Classes and Carpentry

Pursuit of Happiness English Institute

We have recently started our third session of English instruction and we have lots of new students.  Chris is teaching all of the Intro level classes while I am teaching Level 1 and Level 2 classes.  Chris has seventy something students spread over three class times...1:30-2:30, 3-4 and 4:30-5:30.  I have level 2 at 1:30 and level 1 at 3.  In addition to our brand new students, we had about a dozen students come from different schools in the area and take a placement test to get in.

Chris and I are very happy with the growth of the school.  We have not done any advertising, our current students have been bringing in their friends and we are building a reputation as a great place to learn English.  We will continue to grow...we will soon feel some of the growing pains.  We will soon have to find a way to use more class rooms and find more teachers.  With more students, we also need to bring more books into the country.

For the physical growth, we are exploring options such as helping our landlord rebuild some damaged rooms and looking for another location.  We are not actively recruiting teachers yet, but we have a few really good guys working for us already that could handle their own classes.  For the curriculum, our goal is to develop our own.  More than sixty percent of the student's tuition is to pay for the book.  That money leaves Haiti.  If we could create our own books and audio, the student's tuition could be put to better uses like infrastructure and the money would stay here.  We could also sell the curriculum to other English schools in the country.

Tools for Success

If you didn't know already, "Tools for Success" is the name of my trade school...well, it is going to be the name of my trade school.  I put the word out to a group from Georgia that was here a week ago that I am looking for some tools for my workshop...planer, table saw, band saw, big sander...big stuff that I can't fit in a suitcase.  There is a container being loaded up in Georgia that is headed this way, that is how I can get some of the bigger stuff down here.  Sounds like they already have a band saw for me.

File cabinets for hanging file folders, all material local except for the casters.

I am always working on some carpentry project.  Right now, I am putting the finishing touches on a pair of two drawer file cabinets.  We needed some for our school stuff and they are outrageously priced here...so I decided to build some.  I want to build as many "prototypes" of things as I can for my future students to use as a springboard for their own projects.  If they want to make something exactly as I have, or change the design a little, these projects that I am building now might help with some ideas.

Jan's table saw and Beaver's router helped me create some more frames for the bee hive

I do miss my garage.  Whenever I decide to build something, I have to drag all of the tools that I need out in the yard to work on a project.  That is fine if I have all day and we have power all day.  When I had my garage, I could go out there and plane a few boards or work on a project for a little bit and pick up where I left off right away.  I spent a little time looking for land this week.  When I have my own place, I will be able to do that again.

Honey!

I harvested honey a couple of weeks ago.  I got almost a gallon of honey from five frames in my honey super.  I made some more frames and now I have to wait again for them to do their job.  The honey was darker this time than the first time, and wow, it was sweet.  I bottled some up in little rum bottles and gave it away to some friends...and we had some of it here at the house.

It was a little too hot for the whole "Bee Suit" thing...I did not get stung this time!

A little bottle of wonderful!  An old rum bottle.

Garden

When it comes time to buy some more tropical plants for my garden, I always run into some guy on a bicycle with a couple of baskets full of small plants.  Whenever I see a plant vendor pedaling down our street, I have to buy a couple of things.  I am also experimenting with starting some stuff from cuttings.  I have several hibiscus and some other tropicals started that way.  Since the water from our well is a little salty, I have to buy water for some of the plants that are not very salt tolerant, but it is not that big of a deal.  I still have not had much luck planting anything in the ground in our yard.  Everything that is thriving is growing in pots.

Life

I really enjoyed getting to see friends and family last month.  It was great to be able to share with everyone why I love this place.  I was a little concerned when I was on my way back down here if I would still feel like I was supposed to be here.  The concern vanished quickly when all of my friends wanted to see me as soon as I got back to town.  I am so grateful that God has made this possible for me.

I know that I need to keep all of you informed on a more regular basis.  Please feel free to harass me into writing again.  Send me an email at blueteamleader@gmail.com and remind me to post if it has been a while.  Thanks for your prayers.  I appreciate knowing that you want to know what is happening with me and this amazing place.

When the power is out for a while, you have to get creative.  A machine working on the main road hit a concrete power pole and destroyed it.  We were without power for a couple of days and we needed a way to charge up our phones.  "I got this"  I hooked up a solar panel from Chris Glissman, an inverter from Harbor Freight and a battery from our generator that does not work.  There we go, a cell phone charging station in the front yard!

