As we rode into Trouin on my first day, Pere Michaud stopped at a distance and pointed at the school and the rest of the city saying, “Now we are both home.” And every person made me feel that way. As much of an oddity as I must have been on one hand, I was also just another person living and working in Trouin, trying to make it the best it could be. Pere Michaud and I started a clean-up campaign on the school campus which he wants to continue a long the main road in Trouin.
Our school is built but still needs floors, transparent window panels for additional light, and ventilation, all of which should be in place within the next couple of weeks. None of these things have kept two of the rooms in the building from being used this school term but the mosquitoes have! I’ve never seen such a sight as those little insects lined up by the hundreds along the steel beams and scattered across the walls. Although the classrooms had to be evacuated, it is hoped that the problem will dissipate once the floors are in and there is more ventilation. The building has become the showcase of the community that is shown off at every possible occasion to the many interested residents and visitors alike. For better or worse, I became the poster child for St. Francis Church and was thanked by people within St. Mark’s church and school as well as other community members. Everyone was grateful to St. Francis for what we have provided to improve the lives of the people in Trouin.
Progress is definitely being made in Trouin. Aside from the school there is a new beautiful solar-operated medical center built by Canadians and a purified water facility and charging center run by the Episcopal Church and available to everyone in the area. And after three weeks of almost no way to communicate with the “outside world”, on my LAST night there the internet came to town through a stick drive provided by a new company out of Viet Nam.
That being said, the school is still very traditional with teachers lecturing to extremely large classes (as many as 54 students) and students using choral repetition or copying information from the chalkboard. My methods were met by reactions from impressive wonder to the feeling that the students just couldn’t understand me. Both students and teachers seemed quite pleased that I was there, however, and felt that it was good for students to have exposure to English by a native speaker and American culture. I had the unique pleasure of working with every student at St. Mark’s from Kindergarten (which started at age 2) through high school. The teachers were very gracious in allowing me to break into their schedules every couple of days and the students were a complete joy. I found that teaching as well as learning is more alike than different regardless of location.
Besides teaching I was also a student. After morning prayer each morning I got a mini lesson in Creole upon which I was quizzed all day by community members I en countered who were quite pleased when I was able to say anything in their language.
Even though I went there to teach I learned an awful lot. The people of Trouin have difficult lives and have suffered many hardships but their positive attitudes and happy nature served as a constant reminder to me that you make your own happiness and that I certainly have a lot to be thankful for.
Caroline LaBorde
