I know, I'm due for an update. (understatement of the year!) I like to say there's a bit of a time warp in Haiti. Sometimes there is so much going on it's practically impossible to believe a full 24 hours hasn't passed. And other times you blink, and suddenly it's the middle of April!
Lots of great things are happening, and I promise to get back into the habit of blogging about them. In fact, I've penned another blog for just such an ocassion! I'm starting a new adventure as a Barefoot Books Ambassador. You can hop on over to http://barefootintheclassroom.blogspot.com, follow me there, and keep with all the happenings related to my adventures with Barefoot Books in the classroom.
Happy Spring and Happy Reading!
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Saturday, November 24, 2012
The Misadventures Of Baking In Haiti: Thanksgiving Addition
Thanksgiving is my favorite family holiday. I can still count on one hand the number of times in my life I have not been with family on Thanksgiving. One of my all-time favorite Thanksgiving dishes is green bean casserole. It has been a staple of our family feast, and I started making it myself in recent years, so naturally I decided it was necessary part of Thanksgiving in Haiti, which was hosted by the incredibly hospitable, and amazing John & Beth McHoul. Wednesday, I "ran" to the store for the ingredients. There are only four, so I figured I could be in and out in no time. But, that turned into "Haiti time"... It's possible to find many typical American items at the grocery, but just because you saw it last week (or yesterday) does not mean the same store will have it today, when you really need it. And IF you find it, it's likely to cost 25-30+% more than it would in the US.
So, here's what I needed:
4 cans of green beans
3 cans of cream of mushroom soup
1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese
1 can of french fried onions
Green beans and shredded cheese where found in abundance, so I was hopeful as I scoured the shelves for the other two in ingredients. In the soup aisle, they had cream of EVERY kind of soup, EXCEPT mushroom, so I had to make a quick decision about which one substitute: cream of onion won the "eeny meeny miney moe" game. There happened to be canned mushrooms at the end of the aisle, so I threw those in for flavoring. (even though I am not a fan of eating fungus...but that's another story.) I asked one of the employees who spoke English if they had french friend onions, and thankfully there was a picture on the green bean can label, or I may have been there all day trying to describe in my broken creole, exactly what they were. No such luck. But, at the end of the aisle, where they would have been, there were cans of bread crumbs, so I snatched one up to use instead. $57 later, I had everything I needed for my "easy" Thanksgiving side dish (plus a new frying pan, because frying eggs in a pot is bit complicated...)
Thursday I taught til 12pm, and had exactly one hour to change clothes, mix the ingredients, and get them in the oven to cook before my ride came to pick me up at 1:00. Everything was mixed and put in the pyrex ready for the oven, when, wouldn't you know, NOBODY can figure out how to light the inside of the oven I have been cooking on. Twenty minutes and 3 people later, I asked Edelyn if I could please use the oven in her kitchen, or it wasn't going to be ready in time. Miraculously, I was dressed and ready to go, and the casserole was out of the oven, just as my ride arrived.
I made a public disclaimer before dinner since I had no idea how it would actually turn out, but at the end of the feasting, there was only a small serving left. I'm happy to say that my 2nd mis-adventure of baking in Haiti was another success! :) (and I'm also happy to report that the missing "cooking gene" that runs in my family has seemed to have found it's way into my DNA.) ;) I'm thinking about starting a cooking blog on all the recipe successes, substitutions, and disasters when the "Haiti" ingredient is added...it might be useful for someone, if for nothing else than a little a bit of comic relief!
Happy Thanksgiving!!
So, here's what I needed:
4 cans of green beans
3 cans of cream of mushroom soup
1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese
1 can of french fried onions
Green beans and shredded cheese where found in abundance, so I was hopeful as I scoured the shelves for the other two in ingredients. In the soup aisle, they had cream of EVERY kind of soup, EXCEPT mushroom, so I had to make a quick decision about which one substitute: cream of onion won the "eeny meeny miney moe" game. There happened to be canned mushrooms at the end of the aisle, so I threw those in for flavoring. (even though I am not a fan of eating fungus...but that's another story.) I asked one of the employees who spoke English if they had french friend onions, and thankfully there was a picture on the green bean can label, or I may have been there all day trying to describe in my broken creole, exactly what they were. No such luck. But, at the end of the aisle, where they would have been, there were cans of bread crumbs, so I snatched one up to use instead. $57 later, I had everything I needed for my "easy" Thanksgiving side dish (plus a new frying pan, because frying eggs in a pot is bit complicated...)
Thursday I taught til 12pm, and had exactly one hour to change clothes, mix the ingredients, and get them in the oven to cook before my ride came to pick me up at 1:00. Everything was mixed and put in the pyrex ready for the oven, when, wouldn't you know, NOBODY can figure out how to light the inside of the oven I have been cooking on. Twenty minutes and 3 people later, I asked Edelyn if I could please use the oven in her kitchen, or it wasn't going to be ready in time. Miraculously, I was dressed and ready to go, and the casserole was out of the oven, just as my ride arrived.
I made a public disclaimer before dinner since I had no idea how it would actually turn out, but at the end of the feasting, there was only a small serving left. I'm happy to say that my 2nd mis-adventure of baking in Haiti was another success! :) (and I'm also happy to report that the missing "cooking gene" that runs in my family has seemed to have found it's way into my DNA.) ;) I'm thinking about starting a cooking blog on all the recipe successes, substitutions, and disasters when the "Haiti" ingredient is added...it might be useful for someone, if for nothing else than a little a bit of comic relief!