MacGuyver would be proud...oops, no duct tape.

Scott

Ready for more students?

We had an informational meeting last Sunday for perspective students.  The room was packed at College Jacques-Pierre Louis.  I think there were about 70 people there wanting information for the new session.  This is going to be great!  We will move our existing students up a level (if they pass our exams) and make room for the new students.  We will have three levels of instruction - Intro, Level 1 and Level 2 using curriculum from Cambridge called "Interchange English"

Teacher Scott, Assistant Teacher Valmy!

Since it has been two full months since my last update (sorry), I will try to remember some of the significant events here...I explained to my students how I am able to be here working - with the support from you back in the states, and I asked them if they would like to help me thank you.  It was amazing, they all took a name and address from a list that Journey gave me of the supporters.  Almost every name on the list got two letters from my students.  The English was not perfect, but their intention of the letter was obvious...they are so grateful, as am I.  I sent the letters back with Jim, and he mailed them off.

An example of one of the letters

Jim!  Yep Jim Warren came down here for a week with his daughter, five of her friends and that wonderful couple Jannie and Darren.  It is always great to have some familiar faces to see at the airport in Port au Prince and then to spend a great week with friends.  I was able to introduce my Omaha friends to many of my Gonaives friends.  We even got treated to champagne with my friend Sheila!  I am sure that the experiences of those young girls will stick with them for a lifetime...maybe some of them might even feel called to come back!

Jim's team leaving our house

Jim's team driving by my school

Christmas here is a big party on the 24th.  There were bands and celebrations downtown all night.  Robbie came back for a bit and Corey (Kathy and Beaver's son) helped me celebrate downtown that night.  We were out with Valmy and Ritaud until late.  The next party is New Year's Eve...some call it the night of no sleep...that was another late night with bands and stuff going on downtown.  The first is their independence day and the President came to town for a speech.

Valmy and I took a trip up to Port de Paix in the beginning of January to visit one of our students.  She spent her Christmas break there helping her parents out in their restaurant.  It was a beautiful motorcycle ride up there.  We spent the night in a hotel and drove back the next day.  We were able to eat three meals at my friend's parents restaurant...they only let me pay for one of the meals.  On the way back, I saw a road on Google Earth that looked like fun...out of Chansolme, there was a road with lots of switchbacks, so I figured that it must go right up a mountain...it did!  We got about 3/4 of the way up and the chain broke on the motorcycle that Valmy was riding.  We coasted back down and pushed it to the "repair guy" on the street.  We got it fixed good enough for the ride home and we were back on the road!

The view from close to where the chain broke

River South of  Basin Bleu

Some kids built a boat, said they were going to Nassau!

Valmy

Cool rock formation on a river North of Basin Bleu

We have had groups here every week in January, this next week coming up is an "off" week, no teams.  I think Beaver and some nurses are planning a road trip to see a hospital in Mirebalais or Marmelade or something that starts with an "M" I think...but I still have classes, so no road trip for me this week.

I am planning to come back to Omaha to visit at the end of the month (if funds allow).  I would like to have a get together to tell you what this last year showed me and to tell you about my goals for next year.  I am planning it now, but I don't have a date or place picked out yet.  I am anxious to get started with the professional school.

Good bye Kiki!  Our guard dog, Kiki has left for Georgia.  Emory got her as a puppy from Dorothy's dog in Port au Prince.  She got her shots, visa and passport...now she has immigrated to the USA.  We miss her here, but I am sure that she is going to have a wonderful life with Emory and Mary.  Now we are left with "Bongo" as our guard dog.  She has had quite a life so far...Amos's dog, abandoned and adopted by the "Girls House" across the street, abandoned, sent to live in Jubilee, had a litter of puppies, found her way back to our house...the saga continues.  If she has another night like last night, she might have to find her way back from farther away.

Kiki, heading to Port to get her shots

I am always looking for an excuse to build something fun or unusual...My friend Emy is in a school that will require her to pass a Ping Pong test to graduate!  Sounds funny, but I am up for the challenge!  I told her that I would build a ping pong table so that she can practice.  I have the top done...I built it in two halves.  I am still scratching my head on exactly how I am going to build the base.   I would like to have it function like the tables that you so commonly see...fold up one side for practice and both sides for storage.  I don't actually have a Home Depot or Ace Hardware here, so there will be a lot of improvising, but I am sure that it can be done!

