Jean Robert

Jean Robert is a sweet and gentle young man. He is quiet and thinks long and hard about life. He is a hard worker, responsible, caring, and compassionate. Jean Robert is also a magnet to kids. Often we will find the little neighbor girl come over and just sit with him. Jean Robert would have been given a lot more responsiblility if it were not for the fact that he has trouble with school. He has had to struggle to keep his grades up. Often we will find Jean Robert with his nose in the Bible, while the rest of the boys are off being boys.

After the first semester was over, Jean Robert was really really down after not passing. Nixon sat down with him and Jean Robert explained that his mother was really sick and he just hadn't been able to concentrate for a while. He shared his thoughts about how he felt he should start working instead of finishing school. He just felt it was his responsibility. Nixon felt his pain as he poured out his frustrations. My husband really felt he should just encourage Jean Robert as much as possible to look at the big picture, to look at the long range view and see that education is an opportunity to make our lives better although the road is not always easy. We told him that he would respect any decision he made although his encouragement was for him to stay. We prayed for him a lot. Jean Robert made the decision to stay although I believe it is not always easy for him to keep on looking at the big picture.

This is what Jean Robert wrote about himself. "My name is Jean Robert. I am Haitian and am from Seguin. I have two sisters and three brothers. I love white. I do not like to mop. I love to go to church and I love God very much."

Jean Robert turned 21 on the 21st of May, 2009. He has 5 years of school left.

Wiskey

Wiskey is something else, as my husband would say. He has a lot of talent and has a charisma to him. I believe he also has the gift of leadership. Nixon depended on him more and more as the year progressed on making sure everything in the home ran smoothly. He is also very responsible.

I remember when Nixon lived out in Cyvadier and I was working for another missionary. During our nine months living there, people had begun to come looking for me so that I could give them medecine or bandage their wounds. I remember a big guy coming one day. His thumb was deeply cut and had been treated but the bandage had fallen off on his way down from the mountain village of Seguin. I cleaned it up and wrapped it up for him. That is my first memory of Wiskey, although my husband had to actually remind me about that boy that once came to our gate.

When the Boyz home was started, we would go out to the land with Danny's kids. It was hilarious when I found out that Danny's kids were afraid to play soccer with Wiskey because they were afraid of his size. Some of the HCH kids were talking with Nixon one day, "man, don't you know Wiskey is the size of a bull. Have you seen his big feet, his big back, his arms,...even his lips are huge!" Little did they know that our boys had been reluctant to join the HCH kids for many Saturdays because they thought Danny's kids to be "rough", and "mean" on the field. (They are just competetive:)

This is what Wisky wrote about himself: "My name is Wiskey Maison. I have 2 sisters and 9 brothers. I am from Seguin. I love the colors white and black. I don't love to wash dishes. I love God because He is always helping me all my life. Thank You."

Wiskey turned 21 on the 5th of December and has 5 years of schooling left.

He absolutely loves to take pictures.

Mackenson

We have known Mackenson for a long time. I remember seeing him since I moved to Jacmel.

Strangely I kept asking Leann about that other boy that I remember seeing in their house. I asked if they lost a boy but never got to the root of it until he showed up one day and I told her that that was the boy I had asked about. It was funny, at least to me.

Last year, Teresa supported him in his living in Jacmel in order to be able to attend high school. He lived on his own.

Mackenson seems to always be studying, by himself and with his friends, but he constantly struggles with his studies. He often bypasses movies on Saturday nights, and playing soccer with the HCH kids to study.

Mackenson also worries a lot. I remember our introductory meeting at the beginning of the year. Mackenson kept taking the floor during question time asking "what if" questions, mostly about not passing. Nixon ended the question time by saying that if you think you are gonna fail, most likely you will. LOL!

Kokot, Frandy's mother, favours Mackenson. She often covered up for him during the year, when he would get himself into a jam. We later found out she would sometimes do his chores as well. :(

This is what Mackenson wrote about himself: "My name is Mackenson Luc. I am from Seguin. I have relatives in Gonaives, Haiti. I like to play soccer and my favorite color is white. I want to be a doctor one day. I want to visit Canada in the future."

Mackenson will be turning 21 on the 29th of July. He has 3 years of schooling left.

Elira

Elira is always moving. He is the one we always hear laughing and joking and sometimes making others upset, especially Mackenson. Mackenson often decides he has had enough of Elira. I love that Elira has so much life. Nothing about him is sedate. He is a well-behaved boy for the most part. He does have his moments.

Recently, Nixon asked him to go and mop downstairs. I don't remember the situation or circumstance but he was told to go mop downstairs. He said that he was absolutely not going to do it, no matter what. Nixon told him he had like 10 minutes to get downstairs. After the 10 minutes was up Nixon had man to man talk with him and told him that this program was for those who realized how rare of an opportunity this is. If he did not value it as such he was welcomed to pack up his stuff and leave right now, though we were sure we would miss him. We did not know whether he went to pack or mop. We later found out he went to mop.

Nixon says it is very easy for the people to forget their troubles and instead of looking back, they look forward to how much more they want or deserve. I know that is just the sinful nature.

My name is Elira Antoine and I am Haitian. I am from Seguin and I have 4 brothers and 3 sisters. I love playing soccer in my spare time. I love to read and I don't like washing dishes. My favorite color is white. I love going to school and I love Jesus.

This is what Elira said about himself.

Elira is a great kid. He turned 14 on October 22nd. He has 5 years schooling left.

FRANDY

Frandy was our youngest boy here during this school year. He is actually Mackenson and Mackendy's blood brother. I think he bears a strong resemblance to Mackendy. I love him to death. He is a sweet boy. His momma babies him too much though. From a Texas viewpoint, we like our boys to grow into men. I pray that the year has helped him to learn responsibility and that the older boys as well as my husband, have played a positive and good influence in his life during this past year. Frandy is the son of Kokot(with a "t" for those Crosspointe folk out there)

Having his mother with him has presented some problems. We later in the year learned that when he was scheduled to do chores, she would "help" him. Also, when he got a beating one night, the boys teased him all the next day.

This is what Frandy wrote about himself, in Creole.

My name is Frandy and I am from Jacmel.

I have 5 brothers and 1 sister. I love playing soccer when I am not doing anything.

I don't like washing dishes and I love the color yellow. I love going to church and I love

school.

(Maybe he really does love going to church. He goes a lot! I thought his mother was making

him do it but maybe he really does love it.)

Frandy turned 14 years old. And we love him. He has 5 years of schooling left.

Haitian Boys doing Haitian things

I came home from rehearsal today and found 2 of the boys sitting in the neighbor's tap tap.

They were kind of funny, just sitting there. I had the camera in my hand cause i wanted to take some pictures of my Haitian friends, so I took a picture of the boys. Jon Robert looks kind of unhappy but he was smiling from ear to ear (till he saw the camera). I later commented to Nixon on how cute they were just sitting there. He said all Haitian boys do that. He said he remembered sitting in a tap tap just for fun. He says Haitians sometimes get upset over it but it is just something boys do. That is so funny, in a weird way. :)