Thanksgiving, Snapshots, & School:Tout Bagay Vini Ansom

It’s been nearly 4 months since I moved to Haiti! I need to get more regular at this blog update thing. J

This post has ended up being a combination of thankfulness, visits, and the school campus!

Thanksgiving has come and now it’s the day after the “holiday,” but I still have off school, and I’m still overwhelmed by all I have to be thankful for. Sometimes I just need to name the things so that I remain aware of the thankfulness that ought to dwell in my heart.

Today I spent most of the day in my classroom doing some grading, attempting to squish the rest of Pride & Prejudice into 2 weeks, and getting my ‘schtuff together! I started getting anxious about all I need to get done still before the end of the school year and before I leave for Christmas break. It was one of those moments when you realize certain things on your to-do list took terrifying longer than you’d foreseen, and now you’re left feeling like you got close to nothing done. Well, of course that wasn’t true; I had accomplished some things just not what I’d hoped.

I struggled to mentally recall the verse that talks about being anxious, so that I could recite it in my mind and from my mouth. All that came to mind though was, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Hmmm…maybe more appropriate actually. Eventually the familiar Philippians 4:6-7 passage about not being “anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition…,” the one that I’d needed to memorize in college because of my many anxiety-bound fits, did come to mind.

I didn’t want to choose anxiety in that moment. Yuck! So, instead of looking at my to-do list and freaking out about what I hadn’t done, I grabbed a fresh sticky note and wrote down all the things I had accomplished so far! Thank you, Lord, for letting me be imperfect but calling me forth to move on into better things! I love how you always do that!

A phrase I learned from a dear friend of mine, who is the head cook in the cafeteria here at the school, last night at our community Thanksgiving celebration is: “Tout bagay vini ansom” (Everything comes together.) And so it always does!

Since I last put keys to page on this blog, my friend Beth Anne from Reading, PA has come and gone! She was so sweet to take her weeklong work vacation and fly to Haiti to visit Elisa and me! It was such a precious time, and she is officially my first visitor from home! J We went to college together and both graduated with Englishy minds—hers in journalism and mine in English education. She spoke to several classes while she was here—middle school and senior classes—talking about what she does as a journalist and answering lots of great questions.

To continue in a thankful rant, Beth Anne’s trip was actually made entirely successful on the morn of her final day here! I don’t always get up at the first ring of my alarm, but on that particular day I heard the unmistakable shuffling of the sticky trap that had found its prey. There was no way I was going to fall back asleep. Beth Anne barely opened her eyes as I shone my phone’s light on the mouse’s body so that she could see what she’d come for originally. You see, she writes for the Reading Eagle and was put in charge of writing an article on household rodents. Before she came, she mentioned how she’d hoped to have some stories to talk about after leaving here! God sure is funny like that, huh?

Yesterday I had one of the best Thanksgivings ever. I slept in; had a sweet time with the Lord; Skyped/Google Hungout (??)/telephoned  my good friend Brit (all because the previous options kept cutting out). I rode a moto (public motorcycle) with Elisa down to Epidor to get French fries; had several cups of tea; helped make green bean casserole; spoke to almost my entire family face-to-face via Skype; received a text message from my 93 year-old Grandma; dinned with the finest of folks (36+ teachers, staff, and other great people); had glass bottles of Coke; learned new Kreyol phrases; ate turkey; watched a movie; and had some good dress up fun with Jen to top it all off!

Wow.

Originally this post was going to be about the school because one of my uncles requested I put up pictures of the campus. I finally went around the school today to get some snapshots.

The view beside the high school building.

Stairs up to the high school building.

The high school/middle school building. I get to go up these stairs every day! :)

The parking lot where students' rides wait.

Just some of the beautiful flowers on campus.

Teacher's lounge! I tend to not do my best work in here; there are usually way too many things/people to get side-tracked by/with. 

(Above): Playground (Below): Elementary building

Beautiful entanglement! 

Soccer field. Teams come to play on this field most nights of the week.

Beautiful flowers!

The art building.

The chapel.

"Out back"

Breathtaking bark.

The cafeteria. We always eat outside; there is no indoor seating.
Yay for beautiful weather!

The path I take each and every school day. :)

"It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth." Psalm 74:17a
The net that catches balls from the soccer field from going out
onto the street.