One half of the top built

Making it smooth

Emy helping me paint

Church.  For quite a while now, we have been going to the church that Emy (pictured above) sings in.  They have about a three hour service...starts around nine something, finishes around noon or shortly thereafter.  My creole is not good enough yet to understand everything that is said, but the music is nothing short of amazing.  There are no hymnals, but everyone seems to know the words to every song.  The energy in the room is something that you have to be there to experience.  I think that everyone there is plugged directly into the Holy Spirit for power.  I look forward to Sunday morning all week long.

So, wish me luck with finishing this session in the next three weeks.  I hope to see my Omaha friends soon...it has been a long time - since June.  I hope your weather there gets a little warmer...my thin island blood won't be able to handle your "Feels Like" temperature...I have been following your weather online.

Again, I am grateful for the support that lets me do this work here.

Scott

Beginning of December 2012

It was great to have some familiar faces back for a visit.  For a while we had the whole crew back…Ben, Josh, Isaac and Chris were in Haiti for a month when I arrived, they went back for the summer.  Chris came back quite a while ago to help me run the English School…it is more like me helping him though!  Ben left on Saturday, not sure exactly when he will be back, but he will be back.  Isaac is here for a couple more weeks on this trip, Josh is HERE.

We made some great progress on the library in the Jubilee School.  We had a couple of weeks worth of teams here and they managed to install real windows, close off a lot of the area to the elements and build some great bookshelves.  Lots of donated books and a few donated laptops are going to be great teaching aids for the staff there.

“Freddy” – I don’t know if I have shared any information about this guy yet, but it is time.  About four months ago, I was having dinner at the town square.  I was sitting by the monument and talking with a friend of mine.  I turned to the right and I saw this guy with a very large infected wound on his leg.  My first reaction was to turn away and continue the conversation with my friend…but the second reaction was to see what could be done.  I called Grace and she gave me the go ahead to bring him in to the clinic for a look.

I had a conversation with him through a translator and told him that I would be there the next morning to bring him to the clinic.  His infection was pretty bad, there was a hole that went down to the bone on his shin and the infected wound was about six inches in diameter.  We started treatment, cleaning and redressing the wound every day.  He is homeless, so we could not just give him some antibiotics to take orally, so we gave him two shots every day in the butt for about six weeks.  Nutrition is necessary for the wound to heal, so I started giving him money for food too.

The money for food thing did not work out too well (there are other things to buy) so I basically set up an account with one of the food vendors in the square to get him two plates of food a day and I pay her every week.  The wound is healing up nicely, down to about three inches across with the hole down to the bone healed now.  I learned that he had been in a hospital for a while, but he was asked to leave.  I was able to get him into another hospital for a little while, but they asked me to come and get him from there too.  In the states, there would be a place for him, but this is not the states.

We have been caring for him for four months now, his wound only requires attention every other day.  I still get him food, but now I am wondering what will happen when he heals up.  I ask that you pray for a solution…maybe we can find his family somehow, maybe there is a place to care for him, he needs care and supervision…he is also epileptic.  Sometimes when I come to pick him up in the morning he has a cut on his head from hitting the pavement after a seizure.

I am getting excited to start my trade school here…I have lots of interest and I will start fundraising soon.  I am looking for some land at the edge of town for my building.  I will start with a carpentry school and grow from there.  I have talked with a plumber from the states that is interested in teaching, so a plumbing school could come soon after.  Once I have a secure classroom, I would also like to start teaching some computer skills…typing, Microsoft Office, network basics and computer assembly and repair are all classes that I could teach with my knowledge.  I would like to get some laptops and then some components to assemble computers as a class.

Oh, I almost forgot about our trip up to Port-de-Paix.  Emory was down here for a bit and he wanted to do some traveling around the country and see where else we could help.  He asked if I would like to ride up to Port-de-Paix with him.  We went with Gertrude (she has family there), La La and a Haitian Pastor.  It was a very rough drive, I rarely got out of second gear, and we drove across some rivers on the way.  It was some very beautiful country though.  When we got to the city, we looked for an area resembling Jubilee.  We parked the truck and started walking.  Some kids started following us and eventually we ended up on a bluff overlooking the town.  The number of kids multiplied and lots of adults ended up with us as well.  We all had some conversations and did some praying asking what God wants. 

