We began sponsoring her to go to school on the mountain 3 years ago. Last year we brought her down from the mountain and enrolled her in National School. They immediately informed us that she was too far behind and too hard-headed to learn. She would be expelled by the end of the semester. Now she is almost 15 and living in our home, and we've decided to homeschool. This girl just needs a chance. She's got what it takes, she just learns differently, and we don't believe she should be put in a corner and left behind.
I seem to remember a boy who couldn't focus, got too nervous for tests, and couldn't help but stare out the window at the bird soaring so effortlessly in the wind. Some teachers loved to ridicule that boy and make a mockery of his daydreaming, and yet other teachers, amen, other teachers, saw something and decided instead to be tender and teach outside the box. They recognized the need to help him in different ways, and they saw past a boy with nervous ticks and helped him to look into his soul... Funny, those are the teachers whose names I will never forget. :)
We've just hired a pastor who is a close friend and also a professor to tutor her, and we're going to make the best go of it that we can. We do not have alot of provision, and so we'd like to ask for your prayers. The pastor deserves more than I am able to pay him right now. He is overqualified and yet the most humble man I know in Haiti, and I know he will approach this task as if it is for Jesus Christ himself. Yesterday was officially Oberline's first day of homeschooling. We are beginning with the equivalent of second grade. Please join us in praying mostly for Love, because when we abound in it, as my Bible promises, we will have knowledge, depth of insight, and the discernment to do what is best.
Right now we have a borrowed desk and chairs, and we've made a chalkboard. We're using the room in the back, and it's a modest start. Dream a little dream with us, and let's see what great things God will do.
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