JANINE HARRISON

Instead of my usual Second (or occasionally third…gulp!) Sunday Scribble, this month, I’ll be blogging either on the road or shortly after my return from Jeremie, Haiti (contingent upon wifi connection), where I’m going to teach a two-day poetry workshop for the not-for-profit organization, Haitian Connection, coordinated by the tireless and wonderful Renate Schneider.

I am very excited about teaching poetry in Jeremie, “The City of Poets,” in an intimate workshop setting to these young adults. I relish meeting the attendees.  And I already know from last trip, October 2012, when I taught English as a Foreign Language and fiction, that I need to see teaching of the subject through new eyes, eliminating cultural allusions that won’t make sense to this audience and considering their possible frames of reference. Secondly, as this group’s English proficiency levels will likely vary, there may or may not be a translator.

As much as I’m looking forward to the adventures that these challenges will bring, I am even more eager to meet and hug two students I’ve been mentoring online, Seby and Degraff, and see a student whom I met last trip, Benic, again; he has since become a teacher, himself.

The fun will begin when I arrive in Port-au-Prince next Monday.  On Tuesday, I’ll then take a small plane to Jeremie in the rural west and start teaching that afternoon.  Please stay tuned!  Anecdotes and photos to follow!