There weren't really any organized events on Friday, but it was still a great day. Most of us started the day with Mass at 7 am. I am touched by the commitment I saw from most of our teens when given the option. On Thursday afternoon, Ron had instructed Martin to tell the local kids that our kids would be at Mass in the morning, so there were well over a hundred St. Charles students in attendance at Mass. They got up and ready for school an hour earlier than normal in order to join our kids. It was a great sight.
Most of you who know me already know that Holy Mass anywhere is one of my favorite places on earth, and it is an extra special experience in Carrefour Sanon. One of the things I find most beautiful about our Catholic faith is that the Mass is so universal. Though I know only a few phrases in Haitian Creole, I knew exactly what was happening throughout the Mass and was able to follow and pray along with my Magnificat prayer book, and even shared the app on my phone with some of the girls so they could follow the scripture readings in English. I find it so comforting to know that our brothers and sisters in Carrefour Sanon (and everywhere else in the world) are parying and worshipping right along with us when we are at home.
I was especially touched by the effort Father made to include us during Mass. Though he has very limited English, he did his best to summarize the message of his homily and included special prayers for both our group and our parish during the Eucharistic prayer. Each Mass was a beautiful experience and it was a great way to start the day.
At about 10 am, Ron and Francie headed down to Jeremy to meet with some of the sponsored students, and Kerrie, Martin and I stayed in Carrefour Sanon with the kids for the day. While the St. Charles students were in school (about 600 total), there were a small number of students around who attend other schools and were already on summer vacation. Times like this provided the opportunity for a little different experience. For example, fewer kids hovering on the porch allowed me to get out a matching game and my Creole-English Dictionary and explain to the kids how to play. I was able to use simple vocabulary and picked up some words from the kids who knew a little English and we worked it out quickly and enjoyed multiple rounds. (Chimes of "Encore??" echoed after each round.) With Martin's help, I was able to lay down some rules about taking turns and not cheating. With my love for languages and teaching, it became one of my favorite memories of the trip. After the matching game, I had some similar experiences with working together on a couple big floor puzzles. Puzzles are not something most of them have experience with, so I had to work through the language and present a process for figuring out where pieces belonged. It was a blast!
It was an extra hot day and while there was still lots of play and interaction throughout the day, our kids also spent some time relaxing, processing their experiences thus far, and there were some especially deep (and sometimes heated) faith discussions on the back porch at the sisters' house. There was definitely some growth in understanding and in relationships.
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| Beautiful tree on the school grounds |
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| Best buds resting |
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| Hamming it up. |
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| Chilling on the porch. |
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