Small School Teaching in Haiti

by Jimmy

I was thinking today why I love my job. Teaching at a (very) small school can be quite advantageous.

1. I have the best co-teacher EVER - my wonderful wife!

2. My daughter comes to school with us.

3. The students get individualized attention, support and help.

4. Parent/teacher conferences always involve food, good food, and sometimes swimming.

5. I can farm on the side, and call it a science project.

6. Each student is unique, very, very unique. No generalizations here.

7. Any and every subject is available to teach and learn.

8. The brain can stretch as it tries to comprehend Senior level Physics, while getting asked about what a particular word means, by a 5th grader - who also should be in Senior level English.

9. Flexible time - If we go long on History because the students are still asking questions, we can go long. No bells here.

10. I get to experiment with curriculum. If something doesn't work, I get to change it quickly. If something does work, dances get made up.

Some small school pics...

Small school PE time... Trampoline in the rain.

 Hard at work. Paper snowflakes take a lot of concentration.

 Classmates, friends, brothers, and sisters, all interchangeable.

Noisemaker in training. 

 Dissection 

 Computer class

One of the drawbacks to teaching in Haiti - termites are bookworms as well.

One month to go!

by Jimmy

With exactly one month to go before "THE RUN", I figure I better update better. I ran today for the first time in a week and a half. I contracted some strange skin infection in my left leg, and could barely walk, much less run the past week. Thankfully, we have connections for antibiotics. I only ran half the 10 miles I was scheduled to run, and my legs are complaining, and I am not sure I got anything else accomplished today, BUT I am back running. I cannot say I am excited.

The running had been getting better, and I honestly feel better, and stronger, but I still really dislike running. Especially once it goes into that second hour. I don't even know how it feels going into that third hour. I thought I might be a decently fast runner, but No, I am not.

On the farming front, we had triplets again! Two weeks ago. However, one of the umbilical cords became infected, and between accidentally eating the medicine and the maggots, one died last night. Sad times. I know the Heartline students will be sad to hear it. So we are down to 10 goats.
We have reached full production on the eggs though! I averaged over 14 eggs per day out of 15 chickens last week. Pretty crazy. I will take it though.

Teaching is going very well. So glad our students are learning so much, and still enjoying it. I have a couple ideas running around my head for next semester. Hopefully they will work out in reality as they do in my head.

...And as a dad, awesome! Abbi is incredible. Growing so fast and so smart. She knows how to wave, sign for "more," crawl forwards, say "momma" and "dada", pull herself up, and communicate to a degree. Love, love, love being a dad. That big 'ole smile when I walk in the door sure helps.

Running... one good turn deserves another.

by Jimmy

It has been an adventure the last 24 hours. Yesterday I completed my long run for the week, on Sunday instead of the normal Saturday. Yes, we went to the beach on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Probably most impressive was running after getting home in the dark. But last night, Sunday night, I ran for an hour (just about 6 miles) with only a half lap walk in the middle. Not easy, but I finished.

On my cool down lap, my wonderful wife asks me when I finish, to turn the generator which had been running our laundry for the day, off. I agreed. As we have not had consistent power, and realizing that we are now out of gasoline, I figured it better to get gasoline rather than take the very real possibility that power will not come on during the night, and have no fans in the middle of the night. So, I walk to get gas. I consider it more cooling down from running.

With the generator moved into fan backup position on the porch, I enter the house hoping to sit, and shower. I am then informed that a stench is emanating from our couch. My wife has a considerably more accurate sniffer than do I, but even I can smell it as I get closer. So we have to literally tear the couch apart to get what we expected, a squashed mouse. The arms to the fouton fold down, and when we did that a few days ago, we smashed our unwanted guest. Great.

So out on the porch the fouton goes, to discharge its now maggot infested former inhabitant, and to air out. Finally I get to sit and drink, and rest, and think about eating. It begins to rain. On our porch.

Quickly, we bring the fouton back inside.

Eventually a shower, and ice cream make things better. I have made up my mind that candy and cokes are no longer off limits, since I am burning more calories running. Probably not the best decision, but… I like sweets.

Being an urban farmer, I cannot yet grow my own chicken feed. So this morning I was hoping to take a quick trip to the feed store to replenish my chicken’s feed. I am sure they were cursing me out this morning as I moved them and fed them water and some old rolls.

A quick trip between classes, turned into a 2 ½ hour ordeal. Apparently everyone in the city of Port-Au-Prince had errands to run after a 4-day Haitian holiday weekend. I ended up parking the truck, and taking a motorcycle, and I probably should have just left it parked until later. I was stuck coming back, just across the intersection from my house for the majority of that time. Frustrating, knowing that you can walk the distance 20 times over, but you cannot drive. Frustrating, being passed on all sides as vehicles cram into a space two cars can barely get by, just further congesting the intersection.

Such is life in the city, while trying to farm… and teach. School let out early, due to traffic. Kids need to get home at a decent hour. School in Haiti gets interrupted for the strangest reasons!

Training...

