Week 8

"Si syel la te tombe, yo ta ramase zetwal."

- If the sky fell, they'd scoop up the stars.

An even more busy week than usual, but I got to spend it with my UCLA buddies. It was so great to have them around and get to share this little life I've made for myself with them. Twice during the week they attended my English class and my students loved having them there. My students asked me if the UCLA girls could stay longer, taking advantage of the opportunity to partners up and practice all their English that we've been working so hard on. I had a proud teacher moment watching them carry on discussions with the UCLA girls in English. I also think the similar age between them made everyone more comfortable trying, and sometimes stumbling, to talk in a new language.

Everyone at CESAH loved having them around as well, more tall people to play with them! We also finished one of the art projects I had been working on with the kids and got to introduce all the students and teachers to my friends from home. We also had the opportunity to host a mobile medical clinic at the school. Which was, as always, an incredible experience as we serviced over 75 men, women, and children and were able to save a large amount of medications for the next clinic.

We went over to Cite de Soleil, perpetually labeled Haiti's largest slum, to check back in with SAKALA, a grass roots organization focused on changing the future of children in the community. The organization is run by the incredible Daniel Tillias and serves as an after school program where kids can come to play on sports teams, receive after-school tutoring, work on art projects, and develop a passion for gardening in Haiti's largest urban garden that they have created at SAKALA. It was so incredible to see all the progress and amazing work they have achieved over the past few years we have known them, with two girls from their soccer team making Haiti's national team! They also have been creating this beautiful "junk art" out of discarded metal that is absolutely stunning and so unique and I am sure they will be able to create a business out of. While in the crafts room we of course, made some crafts! We brought supplies to paint and make watercolor paper airplanes. The kids all had so much fun and it was interesting to see all the wacky designs and phrases they wrote on their planes.

While there, we got to sit down and talk to an incredible group of young women at SAKALA that have taken the initiative to start sexual education courses for the teens at the program. They talk to the young girls about how much their lives can change if they get pregnant at such a young age, and many of them speak from experience, wanting a different future for these young girls than they themselves have.

Finally to conclude the week, we sat down for a dinner with our scholarship students. Our UCLA club sponsors 13 students to attend university in Haiti, so every time we come down we make sure to meet with all our students to just hear how things are going, what they are struggling with, and just stand in solidarity with them understanding the difficulties of college. It was such a pleasure to get to treat all the students to a nice dinner this time, because they so deserve to be appreciated. Most of them work hard to not only get their degree, but support the rest of their family, getting up before 4 am every day to beat traffic to get to school early and then multiple after school jobs or to help out with their younger siblings. One of the students, Wesley, is in school to become a translator and makes crafts and painted T-Shirts on the side to make some money for his family. They are all so beautiful (they look like they have been printed!) and we were so honored that he had made us a shirt to say thanks. Our little mish-mosh group of UCLA and Haitian students really has become a mini family and it is always such a blessing to get to sit down with our peers and just talk about our struggles and goals.

Sadly I had to say good bye to my buddies and I already miss them enormously. But I know we will all be back together again sooner rather than later, and I got to finish out the week with Bato's birthday!