10 Things You Didn't Know About Haiti

Since I've been in Haiti for over a month, I decided it would be fun to share some of the cultural differences I've learned and experienced so far! 

1. There are no real traffic rules. Just use your horn and avoid the potholes. I’m amazed that I haven’t seen more wrecks!

2. There are two systems of currency here: Gourds (it sounds like gouds) and Haitian Dollars. Some grocery stores are in gourds and some are not. It takes 45 gourds to make one American dollar. I bought a can of tuna at Delmas 2000 for 90 gourds, which is $2.00. At Delimart, everything is in Haitian dollars. It gave me a heart attack the first time I saw tuna marked $16.00. It turns out there are 9 HD for every 1 American dollar, so the tuna was about $1.70.  Everything is crazy expensive here. I thought it would be completely opposite! I spend about $40 US dollars every two weeks buying Gatorades, juices, Pringles, and some other snacky foods. 

3. Haitians like to wear clothing that is verrrrrryyyyy tight. I have been asked several times by my kiddos why my shirts are so loose. 

4. Haitians tend to be very honest when you ask them a question. When asked how their weekend went, they’ll respond with bad or not great if nothing great happened to them. This is in stark contrast to Americans, who always respond with, “Good! How was yours?” even if they didn’t have a good weekend. This honesty is difficult to adjust to. I have been wearing shorts every day to the children’s home. One day, a teenage boy named Tony said, ‘Why do you wear shorts?’ So I told him that I just liked wearing shorts better than skirts because that was what I was used to in America. He frowned and said “Girls should not wear shorts ever. It’s not good. I do not like it. And why do you wear boy’s shirts? I do not like it.” I was taken aback; no one has openly criticized my wardrobe before. But here, it’s normal to be so open and honest with what you like or dislike. 

5. I have also been asked why I wear a string bracelet around my ankle. I respond by saying that it is a friendship bracelet for my best friend and I to wear. However, here in Haiti it means something much different! Apparently, it’s a symbol of voodoo or devil worship to wear an ankle bracelet. Needless to say I will be taking it off my ankle and wearing it on my wrist for the rest of my time in Haiti. 

6.The Haitian culture is very open with everything. For example, my coworker Amy told me this story a few weeks ago. A girl in her class missed school. Ms. Amy asked the class if they knew where she was. A young man spoke up and said that the girl missed class because she was constipated. Ms. Amy was very taken aback to say the least! In America we don’t ever share that much detail with others, let alone the whole class!! For another example, I was pretty sick this last week and missed two days of school with a stomach bug. When I returned, one of the male teachers asked me if it was time for my menstrual cycle. Naturally, I turned blood red and sputtered and was totally awkward. But here, it’s nothing but normal. Most Haitians that go to school here grew up in a one room house- mom and dad and brothers and sisters all sleeping in one room. They are very comfortable with their bodies and bodily functions. 

7. The Haitians here have picked up on some random American sayings and use them ALL THE TIME! Truly. I’ve never heard any American say ‘truly’ as much as I hear Haitian students say it. Another fan favorite is, ‘it is not true!’ instead of simply saying ‘nuh-uh’ or ‘No!’ or ‘I didn’t!’. I love listening to these kiddos with their heavy accents and funny sayings. Truly! 

8.  Haitians are very amused with arm fat (or as my good friend Makenzie has so lovingly named them- bat wings). They love to come up and poke my arm to watch my arms jiggle. I’m 90% sure this is because they have about zero body fat on their own bodies and 10% because they’re kids and love to make fun of old people :) 

9. Speaking of Makenzie- apparently it’s a boy name here! The kids are very amused when I tell them that it’s a girl name back home! 

