Thy will be done

God has decided we will not be going to South Dakota.  Oh I wonder what He has planned for me.  What ever it is, I'm ready!

Haiti? No... South Dakota

As any of my followers know, I've applied to Teach for America and I'm in the waiting period.  The face to face interview is in a few days.  But in the meantime, I've been teaching English to my kids in Haiti and reading everything I can about South Dakota.  So this is what I've found. Alcoholism affects 8 out of 10 families. The housing shortage is large. There are families that live for months in a tent.  An average of 17 people live in a house built for four. Approximately 49% of the households are without electricity. The houses are lacking stoves, refrigerators, beds and furniture. Water is stored in fifty gallon containers. Malnutrition is rampant. Families lack money to buy food. Tuberculosis, pneumonia, alcohol related accidents, and violence is common place.  Twelve year old children have been treated because of venereal diseases.  Early sexual activity leads to a high number of teen pregnancies. Diabetes is found in 45% of the adults. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Effects including abnormalities affects every aspect of the population.  Bi-polarity and manic depressive disorder lead to suicide. Teen suicide is the second leading cause of teen death rates.  The rate for abuse and neglect is double the US rate. 40% of all cases of child abuse are not reported. Sexual abuse causes changes in school performance, aggressiveness, depression and suicide attempts. 

I find it amazing how many similarities there are between the South Dakota kids and my Haiti kids.  What may be seen as a great disparity between the United States and Haiti is not so different in reality. It's time someone started shouting this from the hilltop. 

South Dakota? No.... Haiti

English Classes in Haiti

Yesterday, just when I was having what my Haiti sister and I call "Haiti withdrawals" one of the kids (maybe I should call him a young man) IM'd me on Facebook and told me that he and a group of friends got together, found a place that has a computer and Skype.  They asked if I would teach them on Monday.  So... that was today and we held class for a little over an hour.  It was great and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of the class.  There were only five students but that was perfectly fine.  All the students were unknown to me before 3:00 today. So we spent just a few minutes exchanging our names then we got right to work.  My first class is always going over the a-b-c's and the sounds that the letters make.  Creole speakers have a tendency not to open their mouths when they talk and when the English words come out... often they sound like something close but not exactly.  This group of guys speak English "piti" meaning only a tiny bit.  But I'm always amazed because when I share my screen and type a word, they almost always can, what I'll call read... the words.  So to practice our sounds I typed the words, chip, ship, sheep.  We practiced and practiced until my ears could actually hear the differences between the words. Then I asked them to try using the words in a sentence.  Well, as it turns out they had no idea what any of those words meant. Now I'm smiling because sure, they can say those words but they have no idea what they are saying.  Time here for the teacher (read Vicki) to back up and do some checking.  Chip<<< what does that mean? OH no clue!  Chips, potato chip, you know fried potatoes?  No? Ok, well let's see..... (Many times in Haiti, things are called the name brand) so I tried "Frito lay" and the smiles came out!  So now we know chips!  Ship was easy to explain with a few hand movements and the word water, and sheep was easy enough it's mouton. The class ended about an hour and a few minutes later with promises to see each other again on Friday at 3:00 (central time)  

Now you might be wondering why I'm talking about this when my last couple of posts have been about Teach for America.  This is why.  My heart lives in Haiti but a side trip to South Dakota is what God has planned for me. (I think)  I've already begun a blog that will be used to connect the kids in Haiti to the kids in South Dakota. I think they will find they have more in common than either one of them will believe.  I've been spending hours researching the kids in South Dakota and found they have a low graduation rate and something like every 26 seconds a kid (across the US) drops out of school.  I think pairing up kids in Haiti with kids in South Dakota will be a good thing. The kids in Haiti would give anything to have the chance to go to school, maybe they can encourage the kids in SD to stay in school.  Just thinking about Skyping with the two classes at the same time makes me excited!  

If this doesn't work out with Teach for America I'm sure there is a reason. I'm trusting that God always knows that what ever He has planned for me, is ok with me. But until TFA tells me to pack my bag, you can find me teaching English to students at 4:00 (Haiti time) Look for us on Skype.  We'll conference you in! 

Teach for America Update from Illinois

Sunday afternoon in Illinois in February, it's raining, cold and the wind is blowing but I'm still a happy camper.  Teach for America invited me to the face to face interview.  I just want to remind everyone and myself as well... God has a plan.

