We are well into our summer schedule at Kay Timoun. Like kids in the U.S., kids here like to stay up late at night and sleep late in the morning. So, instead of going to bed at 8:30, the kids are up till after 10:00. Then they sleep till 7 or 8 in the morning, a good break for me! The end of the year report cards showed that many of the children need extra help in school. I have an agreement with one of the teachers to teach Zachary, Love, Jean Marie, Sundrene, and Benjamy every morning, hopefully focusing on math and language, in exchange for money. Most of the kids did well all year and then had a hard time with state exams. I can't speak Kreyol well enough to help them, although I have been giving them math exercises to do. We also have study time every afternoon. At the end of the day I check with everyone on their chore duties and their study time. Their reward for good work is watching a movie on the laptop.
Our kids love to play outdoor games. Their favorite is soccer, called football here. They play every evening until dark. A second favorite is "marbles", thanks to the mission team who gave all the kids marbles. Another game is similar to "jacks", except that the kids play it with stones, no ball. They can play this for hours in the shade of the porch. Then there are the kids who love to play games on the laptop. Benjamy is the star player.
This is the rainy season here in Haiti. We get wonderful downpours that water the garden and we collect water in buckets and huge drums. But there is a downside to those downpours. Water runs into our house, first flooding the girls' bedroom, and then the kitchen. Water also comes through the window casings, runs down the wall and onto the floor. It's a matter of house construction that didn't make provisions for heavy rain, something that's unheard of in the states. The upper verandas also flood but that is less of a problem. Rain water runs down from the mountain forming gullies, even in our driveway. Houses at the bottom of the mountain, across the road from our parish land, are flooded, looking like they sit in a lake. Dedet, who works here, and her family live in one of those houses that are built on the dirt ground, which turns to mud after a heavy rain. Huge puddles remain in all the low spots, a perfect nesting place for mosquitoes.
I'm so thankful that the tropical storm that was threatening us broke up and is no longer a threat. I have my own personal "weather man", my grandson Michael, the meteorologist. Michael is at Florida State working on his masters in meteorology, interning this summer with the National Weather Service. He keeps me well informed. Thanks, Michael. Keep those storms away from Haiti! Let us enjoy our summer!
