Today we were back at The Good Shepherd School to see the children and to serve lunch. This was our fourth visit to the school this week and I was eagerly anticipating the smiling, laughing faces that called our names as our truck turned down the alley leading to the school walls. And, as anticipated, there they were! Dozens of children racing towards our truck, reaching for our hands, waiting for our hugs. And then, as we got out of the truck and met our sweet friends, the school gate opened and we were invited in. It was at that moment that I realized that our street friends were not students at the school and were not invited in with us. The gate closed. We went in without them. As we entered the school, we were greeted by students in clean and pressed school uniforms; blue for the primary grades and green for the secondary students. The older students were new to us. They had not been on campus this week as the street kids were because of Karnaval holidays. We recognized many of the younger children and enjoyed spending time with them on arrival. Watching the students in their learning environment was especially interesting. The older students were in science learning about the solar eclipse while the younger ones were learning their multiplication tables. Mr. Thompson (otherwise known by the Trinity team students as Darlin' Marlyn these days) was a guest teacher in a math class! Despite a language barrier, he was able to communicate the fundamentals of multiplication to the young ones.
What hit me hard today was that even within Pele', a poverty stricken community, there appears to be a class system of sorts. There are the 1200 students who attend Good Shepherd, as well as hundreds more who don't. Until Good Shepherd is able to rebuild, there isn't room for additional students. And without private sponsorship for students, through Haiti Child Sponsorship, Good Shepherd can't accommodate additional students. Those who attend Good Shepherd are fed a hearty meal of beans and rice every other day. Today, we served the older students. Tomorrow, we will feed the younger ones. But when will our friends outside of the gate eat? When will they be clothed in school uniforms and shoes? When will they be educated?
Lori, I have sent a few verses that went on Deb's comments... hope you get them
ReplyDeleteLori,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post, and for describing the "outside the gate" phenomenon. It is a painful realization in any relief endeavor that there is only a small subset of society which you are touching, reaching and assisting. Your resources will necessarily limit you from widening your net to include those "outside the gate".
When someone asked Mother Teresa how she coped with the overwhelming poverty of Calcutta she said - "in each face I see, I try to see Jesus".
Maybe a way to approach this is to know that each student you reach in the school has the potential to touch his family and companions outside the gate, and that everything you do for that school is a way of building the Lord's army in Haiti, an army that will need generations to address economic and political challenges. We hope that one day, all Haitians will have a place 'inside the gate' (which is actually a pretty good description of Heaven).
Love and prayers from Cammie and Paul
Thank you for the encouragement, Paul. I am passing the laptop around so that all of the team can read your comment.
ReplyDeleteDear Lori,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this post and for organizing the whole blog. It is quite apparent how quickly you have all come to love the Haitian people, adults and child, alike.
It is a beautiful place, but a sad place, to be sure. The beautiful glimpses into your time there is such a treat for all of us to read about.
May the Lord truly bless you and the others as you wind down your time there. See you all soon....- Cindy
P.S. - Will you all have a sharing time at school? Other than worship? And I just re-read the blog - "darlin' marlyn", eh? that's a good one!
I hope you all have a time for some rest now at the beach. Thanks so much for sharing your impressions and your photos with us. It makes us feel connected to you all and we who are back in NC are all in awe of your courage and commitment in this mission.
ReplyDeleteWith love from Paul and Cammie