by Jonathan
Last week, instead of our usual blog update, we announced that I will be leaving Be Like Brit in just two weeks or so. While this was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made, I take great comfort in knowing that the children of Be Like Brit are in great, loving, and capable hands. The work here has been a labor of love in so many ways, and I am confident that the systems, policies, protocols, and people are all in the right places to move Be Like Brit forward and indeed raise up the next generation of leaders in Haiti.
I'm fortunate that I will be moving to Port-au-Prince, and so I know that I will remain a part of the children and employee's lives, even in my stepping down in this formal role. The past 2+ years have been life changing for me, and I know that without my work at Be Like Brit, I would not be headed on the path that I am now. Len and Cherylann, and the entire BLB family have been so very supportive of me, and I can never thank them enough. I want to thank you all for your well-wishes on facebook and in email; the support is overwhelming, and I am blessed to be considered among your friends. While we worked to bring you the announcement in a great video that Bernie put together for us, I thought I'd share with you a funnier moment from that effort...
All of that said, we would be remiss if we failed to tell you about the amazing Britsionary Group we hosted here the week prior from St. Anselm's College in New Hampshire! As our Britsionary program grows and we have more and more groups come, we always look forward to the opportunity to host a new group - one that has not yet been to Haiti! This chance came by way of our good friend Mike Nicholson from St. John's Catholic High School in Shrewsbury. Mike has been to Be Like Brit three times through St. John's programs, and as an alum of St. A's, he recommended us as a place for this university group to serve with! We love that our volunteers become ambassadors for Be Like Brit, and as word spreads of the great opportunities to serve in Haiti with us, we cherish our ability to provide for our community as we slowly help to develop and redevelop our neighborhood!
While I wasn't here for their Saturday arrival, I did return to the orphanage on Sunday, and was eager to meet the group! My work days are sometimes (often!) chaotic and unpredictable, and so I don't always get to spend as much time with them as I would like to! This happened to be the case over the course of the week for me, and I was sorry I didn't get to participate in the group's activities and reflections as I would have liked! While I did enjoy a nice hike with them on Sunday afternoon to the river and back, I was able to chat with many members of the group and knew they were a rockstar group! I was able to work my way into some of their play time with the children! We now have 3 of these 30' parachutes down here and the games with them are so much fun! Especially when we can toss the little ones up in the air and the endless laughter that ensues with it is so refreshing!
The group from St. A's was able to build a home for a family in need, just up behind Be Like Brit near Gama's house. The home is always given to a family we know through our staff and neighbors around the community, and we love that groups are able to bring these safe, sturdy, and more permanent homes to much deserved families. Through the Britsionary program, a portion of the fee volunteers pay goes towards this effort, and we are able to provide these homes to the families free of charge. It is life-changing for both the Britsioanrys and the families who get to work alongside the groups over the course of the week!
We also keep our groups engaged with the community, and we visit several local places each afternoon so that Britsionarys can get a sense of the other things happening in Grand Goave and the surrounding areas. We are especially excited about our relationship with the great folks over at Haiti Arise! Haiti Arise is an incredible organization doing great work in Grand Goave - operating a primary school and two vocational schools! They also have a great clinic on their campus, which recently announced they will be moving from a 3 day per week schedule to a 5 day per week schedule! Lisa and Pastor Marc have been kind enough to allow our Medical Britsioanrys serve in the clinic alongside their own Haitian staff, and we love that we can help in this outreach and this service to those in such desperate need!
Our medical personnel on hand for the trip were Dr. Tony and Nurse Sarah from UMASS! They got to spend a day working in the mountains of St. Etienne with the Mission of Hope International outreach clinic, too, and so we know that between the Haiti Arise work, the MOHI clinic, and the long days in our own Be Like Brit Medical Clinic, they got a great sense of the extent of the need here in Haiti, and surely were able to bring their talents and skills to those in need!
Of course, no trip to Be Like Brit would be complete without the pleasure of attending and participating in our weekly, Friday afternoon Talent and Variety Show!!! This was originally started up as a way to build confidence in the children, get them in front of their peers, and showcase any kind of skill or talent they want! It has turned into a weekly celebration of all the hard work the children have put into their school work for the week, and now overlaps beautifully with the end of a Britsionary week! We love it when the children get excited for our Britsionary groups, and even more so love it when those groups want to participate! The St. A's group clearly had some drama and theater people (it would seem!), because their act really knocked it out of the park! The children and staff alike cheered with excitement and encouragement for a wonderfully performed act! Bon Travay, St. A's!!!
Len and Bernie made their way to Be Like Brit at the early part of the week, and we were lucky to have Cherylann fly in near the end! Bernie stayed on with Cherylann for the week and the three of us got a lot of work done! Bernie came armed with a GoPro camera and took some amazing footage of the ten days he spent with us! We hope you keep an eye out for those videos as we edit and upload them both to our youtube channel and to our facebook page! Great job, Bernie! And look how excited the children are when Mommy Cherylann is in Haiti!!!
If you haven't yet watched this incredible fly-through of Be Like Brit that Bernie put together, you need to! Here's a link! Please share this, too - and let us know what you think!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2PkWFqLRV8&feature=youtu.be
We hope that all of you are having a wonderful week! By the time you read this, we'll be hosting a group from Worcester State and have a visit from our Medical Director Susan! It's sure to be a busy week and we'll keep you all up to date as we plow through it!
As always, thank you for helping us help the children of Haiti at Be Like Brit!!!
