Classroom Visits

After a lot of planning, I was finally prepared today to start surveying members of the LCS community for my project. Early in the morning I was able to go into the two Segond classes (which would be like eleventh grade in the United States) and speak with the students about their own cell phone usage. Each of the students that I met today were so respectful and genuinely interested in learning more about my project and my own classwork in the United States.

What I find remarkable about each LCS student is their ability to communicate. Although most of the student’s first language is Kreyol, all of their primary school classes are taught in French. From an early age, each Haitian student is challenged to respect the potential for knowledge and thus learn how to communicate with their professors. Although Kreyol is heavily influenced by French, learning how to communicate in a new way is always unnatural at first.

At LCS, students are asked to rise to new, different challenges. Because many of the Volunteers here are the most comfortable teaching in their native tongue, all Teachers at LCS are asked to teach in their own language. For example, one of my roommates teaches Spanish and French classes here. Therefore, as an U.S. Volunteer, all of her explanations and directions in her Spanish and French classes are in the English language. Although this is easy for her, it amazes me that each of these students can easily switch from language to another. By the time that students reach their final year, or Philo year, at LCS, they are truly able to grasp different languages, and also understand the value behind a challenging education.

So, when I went into the class today I was shocked to discover how well each student could speak English. Even when they did not understand all that I was saying right away, they quickly grasped the concept once changed the wording of my explanations or spoke a little slower. I found myself admiring the thirst for knowledge that many of the Segond students possessed, as they were not afraid to ask for clarification when needed or ask for more information. I was even able to ask them some of my own questions, separate from the survey, about how to say certain things in Kreyol and what they thought about cell phones in general.

Not only was I able to speak with some students today, but I was also able to interview a few members of the LCS staff to find out how much they spend on phone plans and how much they use their cell phones. Hearing from both students and staff, I was able to gain a clearer picture of the Haitian community as a whole. Tomorrow I will hopefully be going into a Philo Economics class to discuss my survey and the demographics of Haiti. There are some amazing statistics about the Haitian population on which I am hoping the Philo students can help shed some light.