My four weeks in La Republica Dominicana

NOTE: I just ask that you please don't post the picture link found in the last post anywhere else, for bandwidth reasons. The last thing I want is for my account to be suspended. Unfortunately, I'll have to take it down if I see visits from other pages. Thanks for understanding!

This is going to be long. Many of you may not be interested, but this is being posted in other places as well. Link to pictures at the bottom of the post.

I am a 20 year old junior at Penn State University. I signed up with International Student Volunteers about 6 months ago, for a four week volunteer/vacation project in the Dominican Republic. I was hesitant at first, because ISV had only done three prior trips to the DR, but I went ahead with it anyway on the recommendations of those who had participated in the prior trips. I was more than pleasantly surprised by the trip as a whole, and my expectations were far exceeded in almost every way.

After two days of partying with the 50 or so other participating students in Miami, during an orientation, we arrived in Santo Domingo on a Friday. The seven hour bus ride to the Sosua/Puerto Plata area that followed was partly to save money on plane fares, but more for us to get an idea of just what the country looked like. I had quite a difficult time just sitting on the bus as we passed by some of the poorest conditions I had ever seen (which were nothing compared to what I was about to experience) and looking out the window and making eye contact with the people. I felt like a true tourist, sitting on my coach bus with my headphones on staring out the window. It was a sad and guilt filled trip. The destination for me and 18 girls on the trip was Crossroads, a Christian organization that is run by a mother, Jana and her husband, Bob. The six other guys and the rest of the girls would be working on another project nearby, building septic tanks and water pipes for a hospital.

Crossroads, a complex high in the hills/mountains which requires a 15-20 minute truck ride to reach from the main road, was built by Jana and Bob. It is their home, and they have four Haitian children (adopted/foster) and two biological children. Some of which have gone to college in the states, some of which still live at Crossroads. Crossroads brings in secular and non-secular groups and does not receive donations from any church, as they are non-denominational. They are booked with groups until mid-2006 and do not advertise ? everything is word of mouth. Crosssroads itself is beautiful as you will be able to tell from the pictures. It can?t be described in words, but it seems as if the whole complex was built based around allowing time for peace and personal reflection.

Crossroads main project is the construction of a village around 15 minutes outside of Sosua. The village houses Haitians that have been moved by Jana and Bob from much poorer villages in the surrounding area. There are 16 total villages, mostly Haitian ?sugarcane? villages within 30 minutes of Crossroads. Crossroads moves those in the most need, usually single mothers with children in the worst living conditions. Houses are constantly being constructed by the groups that Crossroads brings in.

There were many highlights of the first two weeks at Crossroads, little things that I couldn?t possibly type about. I have an entire journal filled with moments that I never want to forget, but couldn?t even begin to type out. I could literally probably write for days about the trip, but I will go over a few highlights in case anyone is interested.

Cont.

Our first trip to one of the poorer villages blew me away. I?ve seen the commercials late at night of starving children and poor living conditions. But, as clich?d as it may sound, I had no idea until I experienced it. Jana took us through the village; she was often greeted by the villagers. They were particularly excited today, because we had brought a single mother and her three children back to their home village from a homeless shelter run by Crossroads. Jana had found the family nearly a month before starving to death in the village, and slowly nursed them back to health. This was the family?s first visit back to the village and they were greeted with tears and cheers.

We were welcomed with open arms into one of the ?homes?, and Jana took us in groups of four or five, because we simply couldn?t fit more into the house. The woman who welcomed us in continued to work, scrubbing pots on the dirt floor of the small home. It couldn?t have been more than 10x10 feet and housed a mother and her children. The heat was unbearable, there was no air circulation. The fumes from the hot water burned most of our noses. Those of us who weren?t fighting back tears were simply too in shock to do so. My stomach was in completely knots, I couldn?t believe that not only did this family live in this house, but they were paying rent to do so. (I won?t get into the politics of it all, simply because I am too uneducated about it, something I am working on.)

When we arrived for the first time in the ?new? village, the one being constructed by Crossroads groups, we were swarmed by the children. We were there for a church service, and before we even sat down in the church, we all had one or two children on our laps. I was floored by the church service. The women and children danced and sang beautiful songs and seemed so filled with joy. I was so confused, after what I had just witnessed I couldn?t figure out how these women and children could be so happy. I gained a better understanding as the weeks went on, but for the time being I was dumbstruck.

I spent the first week doing construction in the morning, and in the afternoon we often did different ?ministries?. The first day we did short skits and songs for the children in the church ? El Hokey Pokey was a favorite. We followed our performance with a ?milk ministry?. The children line up with a cup or can and on their way out of the church, they get a cup full of milk, a piece of bread, a piece of salami, and an egg. Many of the children didn?t make it back to their homes before plopping down to dip their bread in the milk.

