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October 24, 2018By Isabella Blackburn
Just weeks after my high school graduation and 18th birthday I embarked on an adventure to Haiti. I left the United States with two other incredible young women, Kirsten Fox and Rose Tarwater, who were both former classmates of mine. The goal of our trip was to teach conversational English at IPEPH, an exceptional high school located about three hours away from the capitol of Haiti, Port-au-Prince.
In Haiti they speak Creole, and a majority also speaks French. IPEPH is a high school that was founded through the Nashville Cathedral Haiti Mission. In previous years, IPEPH had a program that consisted of two English native speaking teachers coming to Haiti and staying for a whole school year and teaching along side the rest of the faculty during the school year, which Kirsten did in 2015-2016.
After reevaluating the program that was put into place the school and past English teachers felt that to better benefit the students an English Summer Immersion program would be more beneficial for the students, since during the school year students take around 16 classes. The students were starting to worry more about achieving perfect grades instead of actually learning the language.
The idea was that during the school year since the students were studying so many subjects including grammatical English the English Summer Immersion program would allow the students to not worry about grades and just focus on learning how to speak, read, and write English. The new English Summer Immersion Program would be a Monday through Friday four-hour school day for 8 weeks. The students were split into four classes; Lower Level 1, Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3.
Two Haitian English teachers, who were from the area but now live in the United States, taught the Level 1 classes. Rose taught the Level 3 class and I taught the Level 2 class. Since this was the first year the new program had been implemented Kirsten came with us to oversee the program and help the IPEPH faculty with other matters regarding the school. Rose and I rotated between each other’s classes switching between teaching and playing games with the students. Twice a week Rose and I also went to the Level 1 classes, so altogether we were teaching more than 120 students.
Rose and I had been preparing to teach months in advance. We had met with English as second language teachers, researched ways to teach English effectively, and created games and activities to help further teach concepts. With all of this preparation it never hit me until I got there how much harder teaching in Haiti is.
My classroom consisted of a chalkboard, desks, and tons of open windows since there is no air conditioning. Many of the students did not have basic school supplies such as paper and pens so we brought a lot of supplies from the U.S. to the school to make sure all of the students would have basic supplies for the program. Throughout my education I have had technology at my fingertips. There was always Internet access in my classroom, projectors, smart boards, and there was never a day that I had to take into consideration school supply levels such as paper and pens.
Due to my Level 2 class having 45 students I did not have enough textbooks to give to each student so that was another obstacle I had to face when teaching. Rose and I both had to learn how to teach in unique methods due to our limited resources. Every morning when the three of us walked to IPEPH we never knew what we were going to get into. Kirsten used to say all the time “It’s Haiti, you never know what’s going to happen next”.
For example, I was ready to take on another day of teaching when we found out that the electricity went out at the school and so did the generators, which at the time I was like “Well, that’s not big deal. It’s not like we have lights or air conditioning - what could this possibly affect besides the freezer in the teacher room?”
Turns out that without electricity that also meant I had no way to print off the test I was supposed to give the next class period or show a movie in the class after that. I did not have a textbook, worksheet, or test to give my students, so I had to improvise. Another day I walked into my classroom and the chalkboard fell of the wall and then later in the day a chicken followed by her baby chicks walked into my classroom. Things like this happened all the time.
It usually ended up with Rose, Kirsten, and I having a meeting to come up with some last minute activity we came up with. I definitely learned how to think quick on my feet, because with teaching in Haiti it seemed like nothing ever went as planned and getting issues fixed such as electricity or internet access would take weeks.
It felt so ironic that I had just graduated high school and was now a high school teacher with the majority of my students being older than me. During class time the students knew I was their teacher and they wanted to learn, but outside of class I was “Ti La La” (Little LaLa) their friend that they laughed with, played cards with, and exchanged music with. At the end of the day they were high school students just like me that liked to talk about famous people, clothes, and normal teenager things. My students were not just my students they actually became my close friends, who I continue to talk with.
Rose, Kirsten, and I lived in a little apartment twenty minutes from the school located right beside the major church of the area, St. Jean Baptiste. We enjoyed our breakfasts and dinners with the Priests of the church; Father Simon and Father Yvel. I am so fortunate to had been able to somewhat experience the typical Haitian lifestyle and learn so much about the culture.
There were definitely some things that I had never thought twice about before coming to Haiti such as running water. A lot of times I would go to turn on the sink, or shower, or even flush the toilet and realize that there was not water due to a leak or it just had not rained enough recently. We always kept a bucket in the bathroom just in case any of these instances happened.
Another luxury I took for granted was hot water. I have never missed a hot shower more than I did when I lived in Haiti. Living without air conditioning was an adjustment at first but I quickly grew an appreciation for windows and breezes. Even though Haiti does not have as many amenities like the U.S. does, nothing can compare to the natural beauty the country has. Since I lived in the countryside by the ocean I was surrounded by beautiful ocean mountainous views. I was always amazed at the untouched beauty of the land, which gave me a deeper appreciation for God’s creation.
Living in Haiti for about 10 weeks away from everyone and away from the technology of my phone and internet and quick paced society of the United States left me with a lot of free time to self reflect. It made me realize the importance of simplicity. In todays time it is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of things. There is a constant theme in today’s society that more is better.
Haiti has taught me the value that sometimes less is more. While I was in Haiti one of my student’s mother passed away. Her father had previously passed away, leaving my student and her four sisters as orphans. In spite of her tragic loss she continued to come to class with the biggest smile and enthusiasm to learn. This girl basically had nothing but yet she still felt at peace.
Haiti is just filled with such optimistic genuinely happy people that it just rubs off onto others. It made me revaluate what actually matters in my life. I left the United States with a goal to make a difference in Haiti, but it turns out Haiti made a difference in me. Haiti will always have a special place in my heart.
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