Every day before lunch and dinner, the Britsionaries either pray or have a thankful circle around the big blue tables in the Britsionary area at Brit’s Home. I’ve been fortunate enough to sit at that table with Britsionarys for the past 6 months sharing laughs, stories, and uplifting thoughts. There are so many things to be thankful for at Brit’s Home in Haiti. In my life, I am most thankful for the opportunity to spend 6 months at Brit’s Home teaching, learning, loving, being loved, and celebrating life with the 66 beautiful children and over 100 staff members there. I truly “lived my dream” in Haiti and I don’t have enough words to thank Papi Len, Mami Cherylann, and everyone else who makes the mission of raising the next generation of leaders in Haiti possible and allowed me to play a small role in doing so.

​Throughout my time at Brit’s Home, I’ve had the pleasure of working with our English teachers, Be Like Brit Academy teachers, and after-school teachers on techniques of Developmental Learning and a Universal Design for Learning framework. Through daily group meetings, one-on-one conversations, demonstrations, and written guidelines, I was able to work alongside the teachers and discover the best techniques for teaching in their classrooms. We know that all children learn in their own unique way and it is crucial for us as teachers to plan for this learner variability. My goals were not to change the education system or to reinvent the wheel, but to provide the teachers with ongoing support and tools to best serve our children to help them learn and grow.

​Each week, I used some of my free time to teach a dance to any of the children that wanted to learn some new moves (through YouTube). These dances and rehearsals were some of my favorite moments at Brit’s Home. My hope was to get more children involved in the weekly Friday Variety Shows. The dances were simple and inclusive of everyone including the youngest and some of the oldest children. I loved when some of the boys even joined in on our dances! They all worked so hard in groups, small groups, and even individually to get these dances ready for an audience. Wearing matching shirts, jeans, and sneakers helped the group look fabulous each Friday as they performed their new dance to the rest of the house. It was certainly a highlight of each week to see the children proud to perform their hard work.

​The children finished up their school testing on June 8th and have been singing the “Vacation Song” all around the house ever since. We started summer camp and the children are excited to have 5 different stations to participate in each day. We start each camp morning with a big circle game or musical rehearsal to make sure everyone is awake and ready to get started. Like any other camp, the children then split up into their age-groups and head to their first station. The stations are set up to solidify and enhance the children’s education while including fun and engaging activities. The stations include English, arts and crafts, educational games, reading, and sports. The afternoons consist of excursions to the beach, music lessons, arts and crafts, and other various activities. We are looking forward to a fabulous summer at Brit’s Home!

-Jess