July 13, 2013- Foreign Language Institute- Haiti- Learning English
Saturday, July 13- “Lord be with us, not just for today but every day because we cannot learn English
without you, dear Lord.”
And so English class begins for the adult students at the Foreign Language Institute (FLI). There are 25
of them in this crowed, poorly lit, poor equipped classroom. Run by young men and women who barely
have a high school education, these dedicated teachers work for little to no pay. They rent four classrooms
in a building that accommodates several other English language schools. Consequently, the demand for
classroom space means FLI can only offer classes in the late afternoons on Saturday and Sunday.
It is surprising to me to see what natural teachers some of them are. They do not impose tuition on
anyone. Students pay what they can. The teachers would rather someone learn English than get paid.
“English is the only way that Haiti to get better”, says Max, the founder and proud principal of FLI.
So how do these young people support themselves? During our 5 week HFI program, these teachers serve
as our camp counselors. We pay them $15 a day which is an exorbitant salary in Haiti. They are able to
stretch this money ($375) to get them through the year.
Yesterday, I sat with Jeams, the Dean of Students, as he paid the counselors. As they received their
meager pay, he reminded each of them of their commitment to return a day’s pay to the FLI. This money
will be used to pay for expenses to run FLI. Everyone handed back $15, without argument or attitude.
FLI students wear a color specific tee shirt as part of the uniform. The green tee shirts indicate a
beginning learner. The orange tee shirts go to those at the intermediate level. The advances students
wear a red tee shirt.
Two students come in 40 minutes late, a typical behavior in Haiti. The sun and the heat just zaps
everyone’s energy. And with an unemployment rate of 90%, few people really have any need to be on time
for anything. But at FLI, it is expected to be on time. So these two students (adults) are publicly
reminded that this is bad behavior.
“You are very late", the teacher tells then sternly. His glare follows them until they are in their seat and
their notebooks are now open. They sit for a few minutes with lowered heads, an acknowledgement of
their shame.
Slowly and deliberately, he goes back to his lesson. “Do your best and God will provide, OK, repeat this
again, after me, please”, he tells the rest of the class.
We move on the greetings. The teacher writes on the board: This is how we introduce ourselves.
“Happy to know you, Bob.” He demonstrates in a clear, cheerful, loud voice. The students meekly repeat
after him.
“I am glad to meet you.”
“I am so happy to make your acquaintance.”
When they part company (or as the teacher said, “taking leave after seeing someone”), they are taught to
respond with:
“See you later Samuel.”
“It was my pleasure to meet you, Jack”.
“We will meet again, God willing”.
The teacher fills the board with sentences and words. The students write everything down in their
notebooks. Soon, the teacher needs another piece of chalk so he sends a student to Max (the director) to
retrieve another piece. Single pieces of chalk and paper are prudently distributed by administration only..
Students spend 20 minutes practicing their greetings. Now, the class ends. The students stay in their
seats and wait for the next class to begin. Sophianna slides in to teach the next class. The two teachers
cross paths; Claus slips the piece of chalk in Sophianna’s hand and grammar class begins. We are now
going to learn about the past tense of the verb “to be”.
