In no particular order...

I miss Haiti.

I miss Arold.

I miss walking up the mountain to school.

I miss Haitian bread.

I miss walking down the mountain with my students.

I miss hugs from Nerlande.

I miss singing Creole songs at church.

I miss students in uniforms.

I miss seeing cute babies in the clinic.

I miss talks with Beth on our way to the city.

I miss hearing people speak in Creole.

I miss rice and beans.

I miss Haiti.

In no particular order...

I miss Haiti.

I miss Arold.

I miss walking up the mountain to school.

I miss Haitian bread.

I miss walking down the mountain with my students.

I miss hugs from Nerlande.

I miss singing Creole songs at church.

I miss students in uniforms.

I miss seeing cute babies in the clinic.

I miss talks with Beth on our way to the city.

I miss hearing people speak in Creole.

I miss rice and beans.

I miss Haiti.

"Tale"

In Haiti I would hear people use the word tale (tah-lay) fairly frequently. It took me a long time to figure out what it meant. Rosias and Monley, my 7th grade friends, tried to explain it to me several times. Eventually I understood it to mean "wait." During class my students would call me over to help them. When I was helping someone else I would say tale, tale to them to indicate that I was not ready to move on yet. That was acceptable, and they understood what I meant. But tale doesn't mean wait. It means soon.

There's a medical team working at the MTM clinic this week. It's the second team of the season, but it's the first team that includes people I already know. Some of them have posted pictures of that beloved place on Facebook. My heart cried tale, tale tonight as I looked at pictures of the clinic and school kids in Gramothe. I want desperately to be back in Haiti. I enjoy being in the States, but I long to be there where God has called me, to be with the students who have carved out such a special place in my heart, to be the hands and feet of Christ to a people who need Him. 

I would like to return to Haiti on November 28th at the very latest. The only thing preventing me from jumping on a plane right now is that my ministry is not yet fully funded. To live and serve in Haiti I need $2500 of support each month. Some very awesome people have already committed to giving 56% of that each month. Would you consider partnering with me financially, so I can return to empowering the youth of Haiti? 

Just one gift of $50 each month would bump me to 58% funded. Giving $100 each month would take me up to 60%. Being fully funded would only take 22 families or individuals each giving $50 per month. Please consider supporting this strategic ministry to defeat generational poverty through education.

Tax deductible donations can be made to Mountain Top Ministries either on their website or by sending a check to MTM, PO Box 7053, Terre Haute, IN 47802.  To set up an electronic funds transfer/recurring monthly automatic donations, call Deb in the MTM office at 812-870-5101.

"Tale"

In Haiti I would hear people use the word tale (tah-lay) fairly frequently. It took me a long time to figure out what it meant. Rosias and Monley, my 7th grade friends, tried to explain it to me several times. Eventually I understood it to mean "wait." During class my students would call me over to help them. When I was helping someone else I would say tale, tale to them to indicate that I was not ready to move on yet. That was acceptable, and they understood what I meant. But tale doesn't mean wait. It means soon.

There's a medical team working at the MTM clinic this week. It's the second team of the season, but it's the first team that includes people I already know. Some of them have posted pictures of that beloved place on Facebook. My heart cried tale, tale tonight as I looked at pictures of the clinic and school kids in Gramothe. I want desperately to be back in Haiti. I enjoy being in the States, but I long to be there where God has called me, to be with the students who have carved out such a special place in my heart, to be the hands and feet of Christ to a people who need Him. 

I would like to return to Haiti on November 28th at the very latest. The only thing preventing me from jumping on a plane right now is that my ministry is not yet fully funded. To live and serve in Haiti I need $2500 of support each month. Some very awesome people have already committed to giving 56% of that each month. Would you consider partnering with me financially, so I can return to empowering the youth of Haiti? 

Just one gift of $50 each month would bump me to 58% funded. Giving $100 each month would take me up to 60%. Being fully funded would only take 22 families or individuals each giving $50 per month. Please consider supporting this strategic ministry to defeat generational poverty through education.

Tax deductible donations can be made to Mountain Top Ministries either on their website or by sending a check to MTM, PO Box 7053, Terre Haute, IN 47802.  To set up an electronic funds transfer/recurring monthly automatic donations, call Deb in the MTM office at 812-870-5101.

Rheto National Exam Results

My Rheto students, most pictured at left, received the results of their exams recently, and Arold was kind enough to tell me exactly how each student did. There were 26 students in Rheto at the end of the school year. The class started with quite a few more than that, but for various reasons some of those students dropped out during the year.

Remember that the Haitian National Exam is a pretty serious thing. The students in Rheto (essentially juniors in high school) can't move on to their final year of high school if they don't pass the exam. They're tested in 6 subjects and had 1400 points possible on the test. Anything over 699 is passing, and somewhere in the mid 500s is the cut off for failing. We'll say it's 550 just for clarity's sake. Anyone who scores less than passing (700) but more than definite failing (550) is in limbo. Those students didn't pass, but they were close enough that the National Ministry of Education will allow them to "retake" the test. It's not exactly a retake though. If the first test included biology, this time they'll have chemistry instead. I suppose there are some pro's and con's to taking a test over different subjects the second time around, but it would stress me out!

So, here's how our Mountain Top Ministries students fared on the Rheto national exam.

• 11 students will definitely be moving on to Philo next year, which means 42% passed the exam with flying colors
• 5 of the 26 students definitely failed the exam, so we have a failing rate of 19%
• the remaining 10 students will be retaking the exam this coming week, which means 38% could go either direction

I hope that our first Philo class (MTM is adding it this year for the first time) is at least 20 students. Hopefully of the kids retaking their exam will pass and be able to move on to Philo. The teachers have been working with the 10 students retaking the exam since the scores were released a couple of weeks ago. Please pray for these students as they prepare to take the exam again.

Rheto National Exam Results

My Rheto students, most pictured at left, received the results of their exams recently, and Arold was kind enough to tell me exactly how each student did. There were 26 students in Rheto at the end of the school year. The class started with quite a few more than that, but for various reasons some of those students dropped out during the year.

Remember that the Haitian National Exam is a pretty serious thing. The students in Rheto (essentially juniors in high school) can't move on to their final year of high school if they don't pass the exam. They're tested in 6 subjects and had 1400 points possible on the test. Anything over 699 is passing, and somewhere in the mid 500s is the cut off for failing. We'll say it's 550 just for clarity's sake. Anyone who scores less than passing (700) but more than definite failing (550) is in limbo. Those students didn't pass, but they were close enough that the National Ministry of Education will allow them to "retake" the test. It's not exactly a retake though. If the first test included biology, this time they'll have chemistry instead. I suppose there are some pro's and con's to taking a test over different subjects the second time around, but it would stress me out!

So, here's how our Mountain Top Ministries students fared on the Rheto national exam.

• 11 students will definitely be moving on to Philo next year, which means 42% passed the exam with flying colors
• 5 of the 26 students definitely failed the exam, so we have a failing rate of 19%
• the remaining 10 students will be retaking the exam this coming week, which means 38% could go either direction

I hope that our first Philo class (MTM is adding it this year for the first time) is at least 20 students. Hopefully of the kids retaking their exam will pass and be able to move on to Philo. The teachers have been working with the 10 students retaking the exam since the scores were released a couple of weeks ago. Please pray for these students as they prepare to take the exam again.

Student Writing: Letter to Miss Smith

At one point this year, I asked my Rheto class (the highest grade level MTM's school in Gramothe offered last year) to write a letter to me. I asked them to explain on aspect of Haitian culture to me. This is Nolken's letter about school. Can you guess which line is my favorite?