Work Team

Curtis and Andre arrived in Haiti yesterday and were eager to start working.  We are thankful that they could arrive and help fix up parts of the building and build new parts of our school.  Today was their first day and they accomplished a lot of work with the help of some the secondary students. 

Curtis and Andre

Before the storage room was the there...

The finished product...

The inside of the storage room, a great use of the area!  Well done boys!! :)

The wheelchair ramp fixed and repaired. 

The secondary students lending a helping hand.

The new closets for the church and the kitchen.
Before:

The finished product:

The skylight in the middle of the building received a majar overall.  The old one had cracks everywhere and was in a lot of water.  The work team tore off the old one.  They raised the ridge to allow the hot air to escape and some cool air to come into the building.
The skylite during construction:

The finished project:

Working on the new concrete pad:

We have a Mailing Address!

Cornelius and/or Melinda Broersma
c/o Agape Flights PAP 26510
100 Airport Avenue
Venice, FL  34285


If anyone would like to send us mail, cards, packages...mail to the above address will be forwarded to a P.O. Box here in Port-au-Prince weekly.  Yay, I love mail :) 

This method of mailing is provided by a Christian Mission Oganization called Agape Flights.  They provide mail to Christian organizations in Haiti, Dominican Republic and Bahamas.  If you are sending a package the cost is whatever it costs you to send it to Florida.  However for us to receive it from Florida to us in Port au Prince, it would cost us an extra $1.50 a pound.  Packages should be limited to 40 lbs. maximum.  If anyone wants to cover the cost of shipping the package or make a donation to Agape Flights, attach an envelope to the outside of the box labelled Agape Office with your donation/payment inside.  Thanks a bunch. 

The final day for the teachers.

The teachers from Canada did an excellent job throughout the week.  The teachers from Adoration Christian School expressed there gratitude by sharing different ideas that they had learned throughout the week.  It was wonderful to see every teacher go up and get their certificates.  God truly blessed the time that was spent at Adoration!  We are thankful for the what could be taught, we are thankful for what could be learned.  We pray that the teachers will take these ideas and thoughts into the classrooms that they have and use them throughout the year. 

One of the teachers receiving her certificate for attending the seminars.

The teachers from Adoration thanking the Canadian teachers.

All those involved in the seminars throughout the week.

Thank you so much Al, Theresa, and Julie for travelling from Canada to Haiti to work along side the teachers from Adoration.  We are thankful for the knowledge that you shared and the experiences that you had in your own classrooms.  You showed that teaching in Canada is quite similar as teaching in Haiti.  Putting God first and foremost in the classroom is the key to a good teaching environment.  Thank you for everything you have done and may God bless you each in your walk.  Go with God!

CHLOE'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Today was a very big day; Chloe's first day of school.  Chloe was so excited to start school that she jumped up out of bed right away when she woke up. She ran to Mindy and said "It is tomorrow mom, I am going to school!"  Chloe has started junior kindergarten at Quisqueya Christian school.  There are nine other students in her class.  She goes to school from 8 o'clock until lunch time.  She was very happy when I picked her up and showed me a sticker she had received for "good listening". 

Chloe all dressed up in her school uniform and backpack.

Proud parents of their daughter's first day of school. 

Chloe's spot at the table she is sharing.

Teachers Hard at Work

Each teacher got a chance to hang their paper mache ball

Two of the teachers painting their paper mache balls.

Randy and Ilda coming up with questions for journal writing.

Studying the Bible for questions

Teachers Team 2011

Julie Lindhout, Al Stares, and Theresa Douma flew into Port au Prince on Thursday afternoon.  In the following week they will be having workshops for the teachers at Adoration Christian School on different Art projects, journalling, Math manipulatives, establishing Christian perspective and world view, classroom management and expressive language strategies.  We pray and ask you to pray for a good week of studies and learning for both groups involved.

The seminars have started:  Al has spent a great deal of time teaching about perspective and how important it is to have a Christian perspective on teaching.  The students need to know that the teachers love them and love them as fellow brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.  We need to understand who Christ is so that we can understand the difference between Christian schools and other schools.  The Holy Spirit works through us to help us look at the world differently than we would by ourselves.  Christians are set apart because we believe different things.  Each subject must be taught in that Christian perspective.  Each teacher needs to instill God in their classes. 

Al and Pastor Octavius



















An interactive lesson with the teachers as they try and figure out what is behind the wall.

Julie has introduced Journal writing.  She has asked all the teachers to be different ages.  The teachers were pretending to be Kindergarten to Grade 2.  She asked them what the weather was like, what day it was and then asked which ones could read it depending on the age of the 'students'.  It was neat to see the teachers pretending to be in different ages and 'trying' to read the words on the blackboard.

Julie teaching in fluent French!!  She did really well explaining what needed to be explained.

Theresa taught the teachers how to use Bingo cards in both Math and Language Arts.  In Language Arts different words were written on the sheet and the teachers had to listen for the words in the story.  The first teacher to reach Bingo received a sticker.  Boy did it competative for that one sticker.

Ilda was the winner of the first round of Bingo!

Throughout the week Theresa is also teaching the teachers different Art lessons.  These lessons include self portraits, mosaics, and paper mache.  It is fun watching the teachers draw and colour and create.

Soccer Tournament

Samuel, Yder, and Cadeau organized a soccer tournament for past two weeks.  There are 12 teams that are participating in this tournament.  Randy and myself are part of a four man team.  All soccer matches take place in front of the school in a place that is is about 60 feet by 15 feet.  Each net is only 2 feet by 2 feet. This game is a game all about finesse and skill. 

One of our soccer games in progress!

Our team: Randy, Michelet, myself and Yder

A game in progress, fast and fun!

Theresa playing in a skirt, isn't she crazy, Mike!  Bring back memories :)

Karen joined the fun by playing in the pregame match.

Our faithful fans, you can always hear Chloe and Maia cheering, "Go Daddy Go!"

A big shout goes out to the St. Catharines Jets for donating many jerseys to Adoration Christian School.  They have have come in handy especially for this tournament.

Remembering our home land

Some good friend of ours gave us a way to remember which country we came from.  Thank you for the shirts, the socks, and the cap.  We wear them all the time.

Chloe loves her animals

Every since arriving at Randy and Karen's house Chloe has not stopped showing love to their three dogs and one cat.  She has helped Uncle Randy feed them, she has shown me where the cat eats his food, where his water container is.  She loves beening around them.  Today she went to our new house and she fell in love with her adopted animals.  She loves Angel and Pearl.  Our new house also has a turtle and a fish and she loves them just as much.