"My Teacher"

Etienne is our driver at Grace Village.  He brings us to our children's appointments, the market, and runs errands with us.  We go to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions, to the clinic, the dentist, to buy clean water, gas, etc.  I met him in August.  He is a patient, kind man.  When I first saw him, he was holding a small book about 4" tall and 2 ½" thick.  It was an English dictionary.  The cover was torn and the pages were tattered.  He would sit on a bench and study English as he waited to drive us somewhere.  He practiced his English continuously.  I would sit with him and sing the ABC song and practice letter sounds with him.    

I enjoyed practicing with him.  He would call me, "My Teacher".  I would help him pronounce words correctly.  We would take turns sharing the English and Creole word.  I was learning from him as he learned from me.  We enjoyed being each others teacher.  He always said, "I want to speak good English, not bad English.  I want everyone to understand my English.".  We would practice the tough sounds: th, and rrr.  I would correct him on sentence structure and he would repeat words or phrases after me.  He always had a smile on his face when we practiced.  We would laugh together when words were tricky to say.  He welcomed every chance he could practice his English.

It's been about 5 months since I met Etienne.  He has been diligently practicing his English.  Yesterday, he was carrying a different book.  It was a children's Bible storybook.  On one page there was an illustration and on the other page was the story.  The cover was missing and pages were torn.  He told me a friend lent it to him so he could practice his English.  He was so excited to read.  I asked him which story he was going to read first.  He said he would start at the beginning and read to the end.  I pointed to the first sentence in the first story and asked him, "Do you know these words?".  He immediately began reading slowly the entire sentence.  What determination!  I told him he should practice reading the first story and then he can read it to me.  He was so appreciative and said, "Then, you can see what I comprehend.  I need My Teacher to help me."  I am so proud of him for his diligence in learning English and for his patience.  It is such a joy and honor to be his teacher.