10. Don’t even get me started on the names here! American teachers- you have no room to talk about all the crazy names and spellings you get in your class until you have a room full of kids named Emiel (em-ee-el), Ludjer (lee-jay), Keymderson (kim-der-son), Tcharli (charlie), Roseguerline (rose-girl-leen), and Bergeline (bur-ge-leen). Even the kids who look like they have typical American names have a Haitian twist- Richardson (Ri-shard-son) and David (Da-veed). It’s taken me a month and I STILL mess up their names! In my defense though, they struggle to say Brittany. I’ve gotten Miss Bryn, Miss Bwitt, and Miss Brit-Ta-Knee. The good thing is we can all laugh at our mistakes together!! 

That's all I could come up with at the moment! Please know these might not apply to all Haitians, I don't want to be accused of wrongly stereotyping people. These are just some of the differences I've noticed in the past month or so! If you have any questions, let me know by commenting below and leaving your name or just message me on Facebook! 

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.... You are serving the Lord Christ." ~ Colossians 3:23-24

Old MacDonald and Apples :)

My heart is so full! Praise God for His amazing, unfailing, unrelenting love! This week has been full of really tough work for everyone at CLS. I have set up my new classroom, met with each child individually, helped them set goals and introduce them to my rules, and made lesson plans for each child individually since they are all at such different places in their education. It’s hard. And I am so tired. But, God rejuvenated my spirit today.

            Today after dinner, I walked to the orphanage. The gate was open, so I let myself in. Immediately, I had five, small, brown bodies tackling me. “Miss Brittany, Miss Brittany!!” they all yelled. I picked each one up and gave them the biggest bear hug while twirling them around. After each one had their turn they ran away to play and I walked over to the other half of the yard and was greeted by more children, more hugs, more kisses. My mood was already starting to brighten. Then, my sweet Magdala came up to me and grabbed my hand.

 “I start your school tomorrow??” she said with a giant smile on her face, her dark eyes curious yet excited.

“Not tomorrow, but after three sleeps you will be in my class,” I told her. Man. You should have seen her eyes light up.

“Three sleeps??” Another huge smile. “And we get apples??”         

Here’s a little backstory. I sat down with Katelyn, the house mom for the kiddos at the orphanage (all my students are orphanage kiddos) and asked what they would like for a reward if they behave and do their work. A popcorn party? A movie? Popsicles? No, she told me, take what you’re thinking and scale it way back. Try apples first. I thought, apples?? As a reward? No kid wants that! But I trusted her. During my one-on-one meetings with the kids, I told them that if they met their goals that they created they would receive an apple. Again, you should have seen their eyes light up. It was like I had told them they were going to Disney! “A whole apple?? For me to eat?!”  

So anyways, back to my story. Magdala asked if we would have apples on Monday and I reminded her that we only got apples when we completed our goals. She recited her goals (to learn ABC’s and 123’s and her shapes) with that massive smile on her face and then proceeded to recite the class rules to me. She told me she was practicing raising her hand because she wanted to have good behavior so she could get a whole apple all to herself J Next, Vidlon came up. “We have your school tomorrow??” Our conversation went much the same as Magdala’s and he ran away with a smile on his face. Not three minutes later Herode came up- “Me have your school tomorrow??” By now I was more than encouraged. These are the three kids who, when you ask how their day at school went, always say ‘bad’. And here they are asking to come to my class! Vidlon even asked if we could do school work after the movie tonight! I told him to wait till Monday and he was legitimately upset. God is doing amazing things and we haven’t even started school! I pray that they keep their enthusiasm for school after we begin.

After all seven of my kids came up to ask when we were starting school, I began to help Katelyn and Ashlie choose a movie for the kiddos. Unfortunately, the power went out, so we couldn’t watch one. All the kids at the orphanage were really bummed and the mood kinda killed my happiness about school starting Monday. I walked over to the steps and sat there alone for a moment. It didn’t take the kiddos long to find me. Vidlon came up to me and sat in my lap, while Magdala snuggled by my legs. We sat like that for a moment before Vidlon started singing “Jesus loves me” and Magdala and I joined in. Then we enthusiastically moved into “The B-I-B-L-E”. We sang and clapped and danced for over a half hour, running through every song we knew from The Wheels on the Bus to Feliz Navidad (hilarious to be singing in the middle of Haitian summer when it was at least 85 degrees though the sun had set hours ago), and even some we didn’t! I taught them the Hokey Pokey and they taught me a song about Jesus that I still don’t know the words to!! Ha!!

