There is a room in the hospital we tend to refer to as "the abandonded room." Unfortunately, it is not the room that has been abandoned, but the children who live there. There is some kind a law that children who are abandoned need to kept for a few months before they can be placed permanently (being abandoned is different than being brought to an orphanage and having a relative place a child in a program.) The children in the abandonded room are not living in a hospital because they need medical care. This week three young children who reside at the hospital, began attending kindergarten classes at the school. On their third day of school I had the privilege of being a fellow passenger during the very short ride from the hospital grounds to the FWAL school. The children were so happy to be going to school, so happy to be in a car, probably so happy to leave the walls the hospital room. Everything the saw seemed to bring them joy. "Gade moun!! Moun!", they would say everytime we passed a person on the road, which means, "look people! People." They would say, "Bon Jou" to pedestrains who could not hear them and then giggle with pure delight. Every time we saw a car one would say, "Gade, Gade machin!!" They were thrilled to see a street vendor selling food; "gade, gade manje, manje!!" The excitement level only rose as the van pulled into the gate of the school, "gade lekol!" as we rolled across the stones on the school grounds they proclaimed, "Gade woch! Woch!" Which means, "Look, rocks! Rocks!"
Their joy was contagious. Sometimes I take the beauty of people and objects around me for granted, and forget to notice all that is gift. (It may be okay, however to take some of the rocks for granite.) They helped me to recongize the beauty. Other events remind me too of the gift of life, people, family and relationships.
Most daily liturgies this week were funeral masses, most who died were victims of cholera. One morning there were three bodies on the floor, all in white body bags, sheets decorated with religious symbolism draped over them. The one in the middle was small, a child of six. The dead child's mother and a couple of other relatives were there. This was not the first child in that family who had died, I am told. The mother wept and wailed loudly much of the time, as is common for grieving family members in this culture. She cried and yelled, calling out for God. At one point during the mass, the mother pulled out an adorable red plaid child's dress and held it up for all to see. This was her child's dress, and now her child was dead. It was as if that mother were saying "look, look" and we did, getting a glimpse of her pain held there in that little dress.
This week I felt immense joy when being directed by children who had been abandoned to look at rocks on the ground, This week I felt deep anguish at the sight of an adorable dress in the hands of grieving mother, whose dead child lay in a white body bag covered by a decorated cloth, on the ground of the chapel.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Updates and musing regarding language
On Tuesday I went with the woman who is responsible for Kay Ste. Anne and another woman who works for Father Wasson Angles of Lights, to visit the twin sister of Katiana, the little girl who died of Cholera a month earlier. After the funeral the family had decided to take the twin sister back and care for her. The family lives in a rural area, in the mountains. As is common in such areas, there were a few small simple houses very close together where extended family lived on the side of a mountain. The child in some ways looks as if she had grown a little and seemed physically okay. Yet, she seemed quiet and sad at the same time. What else though would one expect of a very young child whose mother and twin sister died before she even turned five?
I am glad that at Kay Ste. Anne now in the afternoons a couple of assistant teachers from the school are coming to help with activities. One of the other teachers at the school requested that after school the children in her kindergarten class continue with the same activities they do in the morning to help with reading and writing with the children. Aware that my own cultural values and perspectives were playing into my opinion I tried to explain that they can learn while they are playing and doing different activities in the afternoon. I mentioned that when they are drawing we can talk with them about what color crayons they are using to help them learn their colors. This is a teacher, who I think is very good with the children, committed, kind, and intelligent. Her perspective, reflects the culture in which she was raised. Since I don't know French, she suggested I learn it, since if I help the children learn their colors in Creole, and they will for example say "ble" (which means blue in Creole), and not bleu (which means blue in French) (the end pronunciation of the vowel sound at the end is different with the french having an "r" like sound) ; the teacher insisted that if the children go to another school people will think this was a bad school if they don't use the French pronunciation. She is probably right that there are people in Haiti who judge the quality of a person's education on how well the speak and pronounce French words. I do think if children are to learn a second language it is easiest for them to do so when they are still quite young, so from that perspective I see the value of beginning to teach a second language early. Yet, when I walk by kindergarten classrooms, I do wonder if educationally it would be more helpful for the children to learn basic concepts or colors first in the language they speak the vast majority of the time. When I first started working at the school in the mornings, one day I asked the youngest children their names in Creole some looked confused and started talking about Jemma Pell, but I knew there could not be too many people with that name in the three year old class, (when I was young I went to school with a girl named Jemma, and Pell was the last name of a RI senator, so it could be a name.)While I understand that it is a cultural value here to learn French at a young age, even though I personally don't fully understand or appreicate the importance because of my own cultual bias and educational philosphy, I realize that if I started learning Creole when I was three years old, my listening comprehnsion would be so much better than it is now.