I know that there is need all over the country…not necessarily a need for stuff (but no one would turn stuff down) but a need for education and jobs I guess.  So while I plan on starting in Gonaives, I also would love to turn the school over to one of my students and start a new one in another part of the country.  My dream is to have “Tools for Success” available for as many people that I can.  I would love to have several schools that I no longer need to be a part of because the staff and students have the same dream that I have.

That’s all for now, thank you for your support.

Scott

Thanks Dad!

Last week - the week from October 27 to November 3 - My Father came to visit me in Haiti!

Saturday the 27th, I loaded up the truck with Priss, Kathy, Kezia and Katie and headed to Port au Prince.  Priss was finishing her visit, Kathy was headed to the US for a few weeks and Kezia and Katie went to Port for a visit.  After I dropped everyone off, it was just me...waiting for my Dad.

I found a guy that usually helps us with teams and sent him inside the airport with a small sign to help my dad with the luggage.  He made it out of the airport with no problems at all...then we started the 3 hour trip from Port to Gonaives.  Well, it is usually 3 hours...right now there is a bridge out near Archaie, so there is a detour through the town, then across a small, old concrete bridge that only allows one car at a time to pass...the detour took us an extra hour and a half...but...it was just me and my dad and we got to talk!

We made it back home in time for dinner and the Husker game on the roof...Omaha outnumbered Georgia at the house that night.  (Brian and his family, me, and my Dad)  Sunday morning we were still getting lots of rain from Hurricane Sandy...we tried to go to church, but it was called off because of the rain...we have snow days, they have rain days!

While my Dad was here, we didn't have any major projects, just lots of little things and lots of introductions.  I introduced him to Pastor Genata and his wife Rose - he got a quick tour of all of the wonderful things that are happening with his ministry.  (Water business, bakery, church, deaf ministry, school, orphanage, sewing classes...)  I took him to meet Jan Thompson and show him her group of 19 kids...he also got to meet Jared and Amanda who are living here helping Jan.  We traveled around town on my motorcycle and met with lots of my new friends that I met from teaching or just from life.

On Sunday night, he came with me to SCOFT - (Shiny's Club OF Translators) - a group that I have been helping out with that practices English for a couple of hours every Sunday evening.  We usually sing a song or two...I print out lyrics and play an MP3 for them to sing along with...music is a great way to practice a new language.  But, since I had my Dad along, we brought a keyboard and he played while they sang.  I printed out the lyrics in English for How Great thou Art and Amazing Grace...two songs that they know from church. (in Creole)  It was a hit!

My Dad also came with me to my English school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday...Thursday and Friday were holidays - No School!  All of my students were anticipating his visit - I rarely forgot to mention how many days it was until he arrived!  They were thrilled to meet Papa Scott.  My father was thrilled to meet them too.  Our school is made up of an amazing group of people with an unbelievable desire for more knowledge.  Our school is not free, so they all are making an investment in themselves to attend...and it shows.

Our mornings started with coffee and conversations with Beaver, then we tried to see what little projects that I had on my list.  We spent a couple of mornings fixing a gate and a door at the school in Jubilee.  We got to go to the hardware store and he got to meet all of my friends (the employees) there.  I shop there so much, I know all of the people who work there...kind of like Westlake Ace in Omaha!

On Friday morning, we had a trip planned.  I wanted to take him to see some countryside on my motorcycle.  On our way out of town, a pickup full of people passed me too close and his mirror hit my mirror and ended the trip early.  My handlebars turned sharply to the right and we flew off the bike.  It happened so fast.  My dad and I got up right away checking for major damage to eachother...Thank God just road rash and maybe some bruises later.  My motorcycle had a broken fender and some bent parts.  The truck that hit us kept driving...several people from the side of the road came to our assistance.  They poured some moonshine over my road rash to clean it up...that felt GREAT!

I used some tools in my bag to straighten out some bent parts on my motorcycle and we rode home slowly.  Then, Amos took us to go see Grace (Grace's Blog) to get our wound care.  We are thankful that the injuries were so minor...it could have been worse.  I now have more respect for the road and the crazy drivers...I practice more defensive driving.

So, Friday, my Dad and I relaxed around the house with some ice packs and ibuprofen.  We watched a movie in my room and took it easy.  Friday night we went to meet up with Jake Sangster from coreluv.  He is a pilot and flight instructor, so him and my father had a lot to talk about.  He also has a Red Tail Hawk as a pet...kind of cool.  After that we meet up with Pastor Patrice and his wife for a quick introduction.