During that half hour, I was the happiest I’ve been in a long time. We were sitting in the complete dark with no power, no phones, no television, no music, singing our hearts out. Magdala put on a real show for us, getting out her air microphone and squeezing her little eyes shut while belting out the words, hand raised high in the air.  They loved singing Old MacDonald and choosing the animals he had on his farm. Let me tell you, that farm was more like a zoo!! We even got a couple of the older kids to join in when we started singing Baby by Justin Beiber and Do You Want to Build a Snowman from Frozen!

Here’s the really cool part. Earlier this afternoon, I text my best friend at home and said, “You know what I really miss? Singing.” I used to sing all the time at home- in the car on the way to school, in the privacy of my own room, while I washed dishes, during praise band practice….  I sang a lot. Here, I share a room and a bathroom and our walls are extremely thin. I haven’t sang hardly at all since being here and I missed it. I have no doubt that God heard me when I told my friend that I missed it. He knew that singing brings me joy and He allowed me a special time tonight to sing with my students. He knew my heart was tired and I was nervous about school starting, wondering if I had enough work for the kids to do and how I was ever going to pull this special education classroom together. He knew. He knows. And He sent me blessings in the form of two six year olds. My heart is so full :)

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.... You are serving the Lord Christ." ~ Colossians 3:23-24

Baby Feeding and the First Week of School

Bonswa zanmi mwen! (Hello my friend!)

Where do I even start?  I’ve been in Haiti for two weeks now; some days it feels like I’ve been here a lot longer and some days it seems like I just arrived. The days here seem extra long- we wake up anywhere from 5:30-6:00 and don’t go to bed until around 10:00. I often joke that the days feel like two days because the time seems to go so slowly! We have no distractions here- no wasting an hour or two on Netflix or Pinterest because the wifi is too slow, no watching mindless television. Some days, this is a great thing. It allows us to bond with each other or go down to the house (the nickname for the children’s home) and bond with the children. I get so much grading and planning done in the afternoons because nothing else is competing for my attention. Some days, no distractions can be incredibly annoying. Some days I think, I’ve been doing school all day and the kids drove me nuts. I just want to sit down and watch some New Girl or Once Upon A Time, or skim Pinterest for craft ideas I never intend to complete. Then I remember that I’m in Haiti and I don’t have that luxury anymore. That’s when I pick up my guitar or a book to read. Speaking of books- I’ve already read the ones I brought with me. Does anyone have any suggestions of awesome books to read??

            Since I don’t really know where to begin with all the stories I have from this last week, I guess I’ll start at the most logical place- Monday. School didn’t start until Tuesday, so we teachers had all day Monday to prepare our classrooms and plan for the first week of school. Since I don’t have my own classroom, I basically had a free day. I chose to spend the first half going with Katelyn (the “house mom” down at the children’s home) for the baby feeding program. Every week day, Katelyn goes to the Ravine to feed babies under the age of three. How do I describe the Ravine? Imagine Haiti in your mind for a moment. Most likely, what you’re imagining are small, one room houses with dirt floors and tin roofs all crowded together in one location. You’re probably imagining people milling around, cooking on open fires. You’re probably imagining trash lining the streets and alleyways, children running around in bare feet. This is the Ravine. I haven’t seen anything like it in either of my two trips to Haiti- in fact, it’s the stereotype that I have been trying to discourage. The Ravine is so extremely poor. A lot of my students that I will be teaching this year come from the Ravine- it was definitely eye opening to see their living conditions. These mothers of young children struggle to find adequate food for their babies. As a result of poor nutrition, the brains of these children are underdeveloped, which creates a numerous amount of disabilities. The hope of the baby feeding program is to provide the mothers with access to vitamins and nutrients that the brain needs in order to benefit the children.

