Nephtaly Pierre-Louis is a HELP student studying Economics at Quisqueya University in Port au Prince. He was one of four HELP students that assisted with our summer camp, Fet Bondye Bo Lanme. Below Nephtaly describes his “sick nasty” experience at camp.
“SICK NASTY”, this is the theme that can describe the last week I passed in Jacmel in HTF’s annual summer camp. It’s also a new word that I learned from English native speakers. Until this week, I only knew formal words in English because I learned the correct English in my HELP classes. But I wanted to improve my skills in order to understand what people like PATRICK, MEGAN, SHANNON or other young Americans say. They speak faster than a car in “FAST AND FURIOUS 6”. They skip words, they make contractions, they have their own idioms that even Miss DEBBIE, Miss Harriet BARGER, Pastor Rick BARGER can’t understand. I wanted to familiarize with their accent. It’s impressive how I became close with people I didn’t know before in one week. I spent time with these guys how I would spend it with Gregory, my best friend, without embarrassments. I could speak about everything with them, there were no observations rounds. We became friends since I met them at “KAY VERBO” for the first time. What explanations can I find for this?
1) They are young like me, and subjects for conversation are easy to find.
2) They all showed interest for HAITI. I love my country and everyone who appreciates it becomes my friend.
3) The summer camp was a perfect climate to build relationships. The way that they showed love for the kids impresses me.
4) They like jokes. I like when people like to laugh. I hate everything that is too serious. The laugh was like a serum that gave them energy to fight against sunburned, dehydration or any other difficulty that they could find in HAITI. Then they were able to keep the camp in the highest condition.
This relationship that they built is not only for me but for Haitian monitors who work hard to make this camp possible, for the kids who participate in the camp, for the others HELP students and the other HTF partners. I want to let you know that HTF brought through this camp the happiness that Haitians deserve. Thank you for your support. KENBE LA! See you next year!
