Monday was the 5th anniversary of the earthquake. The children did not have school as the government declared it a day for reflection and for remembering those who died. We had a prayer service in the chapel here, which the older children planned. It was prayerful and well planned, without being too lengthy. Apparently here in Cap-Haitian people felt tremors but there was not really any earthquake damage.
NPH, the organization I worked with previously, did more to mark the anniversary of the earthquake since they were so directly impacted by it and increased and started programs as a result. Here are some links if you are interested in reading more about NPH since the earthquake: https://www.nph.org/ws/page.php?path=news%2Farchive%2F2015%2Fhaiti%2Fearthquakepositive.php&lang=en
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUd1nZFAu0k&feature=youtu.be
https://www.nph.org/ws/page.php?lang=en&path=homes%2Fhaiti%2Fchildren%2Fjeanfrancois.php
https://www.nph.org/ws/page.php?path=homes%2Fhaiti%2Femployees%2Fsrjudy.php&lang=en
On Monday evening I started attending a Haitian Creole class that was organized for those of us newly working in Haiti with the Sisters of Holy Cross. This includes two young lay women from Canada, a sister from Burkina Faso, and me. The first class helped me to realize how much I have actually learned during the nearly five years since I first began studying Creole. All of the other students are taking their very first Creole class and all of them are fluent French speakers, one knowing no English at all. There are two assistant teachers, one of whom can speak English fairly well. Now, I am primarily working individually with the assistant who knows basic English. This is very helpful because I need someone to help me with pronunciation and point out the mistakes that I am making, and to improve my listening comprehension. Working individually, I can ask for help with the vocabulary I most need for doing therapy with children and adolescents, which may not be the words that the others learning Creole for the first time would most need to know. I am grateful for the class and hope that it is improving my ability to communicate and will therefore improve my effectiveness as a social worker, and enable me to express myself and understand others better in community. The class meets four afternoons a week and will be finished at the end of January. The hardest part is that I have been able to do less clinical work with the children since the course meets after school when I would normally work with them. Also, we always have homework, which is one of the reasons I have not gotten around to updating this blog sooner.
Take care!
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