Wednesday 7/31/13

Today was 100% better than Monday.  I knew it was going to be different when I got to the school and wasn't greeted by a concrete courtyard of dancing children.  Don't get me wrong-the kids are adorable out doing their morning workout, but excited squeals and unhealthy decibels of Beyonce can't be blocked out when there are no doors or windows in your college "classroom".  

No children also meant a downstairs classroom where you can feel a breeze coming through the cutout holes ("windows") in the concrete instead of only feeling the rising temperature of 40 adult bodies crammed into a small rock wall room-"hell" as one student referred to this place.  The description is quite accurate.

We spent the next 8 hours discussing and debating topics in Social Psychology.  Does altruism exist? Students gave compelling arguments of their own sacrifices helping people out of crumbled buildings after the earthquake or personally carrying a stranger with cholera onto a bus when the bus driver initially refused to take the sick passenger.    We debated what constitutes an act of aggression, and if prejudice is purely learned behavior ("But, Professor Childs, who taught the person who taught that person who taught that person to value one thing above another?)  I also got a long round of applause when I announced we would spend a couple of hours talking about theories of attraction.  As an introduction to the topic I asked them to go around and describe one thing that attracts them to the other person.  They didn't even let me finish as body parts began being shouted out.  They quickly became speechless when I added the qualifier. "and I don't want physical characteristics-think of other aspects of a person you find attractive".  They gave pretty thoughtful answers after having to stop and think about this for a minute.  Note-taking also greatly increased during this topic.

I finished the class by having the students get into groups and create a public service announcement addressing forms of prejudice that exists in Haiti today and perform their radio or television commercial for the class.  I was in awe at the passion and talent the students have for addressing complicated topics of gender bias, French/Creole language bias, the treatment of restaveks, educational inequity, to name a few.

Even after 8 hours of class, the students left energized and begging for a second course in Social Psychology.  It was a nice compliment, but more importantly I reminded them that just as we had talked about the power of group influence, though they are small in number, they have the drive, passion, and ability to make big changes in this community.