THE MOVE BACK TO CAMPUS - AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

This post was originally entitled "TWO WEEKS TO GO", but thanks to a week-long struggle with our lousy internet connection (bless its heart) and then a jump ahead on our timetable, our junior and senior high classes are moved back to the Cowman campus as of this morning.

I remember the days of dial up internet. THAT was FAST and RELIABLE compared to what we've had here since our return in August. When it takes two and a half hours to upload three photos, I have no patience or time left for writing. 

So most of these pictures were taken just over a week ago. We've been reuniting with the younger grades back on Cowman campus each Friday morning for the chapel service before loading our 27 older students into a few pick ups and heading back to our temporary home base. 

And it's been odd. We've been so separated from the rest of the staff and the younger students that it makes me feel a bit homesick to be there just 45 minutes a week. It's also odd because the consensus among our students is that they would like to STAY PUT in the temporary classrooms long term. The number one reason? Noise level. Our teens, unsurprisingly, have little appreciation for the screaming kindergarten set. AND Cowman has been a very loud construction zone for over a year now, most of it right outside our window. Not to mention the constant hum of the generator just over the school wall. 

It WILL be difficult to leave the quiet. But I am over the claustrophobia of my temporary room and ready to be back HOME. When we first came back to Haiti in August, I was not enthusiastic about the plan to set up temporary classrooms on the OMS grounds for several weeks while our new classrooms were finished up. (That's actually quite an understatement.) But now I see it as part of God's plan for us all - it was a bonding experience for us and a chance to establish our identity (among both teachers and students) as not just "the big kids at Cowman", but rather as the bona fide Cowman Junior and Senior High.   

Thanks to the arrival of Jeff (math) and Chris (science) Love and our good friend John Adams (history, appropriately enough) and the return of Pastor Jethro for French lessons, our students now see five different teachers in the course of each day. Hard to remember three years ago when Caleb and Hannah were basically with one teacher ... me ... ALL DAY LONG. 

I don't have the ability to upload the most recent pictures of the new rooms, but when I do, you'll see how much progress has been made in a very short time. About ten days ago, my new room looked something like this:

That's Jeff and Chris Love, with Melissa in between. 

That day, we came back to Cowman in the afternoon for a staff meeting. Good to be with friends!

Here is the outside door to my classroom.

The scaffolding that supported the new concrete roof was ready to come down that day after being left in place for two weeks while the roof had cured. 

The view of the kindergarten building from Chris' new science room.

Next up, as long as funds hold out, we'll be building upwards. Yes, it will probably be noisy. 

And here's a shot of what will soon become a distant memory - Mr. Mikken teaching art class to the junior and senior high boys in the temporary science room.

Last week our plan was to have four days of class this week and then take Friday off (and the following Monday) to make the move back to Cowman. Then along came Hurricane Matthew. With all the uncertainty of the storm's path and speed, the Haitian government urged all local schools to cancel classes for today and tomorrow. Since we weren't yet getting anything more than occasional sprinkles, we decided to make good use of the day by moving the classrooms back to campus. Within a few hours, the temporary classrooms were empty and the new classrooms were ... in disarray. But it was so much better than sitting around waiting for the coming storm. 

We're not sure what tomorrow will bring. God willing, my family will weather the storm without too much disruption. We're on high ground in a well-built house. We do covet your prayers for friends and others across Cap Haitien and the rest of Haiti who may have a much rougher course ahead of them. We're praying the storm will rapidly lose its strength. We'll keep you up to date as the internet allows. 

FIRST WEEK IN THE BOOKS

And what a week it was!

It's Sunday evening and our Internet is being less than cooperative with my laptop, so I'm trying to blog on my phone. I have little patience for thumb typing, so I'll keep the commentary short!

In all the activity of preparing to teach, I didn't forget that this was a new school year for the kids as well. Caleb is now a sophomore, Hannah a freshman, Samuel an 8th grader and Sarah is in 4th!

These folks have been crazy busy since arriving in Haiti last month and we are so very happy to have Jeff supervising math, Chris teaching science classes and Camden as a new 7th grader.

Our classes are upstairs from where I usually teach adult English classes. (This Tuesday will begin our new year for THAT!)

Ruysdael is helping us out at the temporary site. It's good to have him close.

Our other new teacher is John Adams. He is off to a great start with the social study classes.

Ruysdael is continuing his role this year as Creole teacher for the missionary kids. I didn't realize until the first day of school that I actually have free time while he teaches Caleb and Hannah,  so I'm joining the class!

Lunch time. No cafeteria!

The start of school always makes AFTER school times that much sweeter. Here Caleb and Brianna practice some guitar.

These two ladies are like family now, but their time in Haiti is drawing to a close this coming Tuesday. So we're trying to jam in as many experiences as possible for Jan and Judy. We asked Johnny to grab a couple of coconuts to share with them. What a guy!

Friday morning was an OMS prayer time, so we didn't have classes. Melissa and I took Jan and Judy in the afternoon to tour the Meds and Food for Kids facility on the other side of Cap Haitien.  They have an impressive operation producing nutritional peanut butter based snacks for malnourished children.

We were there to buy some of those snacks for the Potter's House orphans courtesy of Maelyn Kiser, an enterprising young lady from our home church who raised money last year as a high school senior to help the orphans.

