Week 10

"Ede pote. Pote chay. Pase met chay."

- Help to carry. Carry them. More than you.

It's crazy to think about how much time has passed since I first got here. I think you really underestimate how a few weeks can feel like a few months with people when you aren't doing things apart: driving to the movies, going to meet friends for coffee, even just going out to eat. Much of every day is spent as a unit, with not much to do but talk. It's been a really beautiful (and I won't lie, at times really difficult) growing experience for me. And while I really miss driving places, grabbing a coffee, throwing laundry in the machine, I think I'm going to miss sandwiched drives to work, Daniel's annoying over-protectiveness, and group music jams while washing laundry just as much.

This week was full as ever. With Monday night after work turning into a little dinner party where we invited many of our neighbors. I sliced up potatoes and cooked them in the oven with some oil and salt. Everyone loved them but had never had them before (which shocked me) so now they call them "pomme de terre au blan" which essentially means "potatoes a la white people". Tuesday was a combined birthday party for Anite (Rea's sister) and Cherlanda and Annie-Love (two of the girls at the orphanage). I made this massive watercolor banner for them which is easily my most impressive achievement since graduating.

I finally got these business cards for the auditorium business at CESAH printed, thanks to the beautiful design of my even more beautiful friend Leah Kidd. Keep an eye out for a post in the Funded Projects section where I will go into more detail, but the auditorium is part of the CESAH school, which we rent out for weddings, graduations, birthday parties, and everything in between, in order to generate revenue from the school. I had been discussing with Rea one of the ways we could market the business better, and one of her vocational students told us that for his event planning business he hands out his business cards to guests at his events. That has brought him business for over 12 events in just the last 7 months. So with some design help from the incredible Leah back home, we finally got some cards printed in time for the next wedding!

We also got some great photos of the students at SOPUDEP holding a thank you sign I made for World Centric. They finance the salaries of all of the teachers, cooks, security, janitors, and administration at SOPUDEP, allowing us to support 72 employees over the last year!

Friday was a big Easter (Fetes de Pak) party for all of the kids at CESAH. There was cake, little stuffed paper Easter bunnies, eggs with candy, a dance competition, and a movie! I was feeling major nostalgia for my elementary school holiday party days. It was also another constant reminder of what an incredible program CESAH and SOPUDEP have, giving these kids not only an organized study environment most of them would never have access to otherwise, but one with lots of fun too!