Last night there was a program at Ste. Louie where the older children live. A group came on Friday and taught the children dance, singing, acting, juggling, culminating with a show last night. The children preformed along with the adult professional performers who taught them. It was well done and was actually recorded for Haitian television. Some of the older children from Kay Ste. Anne went over to Ste. Louie to watch the show. They were so excited for a night out! The name of the group is French, although the show was in Creole. Here is a link to the website:
http://www.lesrescapes.com/lesrescapes/PROJETS.html
There still seems to be mystery and speculation around the motivations for the return of Baby Doc last week. We have also heard that Ariside is hoping to return to Haiti as well. Of course you can probably get better information on these things on line or on the news.
My personal news is this morning I made plans for a week long visit to the US next month. Looking forward to that.
Well take care.
I am glad that at Kay Ste. Anne now in the afternoons a couple of assistant teachers from the school are coming to help with activities. One of the other teachers at the school requested that after school the children in her kindergarten class continue with the same activities they do in the morning to help with reading and writing with the children. Aware that my own cultural values and perspectives were playing into my opinion I tried to explain that they can learn while they are playing and doing different activities in the afternoon. I mentioned that when they are drawing we can talk with them about what color crayons they are using to help them learn their colors. This is a teacher, who I think is very good with the children, committed, kind, and intelligent. Her perspective, reflects the culture in which she was raised. Since I don't know French, she suggested I learn it, since if I help the children learn their colors in Creole, and they will for example say "ble" (which means blue in Creole), and not bleu (which means blue in French) (the end pronunciation of the vowel sound at the end is different with the french having an "r" like sound) ; the teacher insisted that if the children go to another school people will think this was a bad school if they don't use the French pronunciation. She is probably right that there are people in Haiti who judge the quality of a person's education on how well the speak and pronounce French words. I do think if children are to learn a second language it is easiest for them to do so when they are still quite young, so from that perspective I see the value of beginning to teach a second language early. Yet, when I walk by kindergarten classrooms, I do wonder if educationally it would be more helpful for the children to learn basic concepts or colors first in the language they speak the vast majority of the time. When I first started working at the school in the mornings, one day I asked the youngest children their names in Creole some looked confused and started talking about Jemma Pell, but I knew there could not be too many people with that name in the three year old class, (when I was young I went to school with a girl named Jemma, and Pell was the last name of a RI senator, so it could be a name.)While I understand that it is a cultural value here to learn French at a young age, even though I personally don't fully understand or appreicate the importance because of my own cultual bias and educational philosphy, I realize that if I started learning Creole when I was three years old, my listening comprehnsion would be so much better than it is now.
Last night there was a program at Ste. Louie where the older children live. A group came on Friday and taught the children dance, singing, acting, juggling, culminating with a show last night. The children preformed along with the adult professional performers who taught them. It was well done and was actually recorded for Haitian television. Some of the older children from Kay Ste. Anne went over to Ste. Louie to watch the show. They were so excited for a night out! The name of the group is French, although the show was in Creole. Here is a link to the website:
http://www.lesrescapes.com/lesrescapes/PROJETS.html
There still seems to be mystery and speculation around the motivations for the return of Baby Doc last week. We have also heard that Ariside is hoping to return to Haiti as well. Of course you can probably get better information on these things on line or on the news.
My personal news is this morning I made plans for a week long visit to the US next month. Looking forward to that.
Well take care.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Anniversary, loss and life.
As some of the offices and classrooms at the Father Wasson Angles of Light school have moved from tents into converted shipping containers, a tent became avaliable for my use when I do the psychoeducational lessons and play therapy. It is a large octagon shaped tent, large enough that the children can sit in a circle for the groups, and contained enough for play therapy. I was very happy about this.
That afternoon, shortly after returning to my little house, I recieved the sad news that a beloved sister in my community had passed away, Sr. Joan Marie. She will be missed a great deal. Her kind spirit and her laughter will always live in my memory. She was buried on Saturday. Please keep her family, and all of us who loved her in your prayers.
On Tuesday night before dusk, a caravan of trucks went from here to a place called Titanyen, where there are mass graves where earth quake victims were buried last year. There on the eve of the anniversary of the earthquake, people from all many nations stood holding candles celebrating liturgy together. As distant fires probably lit to clear brush on fields somewhere burned, I could not fathom, the thousands of people's whose remains lay in the ground there. We had a couple of bodies with us, cholera victims most likely, who after the liturgy was over, were also buried there. Someone told me that since the Duvalier dictatorships, when victims of violene were first laid to rest there, this area has been used to bury people. Every week a group of people go from here to the city mourge to take the unclaimed bodies in attempt to give them a more dignified burial. (If you want to know a little more about information is included in this documentary (http://www.suncitypicturehouse.com/)
The following morning, I went with a large group of people into Portaprince where by the remains of the catheral thousands of people gathered for a liturgy remembering those who had lost there lives last year.
