The other night as I was walking out of the office just as the children were finishing up with their own dinner, I noticed our social worker Madame Gina sitting down to eat with a group of 10 or so of our children. This was a bit unusual, as of all of the meal times and events that go on here at BLB (and there are many!) dinner time is the one time where everyone's schedule allows for us to all eat together! We put a lot of importance on eating dinner together as a family - all 66 children and 12 or so staff members who are on at that hour. It's the time of day where we learn the most about our children and what they are up to. It's where we learn about fights at school, or a good grade on a test or quiz. It's where we learn about fights, or even - God help us - when a child announces they have a new found love at school. We learn so much, and this is why we always eat together. I would soon find out, however, why we had this private "dinner club" gathering just after the rest of the orphanage had already eaten...

I know this may be hard to believe, but sometimes, our children are more than just a little bit challenging in the behavior department. We are noticing a sort of “core group” of mostly boys who continue to challenge us and resist. It’s only natural for young boys to do this, but even more expected when one stops to consider the backgrounds of violence, trauma, and God knows what else. Haiti is not the United States, and one can’t simply ask for a family history and expect to find any meaningful information. Issues that we might be able to test for at home and diagnose, including mental illness or developmental issues are largely ignored here. There simply aren’t the resources to identify these realities by and large, and certainly no capacity for schools and other standard programs to adjust to suit individual needs. This is why we rely so heavily on our Individual Life Plans, ongoing assessment, and the skills and talents of people like Gina, myself, and other professionals who have a background in this kind of work.

Gina has identified this group of more challenging children, and assembled them for their own meal-time so that they can process each day together. I jokingly called it our Breakfast Club, referring to the movie and the weekend detention students who, through their interactions, came to some profound kind of awakening or realization while there together. Our hope for these children is not dissimilar. We are hopeful that through this collective group, mediated by our social worker Gina, we will be able to get these children to be a bit more introspective of their own feelings, thoughts, and behaviors – as well as the effects they might have on other people outside of themselves. The ability to be mindful of this as our children grow into young adolescence and into their teenage years is so important, and so useful. While we are teaching responsibilities through household chores and other tasks, we're fostering a sense of awareness of self and others, too!

Through the 5 selves of child development, we are addressing the needs of our children. Physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual needs are all incorporated in to our care plans for each of our 66 children. As our children age, these needs continue to evolve and change, too! We are so blessed to have Gina on hand here to help address these issues with our children. 

We have had many projects keeping us busy here at BLB in Haiti this past week, including the pouring of our new, permanent concrete stairs, our “Stairway To Heaven” which brings our Britsionarys to the Britsionary area, and to the rooftop, a favorite place for reflection and gathering by all of our visitors! We think they are coming along quite nicely, don’t you?

Thanks to the Schwartz Foundation, we recently have been able to purchase a mobile classroom from Surtab, a Haitian owned and operated company manufacturing Android tablets and other technological tools for our after-school enrichment program. We’re currently waiting on the delivery of 20 tablets, complete with a charging station, projector, and digital whiteboard, so that we can connect our children to learning activities both here in Haiti and internationally, as appropriate. We are proud that we were able to purchase locally and support the local economy and a business doing new and exciting work here in Haiti! Francky was very excited to get a tour of the facility, too! Be sure to stay tuned for photos of our children and the equipment once it arrives and is set up!

As the rainy season turns into the tropical season, we ask you to keep Haiti and Her people in your thoughts and prayers. We have already had overwhelming rains in many parts of the country, and the forecast promises to bring much, much more. Lower-lying areas are easily flooding out, roads washing out, and people are suffering as a result. Crops are lost to the high waters, and the price of food continues to increase almost daily here. While we need the rain, we need a balance – pray that we find that balance here and for the strength for all of us here to push through and rise above the waters which threaten us!

 (photo credit, GOALS Haiti)

There is certainly a lot to keep up on here this week, as we welcomed our latest group from St. Peter Marian in Worcester! Pray for a successful and safe week for this group as they work to provide a home for a family in great need. With all this rain, there is no more urgent a time than now.

Thank you for helping us help the children of Haiti at Be Like Brit!!!