        So, I have been "wanting" to work out and be active for oh, the last year and a half. But with life and a baby and such, it just hasn't seemed to happen. Funny thing is, as soon as we committed ourselves to this half marathon on New Year's Day, I started running. There really is nothing that will make you stick to a training plan like having 13 miles looming over your head only 9 weeks away and having absolutely no idea how you are possibly going to accomplish it.
          I'm not sure if we picked the best or worst week to start running in Haiti, since this last week saw 4 days of non-stop rain due to the tropical storm. The "best" part of this is it was amazingly cool here. The "worst" part of this is, well, who wants to go run in the rain and mud. However, like I said, with 13 miles looming over your head, there's just not any making excuses.
         Our first day running didn't exactly go so well. It actually wasn't the running that was so bad. Three miles was a little easier than we expected after being lazy bums for so stinking long. However, since we have a baby Jimmy and I obviously can't go out and run together unless one of us is crazy enough to add the difficulty of carry an extra 25 pounds to this already seemingly impossible task. Turns out, neither of us is that crazy. (Sadly, strollers are not really an option in Haiti) We had driven out to this field to run, and so I stayed in the truck with Abigail while Jimmy ran, and then he was going to stay with her while I ran....except we never made it that far. While Jimmy was handing over his shoes and watch for me to get ready to run, Abigail decided to take a nose dive out of the front seat of the truck.... Thankfully Jimmy saw and caught her when her face was about an inch away from the pavement. Sadly, she had already hit her head and scraped her face on the metal bar for stepping into the truck. By the time I had any idea something had happened, he had already caught her. Although it could have been worse, it was a pretty bad fall. One of those where she couldn't scream for about 30 seconds, but then once she did she screamed loud and hard for a long time (when she wasn't trying to fall asleep that is). One of those where her forehead grew about 3 inches immediately. So, instead of making Jimmy deal with a screaming baby alone while I took my turn running, we decided to head home. (Don't worry, I made up the distance the next day). Although the first hour was a little scary, Abigail was fine. We figure that a baby's first injury has to happen sometime, and after a first run like that subsequent runs can only get better right? At least they only involve pain to ourselves and not our daughter.
          I ran 5 miles last night. I know this is lame, but I actually don't know if I've ever run 5 miles (at least on purpose) before. Actually I only hope that I ran 5 miles last night - I ran for an hour anyways and according to my estimation of distance I think it was about 5 miles. Since we don't have a track to run on, one thing we're both a little afraid of is that we will get to the end of our training and think that we are able to run 13 miles, and get back to the States only to find out that we are super slow runners and we're still not even close to running far enough. :o)
         One really awesome result of our first run is that a couple days later I was drinking out of my water bottle at school and thinking, man this water tastes really nasty! I drank several times before I decided I could not drink such nasty water anymore. And that's when I remembered.... On the way home from running when by daughter had a head injury and was screaming and I had no ice..... I had pulled off my sock and stuck it in the cold water in my water bottle to put on her head. I had done that several times. Then my water bottle had sat at my house for a couple days unused, and I had forgotten all about it.Until that morning I had seen a full water bottle and rather than dumping it out had simply added ice to the water that had been growing my foot grime for 2 days. THAT's why my water tasted nasty! Sick out!
        So that's the beginning of our training. The cool weather is now gone, so we are sweating buckets whenever we run. 13 miles still seems really far away, but we're just gunna take it one step at a time. If Barry can run 315 miles, surely we can do 13. And if the Haitian women can endure the difficulties they do every single day, well then there's no question - we can do this thing.
        If you haven't done it yet, check out the Run For Life website: http://runforlifehaiti.org/
And if you want to contribute to the good cause of me and Jimmy's pain - I mean, to our attempt to help raise money for the women of Haiti, you can support our run at http://www.razoo.com/story/Jimmy-And-Becky-Burton-Fundraising-For-Run-For-Life-Haiti-Join-The-Team?referral_code=share

Until Next time,
Mamma turned Runner for God's glory

Oh yeah, here's a picture the next day. (We can't display the photo from the night of the inury)

Run for Life!

One man, using his loss to bring gain.

315 miles. 12 days. 

So women in Haiti deliver their babies safely. 

www.runforlifehaiti.org

Most of you probably remember that God graciously allowed me to give birth in Haiti last year at the Maternity Center that is run by the organization we are working for, Heartline Ministries. Our experience there was really incredible. I felt so comfortable with and loved by the staff there. They took the time to talk and share with me, kept careful watch over me and the baby, prayed for me, provided us with everything we needed, and overall just took really great care of me. I always looked forward to my appointments there (as opposed to the few doctors appointments that I had) and could not have asked for a better birthing experience. I share these things, because I am so thankful for the way God used the maternity center to help and encourage and provide for us during our birth. The maternity center does these same things for many Haitian women whose only other option would be receiving no pre-natal care and often dangerously giving birth at home alone. Because of Heartline’s Maternity Center many women are getting to experience Christ’s love in a much needed and practical way. I believe in what Heartline is doing and am very excited that they are planning to build a second maternity center that will be able to serve more women and be better equipped for some of the more difficult medical needs that women face here in Haiti. Beginning a new maternity center is a huge undertaking. RUN FOR LIFE is going to help in this process. We want to invite you to join us in the RUN FOR LIFE journey over the next few months.

