Shakinah (or Miss B), our 4th and 5th grade teacher, introduced the drama to us. It was written over 10 years ago by her father, Pastor Pete Bertolero, of the Legacy Christian Church in Fresno, California. But as we began to practice the play with our small group of Haitian students, it soon became evident that this play was written for THEM. It was so rewarding to watch them perform it for the staff and their parents on December 19th, the day before I flew home for Christmas.
Talannie, Lilly, and Stacey, some of the 3rd grade girls, dressed in 'rags' and ready to act their part in the play.
Erwann and Jephte, eager to play it cool on the street...
Eli and Samuel - lookin' tough and talkin' ghetto comes naturally to these two =)
A scene from the beginning of the play ... shortly before the kids break on into some very impressive dance moves during the opening song.
I worked with our second graders to put on a short play of the Nativity story, as found in Matthew and Luke. Illioney read the story from the Bible and Mr. Claudy (their teacher) translated it into Haitian Creole. This was a challenging bunch to work with, but thankfully everything came together in the end. I must admit, they do look quite adorable in this picture ...
But if you had been there in our practices, you would've heard Joseph complaining about everything and everyone under the sun (even going so far as to try talking me into giving him a different "Mary" - he thought that he would do a better job then ... I'm sure he would've, as the girl he suggested was his crush!). You also would have seen an 'angel of the Lord' that could put the fear of God into ANY poor shepherd, just by the glares she would give them (other girls in the class that she doesn't always get along with, to put it nicely...). So working with this class was also a lesson in patience and a chance for me to invest in their little lives as well, praying for them and helping them learn to get along and work WITH one another, rather than competing with everyone, in everything they did.
You can keep this group in your prayers. They need them ... Here are their names, in order from left to right. Nora, Nathaniel, Mikayla, Christelle, Dona, and Levi.
Two of our preschoolers, looking like Disney princesses (notice, this was taken BEFORE the program, while the chairs are still empty). By the end of the morning, they had dust smudges from sitting on the ground and scuffed shoes from playing on the swingset. But they did look good for a few minutes =)
Haref, Miss B, Miss Laura, Miss Lindsay, Malina (Haref's friend from college, originally from the D.R.), April, Christelle, and Dona. The three of us teachers were VERY happy at this point in time. The program was over, it had been a real success, our report cards were finished, we were about to enjoy some tasty Haitian catering for lunch, and all that we had left was to pack our suitcases for the long journey home!!!
This joyous dance party broke out during the closing song of our Christmas program ("Shackles," by Mary Mary). We had children, parents, staff, and teachers out of their seats, praising the Lord for his amazing Love gift that was sent to us in the form of His son. It was a great way to end the morning.
And what followed was icing on the cake. Valens' dad (one of my students) owns a very good restaurant here in St. Marc and we asked him to cater our lunch. It was wonderful to see the students spending this time with their parents - something that doesn't happen often enough.
Partying on our last day of school ... these children do not need much to bring a smile to their face. Something as simple as a balloon can provide hours of pure enjoyment!
Playing in front of one of the few remaing mud (now dirt) piles on our base.
Eli and Samuel, who started off being my guitar students back in August, are now teaching ME more than I can teach them! So we often do more jamming than structured 'lesson' time on Wednesday nights. It is a lot of fun picking up their Haitian rhythms in my strumming ;)
This crew looks ready for Christmas vacation!
0 comments:
Post a Comment