The kids enjoyed their extra day off at home: Friday afternoon in the yard on the rope swing.

Yesterday we took Jan and Judy to the beach - a well deserved reward for so much work they've done for Cowman over the last two weeks.

As a bonus for us, our friends from Emmaus Seminary were also there. Sarah enjoyed some time with Lily and Sofie and baby Nora.

And we inaugurated our new inflatable kayak - a little family toy I snuck onto the container early in August.

I loved watching Jan play in the sand with Samuel and Camden!

A fantastic lunch all together at Cormier Beach. I almost forgot to mention that Valerie Colie was also with us - she's another one who has worked tirelessly to get Cowman off to a good start this year!

This morning I took Jan and Judy out to see Daniel and his kids. It's always eye-opening and humbling to see the neighborhood kids who come to eat and to watch Daniel at the helm, week after week serving his neighborhood in Jesus' name. 

Afterward, I spent most of the afternoon ... and the evening with my head under the kitchen sink.  I was determined to finally get rid of what Melissa has been calling the "camping sink" and install the nice deep sink and new faucet that my brother Spencer gave us (over a year ago!).

I'm not the most skilled handy man on the planet, but I persevered.

And ALMOST succeeded. 

It's not clipped down or caulked and there's a small drip underneath, but good enough to start washing some dishes. Samuel got the honor of being the first to use the new sink.

I have to say it again: We are BLESSED! Good friends, fulfilling work and running water. We can't ask for much more. Thanks for your support and prayers. We are looking forward to seeing what week number two holds!

NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME

But here it comes anyway. The first day of school. TOMORROW!

And it's going to be another historic year. For Melissa, the biggest change is that she won't be tied to one particular classroom, but will be supervising and guiding the teachers from preschool through 6th while continuing to develop the school's curriculum. For me, the biggest change is that we actually have a junior and senior high now (through 10th grade, anyway) and I get to focus on Bible and English for them all because we have new folks in place to teach social studies, math and science for these upper levels. Big things are happening!

Our family returned to Haiti almost three weeks ago and it feels like we've been running non-stop ever since, while picking up the pace a bit with each passing day. Melissa and I are pooped out - and we're not the only ones. 

But we are VERY THANKFUL for a short delay for our start date. If we had started last Thursday as originally planned, it could have been a complete disaster. 

For our junior high and high school students, the pictures below show THE major source of disruption. Construction on the two new classrooms fell behind last spring - due to mango tree roots being where a foundation needed to be - and it just never recovered. 

Here's me last week in my new classroom:

And our new science teacher, Chris Love, in hers:

And Melissa's new office:

With absolutely no spare rooms on Cowman's campus, the best solution regarding unfinished classrooms was to use a couple of the old seminary classrooms on the main OMS mission grounds to temporarily house the junior and senior high. Advantage: these classrooms are a short walk from our house.

Disadvantage: 

Well, nothing that some paint and a few gallons of sweat couldn't fix. 

We DID get a few breaks from work now and then, for sanity's sake. The Loves treated us to lunch at the Cap Deli one day, for example.

And we made a few trips into the market in Cap Haitien.

And there were a few training sessions mixed in as well. Here, our two wonderful house guests from Oregon, Jan and Judy, led a seminar on effective teaching practices. These two ladies have been an incredible blessing to Cowman and our family. They work through the day non-stop, drop into bed at night and jump out of bed the next day ready to go at it again. And all with an incredibly durable servant attitude and a humble dependence on prayer. 

In the height of the craziness of school preparation, the Loves' container arrived on Thursday. This has to be a record - 3 weeks from Indianapolis to the Loves' front yard.

A wonderful blessing to have it arrive so quickly, but it certainly did add to the craziness in huge ways, especially for the Loves.

Here Chris oversees the unloading, the sorting and the inspecting of box after box by customs officials. 

Much of the shipment consisted of the Loves' household items, but the medical clinic got the lion's share with several hospital beds, exam tables and birthing beds. Some items ended up in our yard as well: the kids' basketball goal, a futon, some book shelves and lots and lots of shoes from our friends at Shiloh Wesleyan Church in Spencer and the sweet kids at Little Seeds Preschool in Columbus. 

And another blessing - many new (to us) resources also came for Cowman. Chris has a teacher friend who donated dry erase boards, microscopes and lab equipment! 

Anyway, it's Sunday night and the dust is just now settling and I think Melissa and I are feeling (mostly) ready for a new school year to start. 

Our new classrooms currently look like this:

The scaffolding is holding plywood in place so that the ceilings can be poured next week. Then it all stays in place while the cement cures for two weeks. 

So we will be in the temporary classrooms for at least the next few weeks. Mine now looks like this:

It's tight, but functional.

And Melissa didn't want me to show you pictures of her office, because it is not entirely organized yet, but you wouldn't believe how much sorting and boxing and shelving has gone on in here over the past week - all while new loads of STUFF were continually dumped in the center of the room!

If you think of it, could you lift a prayer for our first day - for the students (especially the ones who are brand new), for our teachers (again, especially the ones who are brand new), and for our principal, Angie Bundy, who has been down all weekend with a bad back?

We'll keep you posted on our progress!