God could not have blessed us with a better or more
fulfilling first day at Bon Berger! After months of planning and emailing
Pastor and discussing how to establish a relationship between two countries,
two schools, and people who speak two different languages, today we saw all the
barriers fall down in the first thirty minutes. Our day was filled with: joy,
laughter, singing, conversation, questions, dancing, acting, learning and
speaking Creole. Relationship has been established.
We arrived early so that students would have a chance to see
the campus. We walked around, shared hugs with students we remembered and Mrs.
Isbell popped in with a little French conversation into many of the classes. We
were thrilled to find the computer lab that POPCS supported last year up and
running and even got to see the students using the computers today.
At recess, all of the students, from grade school to high
school gathered to welcome us and we shared with them our greetings and our
purpose for traveling here. We presented the banner that was designed and
painted by our team members Courtney and Zack. When we revealed it, there was a
collective sigh of amazement from the students.
After this, we began to work only with the 11th
and 12th grade students. We had designed an ice-breaker name game that
would help us to learn their names (knowing they would already know each other’s
name). It was a challenge! We were learning names as Wilens, Wydline, Largeat, Seide, Kettia, Markelly. But
it was also incredible fun. There was so much laughter in the room that you
could literally feel the culture barriers beginning to fall.
The team made a very intentional decision that we would
follow this with an activity where these students would take the opportunity to
teach us Kreole. We want this trip to be about relationships and the team was
very decided that our goal is to show that we care and are curious. We designed
an activity where the Haitian students were given a scenario (i.e. an older
brother giving advice to a younger sibling, etc.) And then they would be asked
to write a brief conversation or dialogue in Kreole. We would then practice our
Kreole with our students who would coach us and help us. We presented our skits
to the group. What a riot it was and the Haitian students seemed to absolutely
love our attempts at Kreole and certainly had no trouble laughing at us as well!
For lunch, our team ate in the classrooms with the students
as they do each day. We shared rice ane beans with a tomato sauce. Our POP
students were TREMENDOUS at chatting and visiting throughout the meal . In
fact, afterwards many new friendships were forged between our students and
their’s.
The afternoon was filled with visiting, painting and community-building.
Our students helped to paint the interior of the church alongside Haitian
students. Mrs. Isbell taught English classes for other older students allowing
them to ask questions about English and the questions were deep! Mr. Weiss
spent much of the afternoon with his “video team.” He worked with a teacher and
four students to teach video skills and to present them with a few cameras as
an opportunity to film school and church events and also as a tool for our POP
students to connect with Bon Berger in the future.
At the
end of the day, we are exhausted! But it was a remarkable day because everyone
found a way to engage – music, technology, language, etc. It was beautiful to
watch a our team worked together in the days and weeks before now – preparing,
planning, and even last night in devotion’s brainstorming and revising. And
today, each student was bold and
creative in seeking out ways to communicate and demonstrate Christ’s love
without language. One student remarked to Mrs. Isbell, “This has been a truly wonderful
day.”
We have
been so blessed by your prayers and have been strengthened by them! Thank you
for this! We are so grateful for the team that is here. We, Mrs. Isbell and Mrs.
Weiss, have been reflecting often on the way that this team supports and encourages
one another and how each student is really gifted in a distinct way. For this,
we are so grateful and so excited to see what tomorrow and the coming days have
to bring. Gloria a Dios!
Mrs. Isbell and Mrs. Weiss
For photos from today, please visit the POPCS' facebook page found here.
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