June 25, 2019

God provided a way for our children!!!

This is the time of year when we love to be able to give a glowing report about our children finishing another successful year of school. As a result of the unrest that has been happening in Haiti, the end of this school year has not been smooth. 

During the protests that have been taking place over the past couple weeks, many schools in Haiti had to close the school year early because of safety concerns.  Since there has been no protesting in the area of Gressier, the schools our children go to were able to stay open. Most of the younger children in our home have been finishing their school year over the last couple weeks, but this was not the case for two of our older children, Dinia and Guerby, who needed to take the ninth grade exam.

Let us explain a little about school in Haiti….

A very important part of school in Haiti is the final exam process.  In the United States, students pass from grade to grade based on their year-end average.  In Haiti, students must pass a year-end FINAL TEST in order to progress to another grade the following year. The individual schools administer the year-end final test for MOST of the grades.  (Therefore our younger children have been able to take their tests.) The tests for grades 9, 11, and 12 MUST BE administered and supervised by the government.  Those exams are normally three days long and were scheduled to take place this week: Monday through Wednesday, June 24-26. 

However, the “Ministry of Education” is closed due to the ongoing protesting in Haiti, and it appeared there was no possible way for Dinia and Guerby to receive student ID cards and instructions about where to go to take the test! It was a very heartbreaking situation!  Parents had asked the government to reschedule the exam dates, but no change was made. The “Ministry of Education” has no guidelines or plan for a situation like this. It created a very HELPLESS feeling for our students and other students and parents in Haiti.

TO OUR AMAZEMENT, late Friday, Dinia and Guerby received their student ID cards and instructions for where to take the ninth grade official exam!  They were able to begin the test yesterday and continue today.  If they had not been able to take the test, Dinia and Guerby would have no idea whether they would pass to the next grade. We are so grateful that God made a way for this to happen!!!

Continue to pray with us for peace, a stable government, and God’s provision for the many needs of the Haitian people!!!!

                                                                       

Older children at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year.
Younger children at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year.

Updated: June 29, 2019

We want to give PRAISE and GLORY to God!!!!!

ALL of our children have now completed the 2018-2019 school year.

In spite of the problems in the country, Dinia and Guerby were able to go to the exam site and complete their 9th grade official tests Mon through Wed this week.

Jean-Yves and Wood were the last to finish their regular year-end exams yesterday. 

We PRAISE GOD for helping them through the most difficult school year they have ever faced!  Never before was school cancelled as many days as it was during this school year. In many areas of Haiti, parents often had to take their children to school and wait outside at the end of the day because of danger in the streets.  GOD protected our children and brought them through safely, and we give all GLORY, HONOR, and PRAISE to HIM!!!!!