I finally feel like I’m finding my niche here in Port-Au-Prince. I’ve been finding it for the past week or so and today I feel at home. I finally have a routine. It may need some tweaking but at least I have something to look forward to EVERY day.
Yeah it’s taken me a while but I’m teaching English classes to the sisters here. These classes are in addition to my English class with T-Jack and working on some engineering stuff. The engineering stuff is still really vague. It looks like I’ll be building a database for the sisters (which I’ve already started).
Geek alert: This gets dorky for a sec. OK so I want to set up a dedicated server that has permissions for remote access. I’ll have admin access while the sisters and teachers here will have two different levels of user access. I may be jumping the gun here but we’ll see. I’m going to have a meeting on this today (or tomorrow or next week… that’s how stuff works in Haiti). Either way, wish me luck.
Outside of that I may or may not be helping them build a website. I’m also the technical advisor to the sisters regarding the engineering designs they get from architects and civil engineers… This will kick in soon but not right now.
And for fun I get to play with the kids. The sisters do an oratory every Sunday with the local kids. I’ll explain this a little later because it deserves its own blog. Needless to say it’s a lot of fun playing with the locals.
I haven’t yet broken into the social circles among the orphans (all girls) here on the compound. This may be due to my poorly worked schedule right now and my slowly improving Creole. Anyway I’ll be working on it and hopefully I’ll be able to emerge as a positive role model for them. I’m really hoping to start some English lessons with the girls.
These are all just hopes and goals and ideas. Doesn’t that make you excited though? It makes me excited I have hopes and goals and ideas again. When I first got here I had a million ideas of how to “fix” Haiti. Since then I’ve lost all of my initial expectations (which is a good thing) and I’m starting to build up new expectations based on my experience here.
That may sound like it shouldn’t have taken me 2 months to figure out but hey guess what I’m slow. Deal with it.
Today I’m good. Even with everything that’s happened. Even when as I start getting to know the suffering around me. Even as I become more and more disillusioned. Through all of this one thing remains true, “If it doesn’t break you it only makes you stronger.”
Haitians may be many things, but they are not weak.
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| And they'll kick your butt! |
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