Later that day, there was a mass here. All of the children from St. Anne and St. Louie as well as many of the employees of the hospital gathered. Later that afternoon, at the actual time of the earthquake a small group gathered in the little chapel here for a very touching evening prayer. Somehow, for me in a way that I can't quite describe, the anniversary of the earthquake really felt like a holiday or maybe more of a holyday. My hope and prayer is that the day was somehow healing for the many people who lost so much a year earlier.
It was only days after the earthquake that the Father Wasson Angles of Light Program first began reaching out to displaced children. On Sunday we celebrated its one year anniversary, with a party for all of the children who live at St. Anne and St. Louie. It was an enjoyable event. At the end the children were given presents, some of which I think they were supposed to get the previous week for Little Christmas. These presents seemed not to break quite as easily, as the others, fortuently.
The NPH office in the United States made a video which was released for the earth quake anniversary, showing the programs which were begun or expanded during the past year including of course the Father Wasson Angles of Light program. Here is the link if you are interested. youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQuvQRWUMMH4&h=88b93
Now that the anniversary of the earthquake is over, things seem a little quieter here on the grounds of St. Damien's hospital. The quieter is not likely to apply to Haiti in general, as you may have heard by now, much to the surprise of everyone, we got word last night that Duvalier, Baby Doc, the former dictator had just landed at the airport after spending about 25 years in exile. What does this mean for haiti? M pa konnen (I don't know.)
I also don't kow why this computer is insisting on spell checking this blog in French, even though it seems like it is set to English, so I will assume I have a kind audience who will overlook any spelling errors or typos, and as it is getting late I am not even going to proff read.
Good night! Take care.
That afternoon, shortly after returning to my little house, I recieved the sad news that a beloved sister in my community had passed away, Sr. Joan Marie. She will be missed a great deal. Her kind spirit and her laughter will always live in my memory. She was buried on Saturday. Please keep her family, and all of us who loved her in your prayers.
On Tuesday night before dusk, a caravan of trucks went from here to a place called Titanyen, where there are mass graves where earth quake victims were buried last year. There on the eve of the anniversary of the earthquake, people from all many nations stood holding candles celebrating liturgy together. As distant fires probably lit to clear brush on fields somewhere burned, I could not fathom, the thousands of people's whose remains lay in the ground there. We had a couple of bodies with us, cholera victims most likely, who after the liturgy was over, were also buried there. Someone told me that since the Duvalier dictatorships, when victims of violene were first laid to rest there, this area has been used to bury people. Every week a group of people go from here to the city mourge to take the unclaimed bodies in attempt to give them a more dignified burial. (If you want to know a little more about information is included in this documentary (http://www.suncitypicturehouse.com/)
The following morning, I went with a large group of people into Portaprince where by the remains of the catheral thousands of people gathered for a liturgy remembering those who had lost there lives last year.
Later that day, there was a mass here. All of the children from St. Anne and St. Louie as well as many of the employees of the hospital gathered. Later that afternoon, at the actual time of the earthquake a small group gathered in the little chapel here for a very touching evening prayer. Somehow, for me in a way that I can't quite describe, the anniversary of the earthquake really felt like a holiday or maybe more of a holyday. My hope and prayer is that the day was somehow healing for the many people who lost so much a year earlier.
It was only days after the earthquake that the Father Wasson Angles of Light Program first began reaching out to displaced children. On Sunday we celebrated its one year anniversary, with a party for all of the children who live at St. Anne and St. Louie. It was an enjoyable event. At the end the children were given presents, some of which I think they were supposed to get the previous week for Little Christmas. These presents seemed not to break quite as easily, as the others, fortuently.
The NPH office in the United States made a video which was released for the earth quake anniversary, showing the programs which were begun or expanded during the past year including of course the Father Wasson Angles of Light program. Here is the link if you are interested. youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQuvQRWUMMH4&h=88b93
Now that the anniversary of the earthquake is over, things seem a little quieter here on the grounds of St. Damien's hospital. The quieter is not likely to apply to Haiti in general, as you may have heard by now, much to the surprise of everyone, we got word last night that Duvalier, Baby Doc, the former dictator had just landed at the airport after spending about 25 years in exile. What does this mean for haiti? M pa konnen (I don't know.)
I also don't kow why this computer is insisting on spell checking this blog in French, even though it seems like it is set to English, so I will assume I have a kind audience who will overlook any spelling errors or typos, and as it is getting late I am not even going to proff read.