Some of the most rewarding moments came when just playing with the children. If I had a penny for every time I heard a child yell ?un foto, un foto!?, I?d be a rich man. They were fascinated by their own pictures on the digital cameras, and often had a hard time understanding. They always touched the screen, maybe to see if it was real. We had plenty of time with tennis balls, soccer balls, etc. ? but if all we had brought was our cameras, the children wouldn?t have been bored for a moment. You?ll see many of the pictures of just one child ? which were requested. ?Un foto solo!? was a popular request, which was followed by pushing the other children out of the way and doing some sort of pose, which usually didn?t involve a smile. The smiles never came for the actual picture, but rather after when they got to see themselves.

Cont.

Our trip to the trash dump was probably one of the more challenging things we did on the trip. As we arrived at the dump, I had a hard time grasping the concept that these people worked and ate there everyday, and not to mention the portion of people that lived there. Before we served lunch to the people at the dump, we had planned on doing songs and performances, but to our surprise there were significantly fewer children there than on a normal day. We were all naturally worried that our songs wouldn?t go over well. Obviously we were quite surprised when the adults were calling for encores of ?Head Shoulders Knees and Toes? and ?Hokey Pokey?. It was one of the more rewarding ministries of the trip.

The final main highlight of the trip for me was the Coffee and Tea Ministry. Faith (one of Jana and Bob's biological daughters) took four or five of us to one of our small houses in the village in which two women lived in - one with 10 kids, one with 7. They loved our songs that the kids that grabbed on to us on the way into the house (for the coffee and tea) sang, and one of the women sang to us in Creole. They couldn't have been happier to have us in their house, offered us chairs right away, and we talked for about 20 minutes, with Faith doing most of the translation. Faith considers it the most important ministry - because it's giving them their dignity back - just to sit and talk (and because we want to, not out of pity), and I couldn?t agree more. We received the strongest hugs and thank yous I?ve ever received, on the way out. It was, by far, the most enlightening and liberating experience to that point of the trip.

Other highlights of the first two weeks of volunteering included movie night in the village. We showed Toy Story in Spanish ? the children enjoyed it, but maybe not as much as the adults who cheered and laughed through most of the movie. A medical ministry to another village was another highlight. We spent much of the time de-worming children and providing sulfur shampoo for fungus and staph infections. We quickly learned that everyone had ?el gripe?, simply because they wanted medicine ? as they were unsure when anyone would return with more.

Cont.

The second two weeks consisted of the ?adventure tour?. It was such a difficult transition to go from working in the villages to staying in hotels and partying. It took many of us a few days to get our minds straight, and we still aren?t sure that it was the best way to handle things. We did not let it ruin our times though, and we spent a lot of time interacting with the locals and in small local bars, rather than out at big clubs (except for Cabarete). We visited Cabarete, Monte Cristi, Jarabacoa, Barahona, Santo Domingo and Juan Dolio. And, we did everything.. canyoning, caving, cliff jumping, white water rafting, snorkeling, relaxing on deserted beaches. It was two weeks full of adventure, partying and experiencing the culture of the DR with 40 new best friends, one of the best times of my life, but still overshadowed by the first two weeks.

I was most impressed by the kindness of the people. The simple waving hello everytime we passed someone on the side of the road, or stopping for conversation on the side of the road is something long lost in the United States. The joy and high spirits that I saw in some of the people is simply unrivaled here in the United States. Their endurance, respect and hardwork was admirable. I fell in love with everything about the country, but most of all with the people.

Again, like I said, I wrote about only a tiny portion of the first two weeks, and nothing about the second two weeks. If anyone wants to know more, feel free to post or e-mail me, I?d be glad to elaborate, but I didn?t want to bore everyone. I only wish that more people that visit the Dominican Republic could experience what I did. I spared everyone with most of my thoughts, feelings and personal reflection/transformations, but it was, clearly, a life changing experience. I fell head over heels in love with the Dominican Republic. I would?ve done it all over again, if I had the chance, and I?m waiting impatiently for the day I get to go back.

http://www.personal.psu.edu/dap240/isvdr/domrep.html

WendyPavo said:

I've found that the only people who can every really understand the amazing nature of the Domincan people, culture, land, and experiences are the people who have actually been there and done it.

Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more, and that was one of the most important things about the second two weeks, the "adventure tour". While we were experiencing culture shock, being thrown into a party atmosphere with nice hotels and all inclusives after spending two weeks in the poorest conditions, it was necessary. Whether it was ISVs intention or not, it was extremely important that we had each other as we slowly moved away from Crossroads. Because everyone we were with understood and experienced the same things. I fear that had we all come back to the US/Canada directly after Crossroads, we would've been far more lost here than we were there.

And now, my mind still wanders back to the villages, the people, etc. a hundred times a day, and I'm constantly consumed by the whole experience a week later. One of the toughest parts is showing my pictures to friends and family and trying to explain not on the the Haitian villages, but the Dominican Republic as a whole.

Lambada said:

Please, do, write some more. Am I correct that it is Dr. Bob, as in vetinarian?

Click to expand...

You are correct, Dr. Bob the veterinarian. I know he has a clinic nearby Crossroads, but we never had a chance to visit it. He and his wife were truly inspiring, I've never met people quite like them before. Dr. Bob took five of us on the medical ministry, and even though he's done it countless times before, he still made us feel like we were the first. He was so genuine and always willing to answer our questions. On the way to the village he would just stop the truck to turn around and tell us a story or answer a question.