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
If You Build It, They Will Come...
I remember the scene well: Spring of 2006, walking into a delightfully cheery little preschool in Morocco, and peeking my head into each classroom as we were given the tour down the hall. The children were eagerly writing, singing, learning, creating. Filling their classroom walls with typical preschool "art". Enter the "orphan class". All the way at end of the hall, 15 little boys, all dressed in ratty white shirts because they didn't have uniforms like the rest of the students, crowded around 3 round tables in a room so small they barely had space to stand up and walk around the tables. Nothing on the walls, no books, no chalk boards, no singing, no art. I remember how it broke my heart. I remember that was the beginning of the dream to provide a place where the most vulnerably children could learn and grow TOGETHER, with equal opportunities and resources: Children with and without families, with and without disabilities, with and without socio-economic challenges. I didn't know how long it would take, or where I would even start, but I could see the vision.
When I think of the earthquake 2 years ago, building is the last thing that comes to mind. But in this story that's exactly what was going on, behind the scenes of destruction, heart-break, and collapse.
"If you build it, they will come..."
It started with relationships. A 10 yr old Haitian orphan living on the streets of Carrefour. A group of Haitian pastors who thought of rebuilding the church first before their own collapsed houses. A Haitian teacher with a kindred spirit... Little by little, the foundation was laid and the dream began to take shape. My five months at the Hands and Feet Project was a bit of an experiment for everyone involved. And although it was shorter than anticipated, I count it as a success for everyone. The toddler house grew from 4 to 9 kids while I was there, and 3 of them had developmental delays in various areas. I didn't go looking for them, they just showed up. And we had all kinds of fun learning, reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?, playing dress-up, and building things.
Even after I left Haiti and returned to Nashville for a few months, the building continued behind the scenes. When I returned to Haiti, I found myself in a new place, with new people, but the dream was still there. I tried hard to envision 20 preschoolers in a room that held little more than a cafeteria lunch table and another table full of computer equipment. Where would they sit? What would they play with? What would they look at on the walls? How would they learn? God had that covered. One of the many wonderful relationships I've built in Port au Prince over the past few months is with David Sandler, the director of Child Hope's transition program, Lighthouse Designs, who along with the young men he is training, built shelves, tables, chairs, cabinets, and a door, to make both classrooms as child-friendly as possible. The team from Greater Works Outreach brought loads of materials donated by friends and family, to stock the cabinets and fill the shelves with developmentally appropriate toys and books.
And then the registration list kept getting longer and the questions changed. Where am I going to put all these children? Do we have enough staff? Will the classrooms be ready in time? Have I lost my mind???
"If you build it, they will come..."
After many a late night, the rooms were put together. The lesson plans were made. (more or less) The teachers were trained. On October 1st, 2012, six and a half years later, the dream became a reality. In God's infinite wisdom, creativity and timing, HE built it, and they came...the orphans, the ones with families, the one who lost his leg in the earthquake as an infant and now walks with a prosthetic leg, the ones who cry all day long because they've never been away from home, the one who doesn't speak or respond to environmental cues, the one with autistic behaviors, who comes to school with marks on her face from an incident the parents can't identify because they weren't home to see it happen. They come, ready or not, to learn, to be loved, and to build the foundation for their own dreams.
When I think of the earthquake 2 years ago, building is the last thing that comes to mind. But in this story that's exactly what was going on, behind the scenes of destruction, heart-break, and collapse.
"If you build it, they will come..."
It started with relationships. A 10 yr old Haitian orphan living on the streets of Carrefour. A group of Haitian pastors who thought of rebuilding the church first before their own collapsed houses. A Haitian teacher with a kindred spirit... Little by little, the foundation was laid and the dream began to take shape. My five months at the Hands and Feet Project was a bit of an experiment for everyone involved. And although it was shorter than anticipated, I count it as a success for everyone. The toddler house grew from 4 to 9 kids while I was there, and 3 of them had developmental delays in various areas. I didn't go looking for them, they just showed up. And we had all kinds of fun learning, reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?, playing dress-up, and building things.
Even after I left Haiti and returned to Nashville for a few months, the building continued behind the scenes. When I returned to Haiti, I found myself in a new place, with new people, but the dream was still there. I tried hard to envision 20 preschoolers in a room that held little more than a cafeteria lunch table and another table full of computer equipment. Where would they sit? What would they play with? What would they look at on the walls? How would they learn? God had that covered. One of the many wonderful relationships I've built in Port au Prince over the past few months is with David Sandler, the director of Child Hope's transition program, Lighthouse Designs, who along with the young men he is training, built shelves, tables, chairs, cabinets, and a door, to make both classrooms as child-friendly as possible. The team from Greater Works Outreach brought loads of materials donated by friends and family, to stock the cabinets and fill the shelves with developmentally appropriate toys and books.
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| Level 1 - Before |
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| Level 1 - After |
"If you build it, they will come..."
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| Level 2 - Before |
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| Level 2 - After |
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| Early Literacy |
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| Creative expression during morning praise & worship |
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