Good night! Take care.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Kado Kase
School resumed for the children on Tuesday; and I resumed play therapy and groups at the school, and continued activities in the afternoon at Kay Ste. Anne. On Thursday there was no school in celebration of Epiphany. On this day the children from Ste. Anne went to Ste. Louie (where the children over six years of age live) to receive Christmas gifts. There were speeches, prayers, piñatas, and bonbons. Each child was given a Christmas gift. Most of the girls received dolls and most of the boys received toy cars. The children were so happy to open their presents, and enjoyed playing with them much of the afternoon. By the time I left Ste. Anne for the day, I had tried at the request of several children and with mixed results to put limbs back on dolls and wheels back on cars. To me it seemed sad when a new toy got broken only hours after being opened, but while some of the children seemed disappointed, I realized that some of them were not as bothered by it as I would have thought, they did not seem to have my expectation that things not break so easily, after all in many ways they are surrounded by and have known so much brokenness in their young lives.
The population of blahs (white person or any foreigner in Haiti) is dramatically increasing here on the grounds of Ste. Damien Hospital. Groups of medical professionals are arriving to help with Cholera, (now the Cholera hospitals are well organized, volunteers who began planning to come when the numbers of patients were rising, may find that they will be doing other things, as fortunately there are fewer patients.) Other visitors are here for January 12th, the first anniversary of the earth quake. Special liturgies and services are planned for this week. I will tell you more about them next week.
Please continue to keep the people of Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.
The population of blahs (white person or any foreigner in Haiti) is dramatically increasing here on the grounds of Ste. Damien Hospital. Groups of medical professionals are arriving to help with Cholera, (now the Cholera hospitals are well organized, volunteers who began planning to come when the numbers of patients were rising, may find that they will be doing other things, as fortunately there are fewer patients.) Other visitors are here for January 12th, the first anniversary of the earth quake. Special liturgies and services are planned for this week. I will tell you more about them next week.
Please continue to keep the people of Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Happy New Year!
On Wednesday Anne Marie, the provincial (sister in leadership) of my community came to visit for a few days. It was wonderful to see her and to be able to show her where I work and live. She stayed with me in our little house. On Thursday she came to Kay Ste. Anne with me in the morning. I think she was ablet to get a sense of the beauty of the children, the reasons I feel called to work there, as well as the frustrations I sometimes face. While here, she got to experience a daily liturgy which turned into a funeral when a dead body was carried in during the mass. She was able to experience holiday celebrations as well, and people who are at times quite joy-filled even though they are often surrounded and have experienced so much suffering. I think too, she was able to experience the sense of community that exists among the volunteers that are here. On Friday we got a tour of the city, seeing the brokenness of Portaprince, the tent communities which even now seem filled to overflowing in what this time last year were parks and open spaces. We passed the presidential palace and the catherderal, still in shambles as if the disaster had happened days ago. That evening we had a prayer service for the New Year followed by a party on the roof of the former volunteer house.
Anne Marie brought with her greetings, cards, things for the children and a few much appreciated gifts for me (like a hot pot so I can make tea.) I am so grateful. Thank you to all of you who sent greetings, love, donations, stickers, gifts, cards, and notes. I am truly touched by the generosity of so many people and feel supported in my work here.
After Anne Marie left yesterday morning, there was a visitor's day for the children who have family members. It was nice to see some of them enjoying time with thier relatives. New Year's Day in Haiti is also the day in which Independence Day is celebrated. For our main meal here, a pumpkin soup was served which is the tranditional meal eaten in Haiti on this day. It was delicious!
I wish you and your family a happy New Year. Thanks for your support and even for being interested enough to take the time to read this. I have much to be grateful for as this new year begins. Let us see where it will lead, after all when this previous year began I had not imagined that this is where I would be now.
Anne Marie brought with her greetings, cards, things for the children and a few much appreciated gifts for me (like a hot pot so I can make tea.) I am so grateful. Thank you to all of you who sent greetings, love, donations, stickers, gifts, cards, and notes. I am truly touched by the generosity of so many people and feel supported in my work here.
After Anne Marie left yesterday morning, there was a visitor's day for the children who have family members. It was nice to see some of them enjoying time with thier relatives. New Year's Day in Haiti is also the day in which Independence Day is celebrated. For our main meal here, a pumpkin soup was served which is the tranditional meal eaten in Haiti on this day. It was delicious!
I wish you and your family a happy New Year. Thanks for your support and even for being interested enough to take the time to read this. I have much to be grateful for as this new year begins. Let us see where it will lead, after all when this previous year began I had not imagined that this is where I would be now.
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