This week's house building project was extra special, as the group was building a home for one of our very first employees, Elgan, and his family. Typically, we build a small one-room house, but this week was a bit different. As the group from ACC did an incredible job with their pre-trip fundraising, we were able to build a house that is double in size of the standard! For Elgan, his wife, and the five children who live together in their family, this was especially good news and appreciated, as now both the adults and the children would have their own space!
The house building for Elgan and his family was special, but the house blessing was even more so. An emotional group presented an even more emotional family with the keys to their new home after having the experience of working side by side for the week and getting to know Elgan and his family well. Even Boss Len, who was here this past week in Haiti, was moved by the house blessing and the handing over of the keys. Having hired Elgan himself almost 6 years ago, Len has grown close to our employees and staff. Elgan is no exception, and this hardworking man is genuine and sincere, honest, and a man of great integrity. Len kept him on after construction as one of our two full-time painters, but he does so much more in our Haiti Home that he is just like a member of the family.
While our Britsionary group was busy in the mornings on the job site, our children and staff were here all week because of the Easter Holiday. Our children work very hard to get themselves caught up in school to a level more congruent with their age, and we recognize that long days at school and a few hours at home afterwards can be a lot, especially for the younger children. We wanted this week off to truly be a recuperative and restful time for the children, and we wanted them to be sort of reinvigorated for their return to school tomorrow. Daily trips to the beach for swimming, the local park, and community and home visits over this holiday proved to be just what the doctor ordered for not only our children, but our staff as well!
In my previous role as the Program Director, together with Len and Cherylann, we knew that we wanted our children to remain engaged with their families and communities of origin. When we first started, we weren't quite sure how that would take shape. In the early days, we used to invite family members to Be Like Brit to have lunch with the children, but I soon realized the limitations in that approach. Given the typically large sized families and the fact that Haitian society is so collective and communal, I knew that our inviting two or three people from a child's home area was not enough. It was then that we began taking the children out to their communities in groups based on the locations the children came from. We contacted families and alerted them to our upcoming visit, and dozens of people from the communities would turn up at the park or wherever we had arranged to meet just to get a visit in with one of our children. It was always a favorite part of my job, and now that my role has shifted, I enjoy watching our social worker, Madame Gina take this on. Now, I wait anxiously for the children to return from these visits to hear their stories and see the excitement on their faces as they tell me all about the mangoes they got to eat or the sweets that a neighbor might have brought for them. Often, children may return to BLB with a gift for everyone! Most recently, I was shocked when Fredo, Kerby, and Davidson returned from a visit to their grandmother's house with over 100 mangoes and a chicken! Yes, a chicken. I've been told her name is Lucy and I have spotted her once or twice roaming in the gardens...
Another exciting first for us this past week was the creation of and first meeting of the Be Like Brit "American Dinner Night"! One morning while Len was eating breakfast with the children, in conversation he began asking a handful of them what their favorite food to eat was. He was shocked to hear the children respond with "cheeseburger" - especially because we don't serve cheeseburgers to the children! Our Britsionary groups do get a "burger and fries" lunch while they are here, and clearly the children have noticed! Len took this as an opportunity, and what followed was truly awesome! For the top performers in our English classes here at BLB, once per week they will get the chance to have an American style meal separate from the other children in a special area just for them! The catch is that throughout this entire meal, Creole cannot be spoken! Instead, the children have conversations with English-speaking staff and Len or whomever may be here at the time! The children absolutely loved it, and I was so impressed by their conversational English speaking abilities! We know that this will serve as a big incentive to motivate the children to work hard in their English classes for a chance to participate! And yes, don't worry, everyone will get to participate!
Of course today is Easter, and the children have spent much of the day celebrating the resurrection of Christ. This morning, they attended church services, and this afternoon, the children are attending a Easter Concert at St. Francis of Assisi Church in downtown Grand Goâve. They were excited to be invited to participate, and spent much of the day preparing for that event! So much so that they almost couldn't be bothered with the Easter egg-hunt, which I spent a painful hour trying to creatively hide eggs that wouldn't be too hard to find! Either way, the day has been spent in fellowship and in reflection, and I love to see the children so deeply rooted in their faith.
Thanks to the help of our Britsionary group from ACC, the children got to color their own Easter eggs and have them for breakfast the next day! This was a lot of fun, but it was even more fun to see the looks on the faces of some of the children and staff as they wondered why on earth we were painting eggs!
We hope that all of you are having (and had) a Blessed Easter holiday with your family and friends. We will be busy preparing to head back to school tomorrow morning bright and early, and look forward to the next week's adventures here in Haiti! Thank you for helping us help the children of Haiti at Be Like Brit!!!
