Thursday, January 28, 2010

The Day Before

I apologize for not having posted anything since the beginning on this blog. I have been too exhausted, emotionally and physically, to do so. But I wanted to put up these pictures that I took the day before the earthquake and narrate through a little bit of what the school has lost. This is how I want to remember Quisqueya, talking and laughing with middle schoolers and alternating teaching and joking with 9th graders. I see these smiles and they mean so much to me.

KP and KN
The two Kevins in 9th grade (KP on the left and Kevin N. on the right) are two of my favorite students. They are sharp and quick-witted, always ready with a smile and a joke, never taking things too seriously but able to dive into very complex subjects and have a good time doing it. KP has been my partner in a long, drawn out effort to frighten the English teacher to no avail. He's still in Haiti, attending the school again, and his biggest complaint is boredom. I detect a bit of a Philly accent lingering about him. Kevin N. has gone to the States and I haven't heard from him but I know he's alright. I miss him and hope to see him again someday. I was so looking forward to teaching you Algebra, Kevin!

Raphael and Olivier

Raphael (left) is the brother of one of my physics students and one of the most cheerful students on campus! He's back at school this week and I get to teach him at last! Also Olvier (right), both in 7th grade. They are both such delightful, well-behaved boys (at least they are for me...) and I will enjoy having them in class.

The Wall
Here is a picture of the lower grades camped out on the wall by the soccer field. I took these pictures before school, actually during the Monday staff meeting that I was missing because I was on outdoor supervision duty. Middle school and grade 9 hang out here, while
10th through 12th grade wait on the picnic tables near the high school/ middle school building. The building you can see in this picture is the administration building. The kids from elementary play mostly on the playground. This is pretty much my favorite part of the day, just because I can spend time with the kids, talk to them about things other than math. I enjoy hearing their stories, their likes and dislikes. This is also the time I can hear about what they really want out of school, whether they are achievers and what their dreams are. That enables me to be more pointed in what I teach and more specific in how I relate to them. These guys are why I am in Haiti, what kept me here through all the ups and downs before the earthquake. And these guys are who I missed during those first couple of weeks.

Missing Friends

Some of what we had it seems like we will never get back. Of the people in this picture, only two are still in Haiti. I don't know if I will ever see the others again. Shawn, Coralie, Kevin... I hope I do. And the small girl in the blue jacket is Crystelle. She's in 9th grade, the smallest girl in high school and she has a sister in 7th grade who looks just like her. They lost their father in the quake. She is so sweet, so earnest and polite. The day before the earthquake, I had specifically asked her if she wanted to be part of the algebra challenge group, students who wanted to really push themselves, and you should have seen how her eyes lit up at the prospect. I can't
imagine having gone through what she's experienced and is still going through. Our prayers are with you, Crystelle.


Picnic Table

These are some of the elementary kids waiting at the snack shop before school. The boy in the jersey with his foot on the bench is Elijah. The orphanage where his parents work became an emergency clinic within hours of the quake and has had people with major injuries being treated almost constantly because none of the hospitals were functioning. Also, last week his home was attacked by looters and shots were exchanged. How does a kid cope with things like this?
Reagan, the white girl, is the daughter of Denise (the woman in this picture) and Sean, the school's IT person. The Blesh family are some of the best, highest quality people I know. I often appraise people by the attitudes and actions of their children and, by that criterion, the Bleshes are near the top of my list. Their kids are so respectful, helpful, and hard-working! And strong, too. Reagan helped me take care of Peter (who is my cat, to answer those who desperately needed clarification... *smile*) during the days after, when so many people were living on campus. They evacuated with the orphanage that they were adopting from but Sean is still here. He's a powerhouse.


Missing Friends

I love watching the kids from elementary playing before or after school. They are really intense about their tetherball games. They have all sorts of rules that we never had when I was a kid. I didn't ever get a chance to get to know most of these guys, except for the 6th grade. I'm really close to them because I subbed for a week while Mrs. Farquharson was at a conference. They are definitely my favorite class, though don't tell the seniors that.
Like I said, this is how I want to remember Quisqueya, as it was on Monday, January 11th, 2010. All the smiles, greetings, jokes, and stories
that we shared. All those kids who were there and who learned. All the questions that were asked, all the complaints and all the humanness of them all. I will remember the lights in their eyes as they finally caught hold of things (“I get calculus now!!”), the questions about my “girlfriends”, the way they cajoled stories out of me (“Mr. Kulpa, 'what do you really want?'”), the times they laughed, not at my jokes but at me telling them, and all the touches, pulls, questions and comments about my beard. This is Quisqueya. Whatever may come in the future, it will always have a special place in my heart.


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1 comment:

  1. There's a book waiting to be written inside of you, Tony...keep writing, this is amazing!

    ReplyDelete