He always wanted us involved when doing the medical work. He would often hand us the stethoscope to listen to the children's chest, and he was so patient with us even though we had no experience. While he was checking patients, some of us would be filling prescriptions, which were put into a white envelope. We would have to use sun and moon stamps on the envelope in order to indicate how many times a day and when the medicine was to be taken. I was amazed at his patience, as it sometimes took three or four minutes for him to make sure that each person understood when to take the medicine. He would often make them repeat it three times before he would let them go. All this while much of the time he was either talking on the cellphone, giving prescriptions and medical advice to whoever was covering the clinic.

After all of the patients in the church had been treated, we took a walk through the village to go to houses that were unable or unwilling to come to the church. We visited one small house, which was buried away deep in the village that was the home to a single mother and seven children (all boys and one girl, I believe). While I couldn't understand the Creole (Kreyol?) that she was speaking, she seemed happy to see us, as she smiled the entire time we gave the deworming syrup to the children.

Dr. Bob, as we left, again stressed the importance of just visiting and having normal conversations with the people. While we were giving the children medicine, he made it clear that part of what we (or he) was doing was just having normal conversation. He told us of a story that when he was in the Peace Corps his director asked his group on the first day what the mission of the Peace Corps was, and no one could answer. The director said, first to experience the other country's culture, second to have them experience your culture, and third to do the work you are there to do.

Jana, Bob's wife is not far from him in personality. Day after day I was amazed at her strong will, patience, and wisdom. She was just truly inspiring. Even on our first day through the village, she stopped the nine (or so) of us to look at a man's foot. She spent quite a few minutes with the man who couldn't walk, because his foot was so swollen, with no regard for time, for us, for anyone around her except the man. Finally, she decided she would bring back medicine for him later, because she didn't want him to walk on the foot.

One of the pictures, if you notice, is of three or four poor houses, near the bottom of the picture are the ruins of a house that had just burned down. We came across the house, because as we were doing a milk ministry in that village, Marcus (who lives at Crossroads - the "uncle") heard that a house had burned down. We eventually found the family that had lived in the house, a single mother with four children. He called Jana right there in order to arrange clothes, food, etc. for the family, and Jana immediately asked Marcus to ask us (the students) if we would be willing to donate the house were building to this family. Obviously, we were more than excited to do so, and when told the woman was more in shock than anything. Her and her children can be seen in the group pictures in front of a house at the end of the Crossroads pictures.

This was one of those moments where I was just in awe of what we were doing, and what Jana does everyday. She just possibly saved four children's lives, in a matter of seconds, and gave them a brand new home. I haven't met many people out in this world that dedicate their lives to doing just that, saving lives. And while she believes it is God's wish for her to be there, she was always open and accepting of the fact that other people may not believe in God, or may not be at Crossroads right then for the same reasons as her. But she didn't care, she always told us that that's the reason that there are no doors at Crossroads - because anyone is welcome. I often found it to be an honor just to be in her presence, she had such aura about her.

Her words, that "true joy can only come from helping others", were so true to many of us on the trip. For many of us, including myself, it was the first time I had realized this. When I looked back and thought about the times that I may have had "true joy", nothing compared to the feeling that I had when in the village working with the children or building those houses. There were times where we were covered in dirt, bleeding, sore, and tired - but never happier.

We also took a lot away from the children. It was really the little things that made them happy, having so little. All they needed was to be held in order to be entertained - but they also loved helping us. Everyday, as we'd be passing cinderblocks in a line, or large rocks, we'd have 4 or 5 little children (or older children) in our line helping us pass the rocks. I was just shocked at how eager they were to help us. The children that weren't helping us do construction, were often busy either playing bingo, soccer, etc. or learning. Many of the children would rush home on their breaks from school (those that were lucky enough to go to school) and immediately sit down to do flash cards, or get help reading an book in English. Each of those small experiences, of which there were many, gave us a little more perspective which in the end added up to a whole new way of approaching happiness and joy.

Okay, enough babbling.

BushBaby said:

PURE inspiring!! Well done on such an excellent post which gave the truth, inspiration & hope for the poor Haitians & Dominicans alike.

We look forward to welcoming you back to the north coast as soon as you can make it & THIS house will surely open it's doors to you!! You now have a LOT more friends down in the Dominican Republic than you did last Thursday that is for sure!! - Grahame.

Click to expand...

Thank you, I greatly appreciate it. As mentioned before, it's hard to try to squeeze four weeks into words, but I'm trying.

When writing about it, I don't know why, but I sometimes feel like I still know so little about the country that I'm not doing it justice. I sort of feel ignorant writing about even my experiences. I think just because I can't get it all out the way I'd prefer.

But anyway, glad you enjoyed it. And to all the people in this thread that mentioned living in the Dominican Republic, I'd love to hear your story - because I'd definitely consider moving to the area for a period of time sometime down the road.