Meeting the Boys

After the settling in process, which consisted of throwing our suitcases down in the tent and standing under a fan for a few minutes, it was time to meet the boys that Bright Tomorrows has been supporting for the last few months. There are 13 in total and many of them live in the tent cities nearby, in a variety of different circumstances. Some have some family members, but not in the traditional set up as we might understand it, as many are fending for themselves. Most don't know who their dads are and some even have abusive mothers who have harmed them. Others still have no parents; having lost them in the earthquake.


We were full of questions and a feeling of excitement and nervous anticipation all rolled into one. Would they understand us? Would they be able to answer our questions, or even want to? Was it Ok for us to ask them about the earthquake and how it had affected them? We sat in a circle and one by one the boys stood up to introduce themselves. At first it was a little stilted and formal...Do you like school? Yes, they replied. Do you have a brother/sister and so on. Time to dust off the very rusty A level French...Parlez en Creole they said, but that was a little beyond us at this point! It was getting late and we were all tired. A couple of the boys started to get restless and muck about a bit. This was a good sign..they were beginning to feel at ease with us and as every teacher has experienced, there is nothing more unnerving than a class of children who are too quiet!


As we talked, it also became apparent that these children were very much individuals. It was amazing to be able to already see their characters; some earnest, some cheeky, shy, confident. All unique...all real people, with real lives, worries and hopes. No longer just names that we had read and pictures that we had seen.... It was going to be fantastic getting to know them over the next few days!