If everything were going smoothly, this wouldn’t be Haiti.

A new little(?) glitch in the program. On 10 July, a number of teachers from Jeremie will go to Caray (sp?) to grade national exams. By mathematical chance, this means some of the teachers we have chosen for the program, and those teachers would have to miss at least one week of the four-week training, which starts on the 18th. But, of course, we don’t know who those teachers are, to be able to replace them. So, tomorrow I’ll take yet another trip to the Ministry of Education (at this point, I can’t tell if we’re starting to bond or if I’ve worn out my welcome), to compare my list of professors to the list of those going to Caray. Jacson has a number of teachers who have asked to be on a waiting list, and he will use those as replacements.

While it is essential that we have teachers who can attend the entire training, adding in another group further complicates my understanding of the targeting mechanism. I’m not sure if those teachers on a waiting list are those who applied originally but weren’t selected or if they’re just teachers who heard about it later and were interested; I’ll have to ask. In any case, they are teachers who are well-connected enough to have learned about the program; they represent a group that takes initiative and is particularly persistent, perhaps more than the general teacher population. Also, I don’t know how teachers are chosen to grade national exams. The characteristics of the group we’re losing may be significant.

We’ll see how it goes.

P.S. Joy, I hope this isn’t the first you’ve heard of this, but if it is, Surprise!