Trading traditions and Learning Exchange

It is a short week this week due to the Easter holiday. The students took and did well on their therapeutic play exam yesterday so we thought we'd have a little fun this morning. We explained the Easter Egg hunt concept to them this week and they thought it was so funny. So this morning we started class at our house. We took small bunches of jell beans (thanks Mom!) and wrapped them in tinfoil into egg-like shapes and hid them all around the yard. They had a blast - very funny really and I think we found them all so we don't have any goat casualties later!



One of the other teachers had taught the students a T'ai chi routine which is how we start class every morning out under the mango trees. They've been asking me about teaching them a new routine but since I don't know any T'ai chi I taught them a yoga moon salutation. Quite funny at first but now they are quite good.



It's really wonderful to share stories and traditions of culture. They have taught us a lot about raising children and culture around kids here. Gives us better perspective for teaching for sure. They have also continued teaching us provebs, not all of which I'm sure I really understand.

Today's was:
Nan tan' grangou patat pa gen po - in times of famine the potatoes have no peels
Something about being grateful for everything you have ...thank you all for your continued support and prayers.

Kay 7

Our house is known as Kay set (house 7) and we are very privileged to live in one of the nicest houses on campus. Denise went back to the states today so it is now just the four of us here. Edit, is our wonderful housekeeper who is an excellent cook. She is here during the week to prepare meals and keep the house tidy. Duval, our Gardner, is here for a few hours weekday mornings to tend to the yard and an endless quest to keep the goats at bay! We have a rotating guard staff who watch the property as well so its a pretty busy place. We have a resident cat Dino who is a bit of a beggar and generally a pain but keeps our pests at bay. The house has it's quirks, like running out of propane for the stove while trying to cook dinner tonight... We are lucky to have electricity by generator all the time. Water is on from 6-7am, 12-1 and 6-7pm. We get by in the in-between with buckets for what we need which really isn't much. Always amazing to realize how easy it is to waste! We use hospital water which is slightly chlorinated and then terra cotta filtered for drinking. It's a wonderfully funny place and I am lucky to share it with a bunch of wonderful people.

Bon weekend

The weekend begins after the rehab meeting finishes around 5 on Friday. The students were ready for the weekend break after finishing their second exam on Friday so we watched the 'Babies' DVD Friday afternoon - we even scrounged up some comes and trail mix to make it feel like the movies which they really enjoyed! The rehab meeting brings together the techs in the hospital clinic with the techs in the mountain dispensaries to recap the week and plan for the next. It was good to hear their plans and incorporate using the students to observe patients. My French I think is improving daily. :)


Weekends here are a great time to rest, meditate and prepare for the week to come. Saturday we went on a mountain hike to the waterfalls in Verettes, the next town over. We came back through the Saturday market which was pretty well closing up for the day. Maybe we'll go earlier next weekend. We had some of our colleagues over for dinner here at the house last night.


This morning we hiked the deschappelles mountain early, coming down in time to get dressed for church. We went with the physio from the hospital to his church for a beautiful service with lots of singing and enthusiastic prayers. We understood what we could and the other ladies were very helpful where they could be. The hope and humility of the spirit here is really amazing! This afternoon is quite hot so we'll lay low - read and write and prepare for week to come. Loads of love, L