A nice tree that I like to sit under during after school duty
and for our weekly prayer meetings every Thursday. 

For my dad because he loves plants like this!!

 And so these are some snapshots of the world I am in. If ever you have a plane ticket to be spent and a few days to spare, consider taking me up on my hospitality! 

Until we talk again.

~Ash aka. Ti Chou 

The Backpacks They Carry

(I wrote this a month ago at a moment when I was overwhelmed by the emotional weight that students walk around with each day.) 

Backpacks and locker keys,

Pelts from last night’s thrashing,

Young love and heartache,

Betrayal’s knife that leaves a mark, a friendship scarred,

And a relationship broken.

Unfinished essays and tattered textbooks,

Letters never sent, stored within,

Miscommunication left hanging, will it ever clear?

Missed expectations with no clue how to make it right,

Severed heartstrings with no idea how to retie them.

Jokes in back pocket and sarcasm saved up,

Reaction after reaction after reaction

Poured out after days, months, years of disapproval

Received in lashes, phrases, silence, distance.

The things they carry,

I feel them, too.

The things they hold onto,

I feel them, too.

The tension that drenches the air

Like a player’s sweat after suicide drills ordered by Coach.

The hopeless that sways the steady marcher to and fro

Without real clarity on how to regain what has been lost.

Years of memories who can erase,

Hours of tears that no one could face,

“How can you change it?” They may ask;

“How do you expect it to be any different?”

She screams.

I will hold the hand that trembles,

But I cannot hold the heart that aches,

Hope will be restored,

These are the days of restitution,

Pain will fall like scales from a dead dragon,

The war has been fought,

You were bought with a price,

These are the moments of reconciliation.

There has not been a ceasefire, but One has stood in the way,

The bullets of your shame, your tainted name,

Have been renewed, claimed, traded-in:

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

    because the Lord has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

    to proclaim freedom for the captives

    and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

    and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

    instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

    instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

    instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

    a planting of the Lord

    for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins

    and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

    that have been devastated for generations.

5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks;

    foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of the Lord,

    you will be named ministers of our God.

You will feed on the wealth of nations,

    and in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of your shame

    you will receive a double portion,

and instead of disgrace

    you will rejoice in your inheritance.

And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,

    and everlasting joy will be yours.

8 “For I, the Lord, love justice;

    I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

In my faithfulness I will reward my people

    and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations

    and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge

    that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

10 I delight greatly in the Lord;

    my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up

    and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness

    and praise spring up before all nations."

--Isaiah 61

You Make Beautiful Things

My longings grow.

What is there to say but that many of the treasures are felt and seen inside and held behind the eyes.

“You make beautiful things/You make beautiful things out of us…” –Gungor. Anthem, sing on as I reach towards the light. Lord, You make all things pure, true, and right. Thank You for the process that guides me into Your radiant life.

The beauty of old things being renewed can be captured in these homes that were painted in bright array by someone who didn't want to see them all dull and brown post-earthquake. So, he painted them! It makes for a beautiful ascension up the majestic mountain. 

There has been much going on. I feel full, exhausted, excited, nervous, overwhelmed, intimidated, joyous, free, faith-laden, anticipation, expectation, urgency. The past couple of weeks have been full of new journeys and inspirations.

I was given the opportunity to lead, with a group of students, worship for chapel once a month. This past week was my first time leading with them, and it was fun to see them taking part in this leadership role with me. I am looking forward to how the Lord will shape our team this semester!

I’ve officially been teaching at Quisqueya Christian School for over a month! So far, it has been an incredible growing experience. I never seem to know enough or be prepared enough (both of which seem to be impossible, and I have yet to be proven that it’s possible), and although the breakthroughs aren’t always present; I can tell you in this moment that I love it! It took me over 8 hours to grade papers for one class 2 weeks ago. I’m working on lowering that time commitment. It’ll take some time.

My 10^th grade class just finished reading Antigone. My 9^th grade class is working through Silas Marner, and my reading elective continues to grow in making silent reading a successful and productive habit.

The first memorable typo on a student's paper arrived in one of my English classes a few weeks ago...

