“Working with the pupils in a neighbourhood of Cabaret in Haïti as a way of humanity”.

In October last year, I took over from Sr. Anne Rouxel in welcoming the children and young people of the neighbourhood in order to help them with their homework. Some days there can be a good dozen of them, aged from 4 to 16-17 years old and at very different levels. Some are motivated, others less so. It takes a lot of patience! ….

• Idelle is 8 years old and is in her second ‘foundation year’, which corresponds to the first year of elementary school in other countries. When I met her for the first time she was very hesitant with her reading. She read the words she had learned at school, but was very reticent at sight-reading. After some weeks she had gained in confidence and made a lot of progress …. she discovered that she could read something that she had not seen at school. Today she asks for books to read, in Creole or in French, and helps the others with their difficulties.

• Sophonie, 16 years old, no longer goes to school because her parents cannot pay the fees. She is at second-year foundation level and wanted to relearn the basics in order to be able to read. She is happy with the progress she has made. She wanted to write the first names of her brothers and sisters and friends. With a little help she has managed it and is delighted.

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• Marie-Mirlène is 15 years old and is in 6th foundation year (certificate of studies class). She is happy to be able to revise her mathematics, in particular the understanding of problems, and also grammar ….

• Oldine, 4 years old, has a sheet of paper on which to write o, a, u, i … and draws with Loveline.

• Gesnerline finds the gravel in the courtyard useful for counting and making groups of ten ….

• Monika, 12 years old and who cannot read well, learns her lessons by repeating them after the others. These are just some examples.

• There are also some boys but they are less regular in their attendance. Often we finish by sharing a glass of water.

« Being with …. wanting to walk at their pace …. trying to contribute modestly to a ‘plus’ in their lives …. welcoming the smiles when their faces light up …. sharing a song or a prayer proposed by one or the other …. they often belong to a group in a Protestant church …. God our Creator accompanies us on this way of humanity ….”

Sr. Marie-Hélène Jaouen, f.j.