            Anyways, I went with Katelyn, a Haitian man named Jude, and my friend Michelle to the baby feeding program. We walked to the ravine and met our first of three groups of mothers and children. They walked up to us with cans, cups, and bowls which we filled with a slice of avocado, a peanut butter sandwich, a vitamin, half of a hard-boiled egg, and a scoop of peanut butter than had been mixed with baby formula containing important nutrients for young children. The mothers were so thankful and stayed to chat with Katelyn and Jude. Michelle and I don’t know Creole yet, so we just stood and watched. Though I couldn’t understand what was being said, I could tell that the mothers were thanking Katelyn and she was checking in to make sure that everything was okay with them and their babies. I was in awe of these sweet, smiling babies and the lengths their mothers were willing to go to by enrolling in a nutrition program and walking to the same stop every day to get their children food. I wish I could go with Katelyn to feed the babies every week! Too bad it happens during school times!

            Tuesday was the first day of school. As with any first day, it was CRAZY! I have been assigned to teach 8 classes this school year- 2^nd Grade Reading, 2^nd Grade Math, 3^rd Grade Reading, 3^rd Grade Math, 4^th Grade Reading, 4^th Grade Math, 5^th Grade Reading and 5^th Grade Math. Talk about a workload! Since I have subjects in a variety of grade levels, I don’t have the luxury of having my own classroom. I have a little pink bag that a fellow teacher, Tammy, let me borrow. I carry all of my papers, textbooks, and supplies from classroom to classroom with me. I’ll be honest, at first I was a little disappointed. I had hoped and dreamed of my own classroom, my own rules, my own 15 to 20 students. However, throughout the first week God showed me that by following His plan and teaching 8 classes I have the unique opportunity to love on and witness to not just 20 students, but nearly 65 students! God is so good!!!

            Each day begins at 7:00 with a teacher meeting. Haitian and American teachers alike meet in a classroom for our daily devotion. Mr. Patrick plays a song on his guitar and we all sing along- first in Creole and then in English. I imagine that this is what Heaven will be like one day. A large variety of people worshiping God in all types of languages! It’s beautiful and one of my favorite parts of the day. Then, Mr. Richard (not pronounced Richard like in America, but Ri-shard) shares a message with us from the Bible. This week, we’ve been talking about Galatians and how we are free from the Old Testament Law thanks to the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. At 7:30, the students arrive and line up according to grade level. In Creole they sing ‘How Great Thou Art’, followed by a prayer and the Haitian National Anthem. They are dismissed after the national anthem to go to class. I love to stand where the large school yard narrows to a smaller hallway of sorts (the classrooms are under the shelter of a roof, but the “hallways” are out in the open, so it feels weird to call it a hallway.) Anyways, I like to stand there and greet every student as they pass on their way to class. There is nothing like seeing 300 smiling faces and hearing 150 good mornings!!  

Tuesday and Wednesday I spent the day watching the Haitian teachers of the classes I will be teaching. I watched how they spoke to the children, how they started the day, how they handled breakfast and lunch, water breaks and bathroom breaks. I watched how they taught the subjects that I would be teaching. After all, this is my first year teaching and though I have been trained how to be a good teacher, I haven’t had a whole lot of practice. After each class, I spoke with the teachers to see what time would be best for me to enter their classroom. Finally, by Thursday I had a schedule nailed down. If you know me, you know finally having a schedule made for a great day!!! Thursday, I began teaching. Let me tell you- it’s A LOT harder than it looks!!! Even with all the training and experience and professional development that student teaching brought me, I still struggled. Well, I still am struggling. I have no idea where typical second, fourth and fifth grade students should be in math or reading. Thank goodness for my good friend Google! I was able to use the internet to pull up some timed math tests and some reading passages that I used to test the students to see their abilities, which I felt was a good starting point.

