A Library for the Methodist School in Cap Haitian

I have been looking for books to share with Haitian children and came across a book by Uri Shulevitz, How I Learned Geography.  It is a brief story, illustrated by the author, of his life as a WWII refugee living in Central Asia.  It is a perfect book for Haitian children—an interesting story with a good message that takes place in an economically depressed country. The author tells how he went to bed hungry one night because his father brought home a map rather than bread. This map played a key role in the development of his imagination and drawing skills.  How important is it for people who struggle for their daily bread to develop their imagination?

How many books are in your home?  Did you read stories to your children?  Many Haitian homes contain a Bible and many students have at least some of the books they need for school, but, for the most part, that’s about it.  There is no lending library in Cap Haitian and there may not be one in the entire country. Does the fact that you have read many great books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Wind in the Willows, Stuart Little, Homer Price, and A Tale of Two Cities have anything to do with the fact that you have a job, participate in a democracy, and live in community with others?  Did fiction by  C. S. Lewis and J. R. R Tolkein help bring you a step closer to the Kingdom of God? 

Relief is meeting people’s basic needs now.  Development is helping people meet their needs in the future.   There are people in Haiti whose basic needs are not being met today, but tomorrow is a bigger threat to most Haitians than is today.  As Christians we understand that knowing Jesus a key factor for meaningful development to take place.  Is it enough?  How important is literacy and access to good books to the development of a society?  What role does the imagination play?

I think that building a library for the Methodist primary and secondary school in Cap Haitian (College Model) provides a wonderful opportunity for our church to contribute to the development of Haiti—one mind and imagination at a time.  Good books, unlike aid dollars, can never end up in the wrong hands.   The first goal is to raise the funds for the library building and books.  The ongoing challenge and opportunity will be to help the school select books, develop a system to circulate the books in the community, and create a culture that enjoys and values reading. This should keep us busy for some time.

Bill Benish

The Joy of Giving

What is your first memory of Christmas?

Perhaps it involves receiving a special gift? Maybe it’s a memory of going to a relative’s home for the holiday, singing carols as a family or making luminaries. Perhaps it’s your first memory of being at the Christmas Eve service.

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Do you remember the first time you knew the joy of giving, rather than receiving?

The first time I remember being excited about giving was the first time I made gifts to give my family. I was about ten years old, and at that time we didn’t do crafts at school to take home. But a children’s program on TV had a craft spot where they demonstrated how to make things. When it got close to Christmas they always showed you how to make a hanging Advent candleholder – it involved coat hangers and tinsel, but I could never figure out what to hang it from, as it was fairly big!

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Anyway, one week they showed you how to make a snowman gift holder. It was a glass jar, covered with cotton wool and decorated to look like a snowman, then filled with something appropriate for the recipient.

I made one each for my parents, my sister and my grandparents. The ones for my mum and nana were filled with bath salts, my dad’s and grandad’s with mini-cigars (provided by Mum!) and my sister’s with candy. They were quite large and I wanted them to be a surprise on Christmas morning, which was when we opened our presents. This was made extra difficult by the fact that we were spending Christmas away that year.

We were going to be with my nana and grandad at an old coast guard’s cottage on the east coast. So I had to secrete them in my suitcase, and keep them hidden in my bedroom. Then I had to somehow place them on the mantelpiece on Christmas morning before anyone was up, so they’d be a surprise. 

One major obstacle was getting downstairs without disturbing everyone. The upstairs bedrooms at the cottage all connected directly with each other, with no hallway. So, on Christmas morning, before anyone else was awake I had to creep from our bedroom without disturbing my sister, then through my parents’ bedroom, then into my grandparents’ bedroom where the stairs were. Tiptoeing down the creaky stairway I made it downstairs without anyone knowing (or letting on that they knew!) I carefully placed my glass snowmen jars on the mantelpiece and waited for everyone else to wake up.

I still remember the wonderful feeling I had when my family saw them and their surprise when they opened them up. 

The joy of giving. Do you remember feeling that for the first time? Please share your story in the comments – we’d love to hear it 

Sue Palmer