Saturday we took the trip back to Port - detour was quick - and I said goodbye to my Dad.  He told me that his hand was tired from all of the handshakes from introductions to my friends.  I think he has a better idea now why I love this place.  It is sometimes hard to explain many of the things that are part of regular life here...you just have to see it for yourself.  I look forward to seeing more of my family and more of my friends when they come and visit me at my home in Haiti.  Again, I do love this place and I do thank every one of you that reads this and makes it possible for me to do this.  

If you would like to make a financial contribution to my work here, you can click on the monthly support button at the top of the page, or you can make a one time donation through my church here.  Select the Scott Peters - Haiti option.

The One Year Mark

It is hard to believe that I have been here for one year.  Part of me feels like I just got here, part of me feels like I have been here forever.  It is still hard to explain to those who don't know me very well how comfortable I feel living here...I will just say that this is where I am supposed to be.

What has happened over the last year?  Lots.

First of all, I have made many great friends...friends that are like me, from America, living and working here in Gonaives.  And friends that have been here all their lives.

Pursuit of Happiness English Institute.  This was not something that I was planning on at all, but I think it is a very important piece of my plans for the future.  We are in our second session of English as a second language classes.  We have a model for a sustainable school.  We have plans for expanding.  I think that this school is important for my plans for the future because of the relationships that are being created between Chris and I and our students.

New and old hobbies!  I am continuing my hobby of gardening with the added benefit that I don't have to sit and wait through a winter every year...it all just keeps growing.  I have a new hobby of bee keeping, it is interesting to watch them work.  I am continuing my hobby of carpentry...my last project was to help and teach Amos while building some furniture for his living room.

Slowly learning more about the language and the culture.  I enjoy spending time with my Haitian friends, some of whom speak very little English.  I think that I am learning just as much as I am teaching.

What are some of the plans for the future?

I am planning on building a school of my own.  It will be a satellite location for some English classes with Pursuit of Happiness and I will teach trades there as well.  My sister is setting up the legal framework in the United States and I will be doing the work on the ground here in Haiti.  I am looking for some land in or near Gonaives to build my campus.  I would like to buy enough land to be able to expand in the future...but I intend to start off pretty small.

The first thing that I will teach at my school after English will be carpentry.  The building will have to be big enough for a workshop and I will need to get some tools.  I would like to teach the students how to use the tools that we all take for granted - table saw, router, planer, jig saw, stuff like that.  I would also like to be able to offer "Shop time" to my students to build things for themselves or for sale.  With every trade that I teach, I will also put an emphasis on business and teach some fundamentals of running a small business.

After carpentry, I could teach plumbing, electrical, welding, gardening, etc.  I would also search out local teachers to be partners with me.  I currently know two ladies that teach small groups from their homes - a culinary instructor and a seamstress instructor...they both would love to have the ability to teach more students...they are currently limited by the size of their houses.  I would encourage friends of mine from the states to come and teach as well.  Many people I know are successful in their business because of the love that they have for their trade.  Those are the people that I would like to have come and visit.  Stay for two weeks or two months and share their knowledge!.

Right away, I would have a room for me to live in at my school.  As the school grows, I would add guest rooms for those visiting from the US and apartments for some of my local teachers if they would like.  My dream is to have a community that is focused on education and business.

So that is where I am today!  The name of my new organization is "Tools for Success"  We have set it up as a corporation and our not for profit status is pending.  We have a few more items to work through - like applying for resident status - but we should be able to start fundraising for this project soon.

I appreciate all of the support that has sustained me for this last year.  I couldn't do any of this without your financial support and more importantly, your prayers.  It is an amazing thing to be able to see God work through those around you.

"Ti pa, ti pa"

"Ti pa, ti pa," is the Haitian expression for a little bit at a time...step by step...one twig at a time, the bird builds its nest.

That is what is going on now.  One of my goals down here is to help people to create businesses.  I believe there is a little bit of success.  My good friend Valmy is selling some SD Memory cards.  I got a pretty good deal on them in the states, I wholesale them to him and he retails them to his friends.  Valmy is a very busy guy...he is in his terminal grade of school, he is an assistant teacher at The Pursuit of Happiness English Institute and he also works some crazy hours at the Jubilee Medical Clinic.  Here he is showing off some of his SD cards.

