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There are very few English speakers in Bohoc.  As you would expect, the countryside has fewer opportunities to learn foreign languages. Additionally, in the countryside there are fewer foreigners who would benefit from translators, so language skills are not as meaningful work skills as they are in the city.

Being from the countryside, the teachers at Ekol Espwa Etenel are not fluent English speakers.  What's more, the philosophy of respect for the Haitian culture that permeates all aspects of the Matthew 28 Ministries, highly values the Creole language.  For me, this meant providing our weeks of teacher training in Creole.  Unfortunately, while I've learned a fair amount about this beautiful language over the years, I am not nearly fluent enough to teach in Creole.  Hein kindly hired a translator to come to teacher training to help make sure all of the content was accessible to the Haitian teachers.

Johnsey proved to be more than a translator - he was a friend and a co-teacher during the time in Bohoc.  I'm so thankful for the ways that Johnsey helped me convey words and meaning most effectively to the Haitian teachers.  The process of translating isn't just about knowing the one-to-one correspondence of words in different languages; it's about understanding how to convey meaning.  Johnsey would often ask clarifying questions of me before translating content to the teachers, wanting to make sure that the deeper meaning of my words would be clear to the audience.  He was also a really gracious teacher of Creole for me - letting me try to understand comments and only clarifying meaning when I asked questions.  Honestly, the depth of conversation and (hopefully) meaningful learning that we did together with the Haitian teachers would not have been possible without Johnsey.

This year I'm going to keep plugging away with my Creole learning, which is tricky to do in rural New Hampshire... But while I seek to be a more skilled communicator with my Haitian friends, I'm also thanking God for the ways He provides people with skills and servant-mindedness, like my translator and friend Johnsey.