Ways you can be involved - Check out the website for details

      1)      PRAY for this event and the construction of the new maternity center.

2)      Donate directly to the Heartline Maternity Center.

3)      Host/participate in a Co-Run or co-event in your area to raise funds and awareness

4)      Stay updated on run details and spread the word!

5)   Lord willing, Jimmy and I will be running in a half-marathon in Allen, Texas on New Year’s Day as a co-run with Run For Life.  You can support Run For Life through our co-run at http://www.razoo.com/story/Jimmy-And-Becky-Burton-Fundraising-For-Run-For-Life-Haiti-Join-The-Team?referral_code=share

Unexpected School Holiday

Apparently, we teachers did not get the memo, that today would be...

BRING YOUR STUFFED ANIMAL TO SCHOOL DAY!

Fruit

Jimmy and I planted some fruit trees in Texas this last year. There's nothing like a big fresh juicy apple or pear. We can't wait to see some fruit on those trees. The only thing is, it will be at least 3-5 years before we do. All fruit trees are like this, they require a long time of tending and growing and waiting before you ever get to see the fruit. I've been thinking some about fruit of the non-edible variety since our return to Haiti. The fruit God produces in our lives tends to grow the same way as physical fruit - slowly!

Some "Fruit" I have been thankful to begin to see lately:

1) Our wonderful daughter! 

This time last year I was sick sick - feeling tired and crummy all the time, and growing as big as a house. Now this year, we are loving the "fruit" of that time of pregnancy, which is our beautiful, super fun and happy girl.

2) A few relationships with Haitian women. 

Last year I knew that although we are spending most of our time teaching and separated from typical Haitian life, I had an opportunity to look for ways to get to know and to love the workers out at the property where we live. With language and cultural barriers, my attempts often felt awkward, and I never really knew how the things I did and said were perceived/received. But nevertheless God gave me opportunities to begin to to know different workers. On one occasion toward the end of the year, I had several of them tell me that they would really like to learn English. So I offered to try and teach them and have been having English class twice a week with 3 women (2 of them pictured below). Seeing God make this happen and continue to grow these relationships has really been a blessing and encouragement to me.

3) Development in our students and in ourselves as teachers.

There has been such an abundance of fruit in this area that I can't even begin to share it. We have loved seeing each of our students really blossom and grow. Grow in motivation and a desire/love for learning. Grow in confidence and ability to try/stick to hard things. Grow in independence and learning to work through some things on their own rather than being spoon fed. Grow in character. Grow in knowledge and understanding. And we have certainly been challenged to grow as we've had to learn new subjects in order to teach them and been able to learn specific ways of working with each student that best fits their individual personalities and strengths and weaknesses. On thing I have loved see the fruit of is teaching our youngest students how to read. Before coming to Haiti I had never attempted to teach someone to read, but I really love it. It requires a lot of patience, but is so gratifying to see the fruit begin to bloom as they are putting letters and words together. So exciting to know all the fruit that this one skill will bring throughout their lives.

 

4) A growing community group!
Last year Jimmy and I felt like we really needed to make an effort to connect with and build community with other believers here. (Although there are lots of missionaries in Haiti it is honestly really rare for them to really have community together and know and support one another. Everyone is really busy doing there own thing and life and transportation in Haiti tend to be difficult, so relationships really take an extra effort here.) That being said, we began a small group of sorts last year that ended up truly being a small group - just us and one other family - and met together most weeks to eat and worship and talk about Jesus and life and just hang out and encourage each other. It was pretty difficult to be consistent and stick to it last year, especially since it never really felt like a real "group". This year it has been really fun to be joined by multiple families and single people who are also in need of community and encouragement. We're thankful for this fruit that God produced after much waiting.

5) Literal, physical "fruit" around the farm.
This is a picture of Jimmy's yard that he has spent an innumerable number of hours working on over the last year. (Breaking up and moving rock and concrete, hoeing up the ground, planting seed, trying tons of different ways to water it- watering, watering, and watering some more, trying multiple ways of keeping it cut....) It is still a work in progress, but really is looking good. Way to go Jim! He also has chickens laying lots of eggs, a goat herd of 8 goats, lots of flourishing lettuce, and other crops in progress. He has put a ton of time and energy into all these projects and it is cool to see what they are producing.

6) Growing knowledge of Creole.
I don't know if this actually counts as produced fruit - it is probably more in the category of fruit that we are working towards and hoping for and waiting to see. But thinking back to a year ago, we are definitely further along than we were then and for that we are thankful. Praying for consistency to water this fruit tree and much grace and help from God that it will actually bear fruit.


These are a few of the things that I am so thankful for as I look back over the last year and see what God has done. They encourage me to be obedient to put in the daily watering and tending of the things God brings along today, even when they look like they're going no where, and to trust that our Father, the good gardener, will bring about fruit in season.

Galatians 6:9
Let us not become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up!