Yesterday I had my very first parent-teacher conferences. We met from 7am-4:30pm. It was a long, exhausting day, but it was well worth the commitment! I had some great conversations with parents, and it was a pleasure to meet them and talk about how we can best support the young men and women that are in our care. I was blessed by the day! To top off a successful workday, I was asked to be my next door neighbor’s date to an event at the Canadian Embassy (yes, Heather is Canadian). J It was an…interesting…experience… Essentially, we felt like it was an event that people showed up at to be seen. There were plenty of “important” people there from the U.S. Embassy and from other places. It was an experience to tuck away in my pocket.

We went out for burgers at my favorite restaurant after the embassy party. Elisa & I got to add to the wall art. :)

My record of ending the lives of apartment-dwelling mice was upped to 2 last night, somewhere around midnight. It’s not my favorite past-time to drown mice in the toilet, but Elisa and I have decided that it’s a necessary habit in order to preserve our sanity and our food supply. L

Yesterday, a student and parent from QCS took Elisa and I to Apparent Project. It is a retail shop located 10 minutes away from the school that is run by a couple whose children go to QCS. Apparent Project is a nonprofit business that sells handmade crafts made by artisans in Haiti. The two main materials they produce are rolled newspaper crafts and clay crafts (jewelry, mugs, etc.). The business employs 200 heads-of households. They receive orders from wealthy individuals and businesses in the USA. It’s pretty incredible! Check out their website: http://www.apparentproject.org/

The Lord continues to do a work in me, and I know that He’s making beauty come from ashes on a consistent basis. More adventures to come!

Bonus Photos:

Just to show you that Listerine is $13!

Making dinner in the apartment next door.

Narrow is the Path

Here I compiled pictures from various parts of the hike we took today. I was intrigued by the diverse path. It changed often: limestone, grass, dirt, clay, flowers, pavement, etc. I felt it was a spiritual representation of the journeys we are all on. Here is the pictoral journey of the path I walked today as well as a few words at the end inspired by it:

Here I walk, O Soul,

Here I tread.

My feet walk the grounds set before me,

And my heart will follow if it doesn’t precede.

Each step bears resemblance to a change

In my heart,

And I see the marks of a Savior as I

Rejoice in the Way.

Joy, sweet joy,

I will walk in the path You have prepared,

Lo, though the surroundings may change,

And the path become gravel, sand, clay,

Grass.

Here I trek, here I go.

Lead on, Gracious One,

Beckon me to follow,

I am coming!

Week 1 of Teacher-Life

First week of classes! I began on Monday. I am teaching 9^th & 10^th grade English classes as well as a high school Reading/ESL class. I’m co-teaching 7^th & 8^th grade writing classes with a seasoned teacher, who also happens to be married to the director of our school. They celebrated their 24^th wedding anniversary on the first day of school. 

What is it like? It’s hard to describe what teaching at Quisqueya Christian School is like. Students almost always arrive early to school. They hang out on campus until classes begin. Students always stay late after school. Classes end at 3pm, and many students stay behind and hang out with friends, play soccer on the beautiful soccer turf, or converse with teachers. The general role of teachers post-classes, is to meander through campus, connecting with students whenever possible.

On Monday, the first official day of school, I discovered my niche. There were 4 or 5 students gathered around a table, cut out around a stately tree. They were singing and playing ukulele—making up a song based on sentences from their Chemistry books that were lying open on the table. I was so impressed. I sat down and talked for quite some time getting to know a little bit about them. The opportunities are unlike any other I’ve experienced.

Elisa and I got to help out with chapel worship Wednesday morning. All middle school and high school students congregate together once a week to worship and listen to a message. The goal this year is to get as many students involved in chapel worship as possible and to eventually turn it over to just them. I can’t wait!

A weekly Bible study for the teachers at QCS started up Wednesday night. We will be studying Galatians together for the next couple of weeks.

As I open my heart and mind, I am constantly being challenged in the way I view people and the world in general. My prayer is that the Lord would soften my heart and renew my understanding towards His creation; His people. I encountered a few situations this week that led me to see how much I have to grow in the way I see God’s children.

Today I got to hike in the mountains with some of my QCS co-worker buddies. The terrain was beautiful and diverse; the view breathtaking. We could see the national soccer field, the ocean, the airport, and many villages below. We passed mountain goats, bleating and Haitian people, singing. It was a fantastic workout and trek! 

Pictures from the Hike:

Soccer field on mountain range, newly formed. :)

Blessing to you all, and I look forward to sharing more as it comes and as I am able!!