoolyard is beautiful and well kept. 

It was encouraging to see that they work hard to ensure that a child’s physical, educational and emotional needs are being met. They have a social worker who was actually a student at the school who helps address family issues and not just address a child’s behavior, but what else may be going on.

The teachers at the school are from the community which gives them a sense of pride and investment in educating the children who are often times their family and neighbor’s children.

As soon as they heard we were there for a tour, they quickly brought a music class to us and they proudly played 2 Christmas songs on their recorders. The music teacher rocked the keyboard and the kids squeaked out the notes. They were adorable!  The school offers music lessons after school and is hoping to have a PE or sports teacher soon to offer more extracurricular activities for the children to engage in as there are few opportunities in the community.

I am excited to take on the responsibility of helping to find sponsors for 50 of the children.  Of the 514 of the children at the school, 150 more need sponsors and we decided that we would do our best to help find 50 sponsors. They call the sponsors the children’s Godparents. Sponsors receive photos, school reports and updates on the child. Sponsors can send photos and letters to the child and even visit them at the school!  The children are excited to be sponsored and the goal is for each child to have a Godparent soon.  The funds go towards the work that the school is doing and the children were visibly benefitting and thriving  

It was neat to hear about how the families are getting involved with the school as well.  The mothers come every other week and make a type of bread that is served to the children.  Also, they planted a huge garden and the children’s lunches now have eggplant, tomatoes and spinach. 

It was interesting to learn about the community where they live.  Maryse shared that girls often will go to school until age 12 and then after that schooling seen as being only “for boys” and the girls will stop going to school at that point and often start having babies at very young ages, even as young as 12.  Many women have 6 or 7 children and struggle to provide, but children are seen as a sign of prosperity.  Most families are single mothers raising many children.

I was particularly struck by the complexity of addressing the needs of a community when we visited the clinic on the school grounds.  They realized that the children at school were often sick and without proper medical care, so they opened the clinic to address these needs as well as offer services to the community.  As we walked through the clinic, we came to the area where 300-400 children are seen each month due to malnutrition. They receive a supply of therapeutic food which is a fortified peanut butter paste that is used to help the children gain weight.  They are monitored and plans are put in place to help sustain the child’s weight once they are out of the “danger zone” of being severely underweight.  Their was a young boy there who we learned had brought his little sister to her appointment because their mother was at home and had just had a baby.  It’s difficult to know that the next baby will probably be at the malnutrition clinic as well if the family was struggling to provide for the other children.  It reminded me of the complexity of the needs and challenges people face and that there is no simple, easy answer.

The clinic has the equipment, but not staff to run an eye clinic and is hoping for optometrists to come and volunteer their time for 1-2 weeks and offer vision screenings, but they have not been able to do that yet.

They also hope to provide dental care, but again this is a matter of resources, staff and funding to be able to make this happen.

A physical therapist was on there working for a few months, but had to return home due to a family situation, so they are now seeking to fill his position as well.

It was interesting to meet a man who works with the clinic whose job is to go into the community and build relationships and educate people about the services the clinic offers. There is fear, distrust and uncertainty of bringing someone to a clinic for medical care.  This man’s main job, along with 11 other men doing the same work, is to encourage people to bring their sick children, family members and friends to the clinic for care.  The normal practice is to seek out a voodoo priest or witch doctor for healing. At first, the clinic only had 12 patients and now they have over 500!

The next stop our journey was to the orphanage, also run by the same school.  It’s located just a short drive from the school.  They want the children to feel like they are going home too and not just living at a boarding school.  The children came to their care due to other orphanages being shut down due to poor conditions.  The goal is to find the families of these children.  Families often send their child to an orphanage because they are provided a bed and meals, often more than the family can provide.  However in these cases, the children were put in horrific conditions and the better life they were offered was not true.  40 of the 60 children have been reunited with their families.  

The orphanage was very clean and well taken care of. There is a man who is like an Uncle who lives in a house nearby and takes care of the grounds and a woman who the children call grandmother.  Because this particular orphanage has open beds, they were told that they need to be prepared to take in more children and heard that they could expect 75 children coming soon. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be brought to an orphanage and the questions and fear the children must have.  Also, for the staff to help the children adjust and for the current children living there to be overwhelmed by so many new children coming into “their home”.

While its easy to become overwhelmed even just all of the children we saw on the streets, not in school, on the way to this particular place, it was encouraging to see the work that this school is doing and the difference it is making for 514 children!

And now we set out to find sponsors for 50 of these precious little ones…God is teaching me to focus on the people, situations, needs and opportunities that he puts in my path and being faithful to do my best with the resources He's given me. Otherwise, I look out into a sea of endless needs and am paralyzed by my inadequate resources and ability to help everyone and fix every problem.  But, He provides exactly what is needed for the work He sets before me.  I have seen it happen and I know its true.  So now, for these 50 little ones, I trust in His plan for each of them and with strength & wisdom from Him, I'll do my best to help 50.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  -Jeremiah 29:11 

And this was just the trip to the countryside! You're going to want to come back to hear about the mountaintop!