Ruth-Cher Francoise is one of my English students.  I found out that she enjoys gardening as much as I do, so after English lessons, she helps me work in my little garden in the yard.  She has helped me find new flowers and plants and we have done some trading with her friends and family to help me diversify my garden.  She has also shown me how to propagate many of the plants that I have.  She is going to start selling some of the potted plants that we have grown from seed or cuttings.  Here she is next to part of the garden.

Jean Phillipe Edmond is a carpenter that I met on my first trip to Haiti over a year ago.  I was impressed with his skills and knowledge right away when he started working with me.  We have become good friends, he helps me with any project I am working on, without asking for anything.  I have helped him with contract work whenever I can.  He has made many of my friends his happy customers with dressers, cabinets and tables.  A couple of weeks ago he asked if he could borrow my skil saw, I am usually pretty reluctant to lend out tools, but I did for him.  Turns out, he had a contract to make 30 chalkboards for a school.  A week later he returned the saw to me and was very proud to show me the saw that he bought with his profits.

The Pursuit of Happiness English Institute started its second session yesterday.  We have two full classes of Intro students and two almost full classes of level 1 students.  Chris Greene has worked very hard building a budget and setting fees.  We are less expensive than some English institutes, but we are on track to be sustainable through tuition and fees.  We rent a school building in the afternoons, (From one of our students!) we pay our translators, we have the cost of the books and copies figured into the student fees.  The only thing that is not sustainable is that Chris and I teach for free...but we don't mind!  The benefits are great!

We are making some great friendships with our students.  These young men and women are the next leaders of Haiti, and we are blessed to be a part of their lives.

Grace Deal (onewaytickettohaiti.blogspot.com) has been back in the states for the birth of her neice, and I have the pleasure of taking care of this little guy.  This is her Rott...his name is Tortuga or Tug!  He is a lot of fun, I am going to miss him when she gets back.  She is trying to talk me into getting one...then everyone will want puppies!  I think I am going to wait until I have my own place before I get a dog.

My own place?  Yep.  Part of my plan down here is to set up a school of my own.  The English Institute was never a part of the original plan, but you can bet it is a part of the latest one.  My dream is to have a trade school where I can teach carpentry, plumbing, electrical work and whatever else I can.  I also would like to host people from the states that could share their knowledge for short intensive classes.  Anything from wrenching on cars to sewing a suit...whatever you know and do well, come here for a few weeks and share that with some of my friends.

My sister, Renee, is working through the final stages of setting up a not for profit to handle fundraising and accounting from the US.  I am looking for some land in or near Gonaives for this school to be built.  I am so excited for the potential that is in everyone here that I meet.  I hope to share that excitement with you when you come to visit my school, and meet the students for yourself.

I am very excited to see my Father here at the end of the month!

God bless you all.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

Testing...Testing...1...2...3

It is finally test time for the first group of students in the Pursuit of Happiness English Institute.  I am so excited to see these students move on to the next level and to start with another group of new students.  I have learned a lot about teaching and I have made some great friendships with my students.  Chris and I have also learned about what not to do!  Our next session will be great!

Here is the group hard at work on the written portion of the test.

Here is Chris giving the oral portion...one on one...with every student...we are going to be here for a while!

What am I missing while down here?  You might think it would be the Husker games...NOT!!!  Thanks to my friend Jack, I have the ability to watch the Huskers play over the internet.  He has a slingbox...our internet is not that great down here...no high definition images on the wall up there, but we can at least see and hear what is going on in Husker Nation.  Definitely helps with our growing Nebraska contingent down here.  Brian Smith from Omaha and the group Omaha Rapid Response has moved down here with his wife and three teenage kids.  Here are some of us watching the Huskers get beat.  Darn it...we had a better time watching the next week!

Yard project...Putting down some pavers where the swing goes...it is done now...thanks Beaver!  Maybe I can put up another picture...but I am blogging from class right now while the students are working on their exams.  Here is a shot of the project in its early stages.

On a sad note, a good friend of mind lost her only son a little over a week ago.  She is 20 years old and he was the only family she had.  I had got to know her because she works for Kathy helping her prepare the Jubilee art for shipment to the US.  She speaks English very well and once in a while she works as a translator for us.  I would like to help her and I invite others to help also.  She dropped out of school when her son was born so that she could take care of him.  I asked her about finishing school and she said that she would love to if she could afford it.  I am setting up a scholarship fund for her.  Let me know if you would like to help.

Taking the good times with the bad.  Living life.  Enjoying the company of good friends.  Meeting many new friends.  Again, I thank all of you that make this life possible.