Ending the year on an encouraging note

 So when I moved to Haiti about 10 years ago, I was just more clueless than I could imagine, and I knew I had no idea what was going on. But my main goal was to start a special needs classroom. After a little bit of time, we were having students enroll, and I would ask why are they here. They seemed fine, I wanted to make sure it was a special needs school, not just a classroom for kids who could not afford school, the mission already had a school for them. I soon realized that what I thought was a disability and what Haiti thought a disability was, are two very different things. So Elena entered our classroom, and honestly she did not belong, she was learning faster than the others and should be in regular school. So we advocated for her and got her in school, two years ago she finished sixth grade!! Which is great as we had to start her in kindergarten, last year she asked if we could help with money for school and we did. This past summer she came by and said she needed to talk to me and Presen Dieu. She asked for school help again, but she was in the same grade again. When I asked why she was repeating 7th grade, she said she did not go to school last year. Instead she used her school money to pay for her dads funeral. We told her she should have come by and talked to us last year. But she said we trusted her with the money and she did not spend it on what she said she would. Still told her she should have come by. Anyway, we knew we could not help her finish out school. We encouraged her and told her she was smart enough to finish, it was just not a financial commitment we could make. So we asked her if she had thought about trade school, she said it has been her dream to go to pastry school. So we enrolled her in a two year program for pastry school. It has become an odd highlight, when she comes to the center to show off what she has made and give us a taste try. Love seeing these kids that started with us turn into adults and have plans for the future!! Love seeing them do what they love and seeing them thrive!!