Things are starting to settle down a bit now that we have all gotten into a routine. The children are becoming more used to seeing me every day. The blanc (white person) is less of a novelty and now they realize I am here to make them learn! I only have 30 minutes per grade level for math and 45 minutes for reading. There is so much that I have to squeeze into that 30 or 45 minutes! The kiddos know by now that when I come in the classroom, I mean business. We work hard!!!

Some other fun facts about school- each student pays $10 to get two t-shirts that are the uniform for school. The parents must provide pants/shorts for the boys and skirts for the girls. This is a struggle for a lot of the parents. As part of the school fees, students receive two meals a day- breakfast and lunch. The cooks bring the meals directly to the classroom and the students eat at their desks. When they are finished, a student takes all the metal dishes to the kitchen where the cooks clean them. In each room there is a water jug. All the students in the classroom share the two cups provided.

I want to leave you with something that I feel is so important. These kids are just like any other group of kids. Yes, some come from the Ravine and are extremely poor. Yes, most of them have seen more in their short 10 years of life than I probably ever will. But they’re just like kids in America. Jeffly, Gesner, Junior and Ludger are the class clowns in 4^th grade. They love to be silly and make their classmates laugh. I’ve learned I have to be stern with them. Sebastien is an amazing reader and Derlens is a math wiz! Emeil is very advanced for a second grader and I often have to find more difficult work for him because he finishes his addition problems too quickly. Misline and Rosemarline love giving and receiving hugs. Nickellange falls asleep in almost every class if you don’t stay on her. Most of my students are hard workers but as with any class there will be a few that don’t enjoy school and don’t want to be there. Every student wants a high five or a fist bump when they have done something correctly. When I point out that Wenshelove got the answer to 3+4 correct, seven other hands fly in the air and I hear a chorus of voices yelling, “Me too!! Me too! I got that too!” and I proceed to walk around the classroom to give pats on the backs to everyone who got the right answer.

The point is, my students are just like students in America. They are mischevious and sneaky. They forget homework. They try to make excuses and are constantly trying to figure out how to get out of class or working. They want love and affirmation from their teacher. Sometimes, they have really good days, like today in my 3^rd grade reading class. Sometimes, they have really terrible days like yesterday in my 3^rd grade reading class. But they are normal kids. They don’t want to be pitied for their living situations. They don’t want you to feel bad for them because they leave their house at 4:00 in the morning to get to school on time at 7:30. They are happy and content with the life that they are living. They praise God every morning and every afternoon for their blessings! I just don’t want you to read my blog and think, oh those poor things! They might be poor materially, but spiritually they are SO rich!

I am so thankful to be able to be here in Haiti. Some days are really tough and I just want to curl up on my bed and sleep for the rest of the day. It can be so hot here that you just want to spread out and try to move as little as possible. I don’t think that I’ve stopped sweating the whole day today, even as I write this at 8:30 at night with a fan blowing on me. But most days are full of joy! I wake up in the morning to a beautiful sunrise right outside my door. I work at a school where we begin and end the day with prayers to our Lord and Savior and where I can read a Bible Story as part of my lesson. I get countless hugs every day and a chorus of ‘Thank you Miss Brittany’ when I leave the classroom. After school, I get to go to the house where I get to love on my favorite Haitian baby, Jean Wilson. I get to switch roles from teacher (and to my students, slave driver) to the fun American. We play with rocks, with plastic bags, and with a beat up soccer ball. I cheer the kiddos on as they do cartwheels or race around the yard. I let them play with my hair and laugh with them as they make silly faces for my camera phone. I love my Haitian life! Thank you God for allowing me to be a part of Your amazing plan here in Haiti!

Stay tuned for a new blog post, hopefully coming soon, that talks about my first tap-tap ride, the Haitian grocery store, and our beach trip!! Thank you to everyone for your prayers and encouraging messages! It means so much to have you all supporting me!

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.... You are serving the Lord Christ." ~ Colossians 3:23-24