Teach for America

About two weeks ago it struck me that I should really check out the organization that my daughter-in-law told me about called Teach for America. So... I did and in less than an hour I had written my letter of interest and uploaded my resume. That was the end of that. I didn't look to see if there was a "timeline" when they would get back to me. I just figured I'd hear something.... OR NOT. Which is often the case when you apply for something online. You spend time filling out all of this information and chasing down everything they want and you never hear a word back from them. Therefore, I didn't expect to really hear back from them.

I'll share my letter of interest for anyone who may be interested. I didn't even address this letter to anyone....

I would like to join Teach for America because I want to make a difference in the lives of children who have the potential to reach for the stars if only someone will point them towards the sky. I’m a mature college graduate who had to wait until my youngest child went off to college before I could finally follow my hearts dream. As life would have it, I’ve been able to work with youth since 1980 without a degree. Along the way I had the opportunity to attend various symposiums, classes and seminars but it was the practical experience that offered the greatest chance for me to learn what the children need. I am a volunteer teacher for youth in Haiti. I teach English via Skype to a packed classroom for an hour or two on what is less than a perfect Internet service. By working with youth for many years and having the opportunity to meet the kids in Haiti, I’ve learned how to teach, as my kids call it, “a whole bunch of ways to get where you want to go.” My experience shows kids of all ages have a curiosity about all things in life. They seek out ways to understand what is going on around them almost every moment of the day. Sometimes those experiences turn out to be positive, sometimes they don’t but if they find an adult that is willing to share life’s explorations with them many times it’s not such a bumpy road.

You ask three simple questions like there are three simple answers. There are not. It’s more the willingness of the mentor to bind with the children and trudge down the path together. Success is the moment the child finally gets how to subtract. It’s the kid that’s said “dat” instead of “that” it’s the mom, dad, aunt or sister who comes into the parent teacher conference smiling instead of fearful. There are no magic wands. It’s more like a smile where there’s a frown, an “ok” when all the kid has heard is “no.” It’s trying the same thing over and over and over until finally the magic happens. It’s never giving up on ones dreams no matter the obstacles in the way. I finished my degree in Homeland Security because our children are at risk and I wanted to know how to prevent our children from becoming involved. My conclusion is education. Skills that provide kids with methods to reason, to contemplate, to act in positive ways, to continue to reach for their goal and adults who surround them with love and support. That’s why I want to work for Teach for America and specifically in South Dakota. I’m going to leave my life in Illinois, that’ I’ve spent 30 years building to help children that deserve the opportunity to build their life, just the way I have. We’ll see what God has in mind for me and the children I’m going to get to teach.

*************************************************************Then about a week later I get this letter.
Dear Vicki,Congratulations! I am pleased to invite you to continue in the Teach For America admissions process. We enjoyed reviewing your application and would like to learn more about you and your experiences through a phone interview. 

As you can imagine, I was pretty excited. I quickly signed up for my telephone interview and called the people that I wanted to ask to be my references. On Thursday January 24, 2013 promptly at EXACTLY 8:30 (the time I signed up for) the phone rang. I talked to a young woman named Whitney for about 30 minutes. It was a really fun interview and I feel pretty great about it.... no matter the outcome. 


Maybe I should explain that I told them that I wanted to teach in South Dakota. The Sicangu (Rosebud) and Oglala (Pine Ridge) Lakota are sovereign nations that are situated within South Dakota's Todd and Shannon Counties—two of the five poorest counties in the United States. 
Since the moment I hung up the phone I've been researching everything I can about the area. I'm excited. As I told them in my letter of interest... We'll see what God has in mind for me.

Every day it's going to get better!

Click here>Every single day it's going to get better! 

Dedicated volunteer teacher!

Tony Saint Hubert is one of my students. He is now teaching at 1 & 2 Preparatory (Monde des Petits Genies) at Delmas in Port au Prince, Haiti.

Tony is a dedicated teacher who likes to chat with me about his class lessons and ways to engage children in the learning process.  

He is looking for a full time teaching position and more ways to volunteer.  If you would like to contact Tony, click on his link above or send me an email at vickisvision@gmail.com and I will forward it to him.