We got two new boys! Their names are Wismik and Kevin, and they are 9 and 8, according to their uncle that brought them. Both of their parents died years back, and until recently they had been living with their grandma. After she died, the uncle brought them in, but with 6 kids of his own, he said he wasn’t able to feed them or send them to school.
These kids have NEVER been to one day of school. Thinking of that in contrast to America’s public education system is soo hard. There is so much injustice here. All children should be entitled to an education!! But the problem here is that the government has set up so few public schools that only 20% of schools are public. And we’ve heard that the only way to get your kids into those schools is if you know someone. So the vast majority of kids in Haiti will never go to school, because they cannot afford the $50-$100 it costs for the year. If it were $10 a year, most still could not afford it.
Anyway, the new boys are adjusting very quickly, faster than all the rest did. We think it’s because they’ve been in survival mode for so long, going place to place, with no parents.. to them, this is just one more place you have to fend for yourself. Yesterday, for example, I brought over a bunch of crayons and paper to color with the boys. When we were finishing up, all the boys started helping me clean up. I noticed about half the crayons were missing, and then found ALL of the missing ones in Kevin’s pockets. I think in his mind he thought if he got his hands on them he could sell them for food. He has no idea that 3 meals a day will be consistently available for at least the next ten years! Praise the Lord that He is providing for these boys!!!
We’ve had so much fun doing “new” things with the boys lately. We started having “movie night” every Saturday night, and they love it!! So far we’ve watched many a Tom and Jerry, and Finding Nemo.
We also got to take them to a playground for the first time too! They had never been to one before! When they first saw it, one of them said, “How do we play with that?!” But it took about three seconds for them to figure it out once they started climbing on. J
We have a film crew here right now, which is really neat because they are interviewing lots of children and adults involved with Charles’ ministry here… meaning we get to hear more in depth life stories. It’s really neat being involved with it and helping to translate and so forth.
I’m continuing to do school with the boys at the orphanage, and they are loving it! Yesterday they put their first word together: “boul,” the word for ball. Thankfully Creole phonics are so easy! J
That’s it for now… more to come!
These kids have NEVER been to one day of school. Thinking of that in contrast to America’s public education system is soo hard. There is so much injustice here. All children should be entitled to an education!! But the problem here is that the government has set up so few public schools that only 20% of schools are public. And we’ve heard that the only way to get your kids into those schools is if you know someone. So the vast majority of kids in Haiti will never go to school, because they cannot afford the $50-$100 it costs for the year. If it were $10 a year, most still could not afford it.
Anyway, the new boys are adjusting very quickly, faster than all the rest did. We think it’s because they’ve been in survival mode for so long, going place to place, with no parents.. to them, this is just one more place you have to fend for yourself. Yesterday, for example, I brought over a bunch of crayons and paper to color with the boys. When we were finishing up, all the boys started helping me clean up. I noticed about half the crayons were missing, and then found ALL of the missing ones in Kevin’s pockets. I think in his mind he thought if he got his hands on them he could sell them for food. He has no idea that 3 meals a day will be consistently available for at least the next ten years! Praise the Lord that He is providing for these boys!!!
We’ve had so much fun doing “new” things with the boys lately. We started having “movie night” every Saturday night, and they love it!! So far we’ve watched many a Tom and Jerry, and Finding Nemo.
We also got to take them to a playground for the first time too! They had never been to one before! When they first saw it, one of them said, “How do we play with that?!” But it took about three seconds for them to figure it out once they started climbing on. J
We have a film crew here right now, which is really neat because they are interviewing lots of children and adults involved with Charles’ ministry here… meaning we get to hear more in depth life stories. It’s really neat being involved with it and helping to translate and so forth.
I’m continuing to do school with the boys at the orphanage, and they are loving it! Yesterday they put their first word together: “boul,” the word for ball. Thankfully Creole phonics are so easy! J
That’s it for now… more to come!
wide eyed at the playground :)
learning to ride a bike! the boys take turns pushing each other :)
this kid's laugh is INCREDIBLE.
playground fun!
jay and i with all the boys
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