So I can’t believe it’s already been two weeks since I first left the states. So much has happened that it would be a book if I tried to explain it all. But instead, I’ll go through the major stuff to give you a taste of what I have experienced thus far.
Home-stay: I am living with the Frailandia, the receptionist at Doulos and her nine-year old son Brian. I have loved living here so far. It feels more like a roommate situation, which I think, will make my staying here longer way more feasible. She is teaching me how to cook and clean Dominican and as time goes, she’ll do less and less for me as I become an independent Dominican. ☺ I have my own room…
And we have a beautiful living room/kitchen…
School: At Doulos, this past two weeks have been a mix of training and getting classrooms ready. Each morning we start with devotions and prayer. I love that our focus starts on Christ as we begin our work day. The staff is about half American and half Spanish-speaking (Dominican, Haitian, Puerto Rican, Colombian, etc.) so everything that we do is in English and Spanish… Which you know makes my heart happy. ☺ I’m reminded each time we get together how much I love this place and how grateful I am to be apart of team that cares so much about each other, our students, and the community.
This past week I have been working a lot on my room to get it ready for the students to come tomorrow (Wednesday, Aug 18). It’s almost there, I just need to do a couple more finishing touches and finishing planning the first day’s activities. I’ll post pictures of my room when it’s a little neater and all my posters are up. I have 20 students in a quite small room so you can be praying that the first day goes well and that they all fit. ☺ Pray that I make a connection with all of my students these first days of school and that it is the start of a great year.
Expeditionary Training: The school curriculum and philosophy of learning is all based on a type of learning called “expeditionary learning”. In order to learn to teach an expedition, the leaders of Doulos took us through an expedition on learning about the Haitian/Dominican relationship and how that is evident in sugar cane companies in the Dominican Republic. We did exploratory research about sugar cane companies and the use of Haitians in their plantations to cut sugar cane and produce it.
We than went to a batay or a Haitian community of sugar cane workers that is near Santo Domingo. There, I learned so much more than I could have if I only read and watched movies about it. (This is a huge part of expeditionary learning.) I saw small children with barely any clothes on and bellies bulging because of lack of nutrient and parasites, chewing on sugar cane for their only meal of the day. I heard a woman tell of the lack of clean water and food for her to feed her family and when she tried to grow her own garden, the guards of the sugar cane company took her food away. I saw the dozens of hands raised of those who do not have cedulas (or birth cirtificates) so they, nor their children can attend a Dominican school. I heard a young man tell us of the hope he had when he left his Haitian town as he followed the promises from the sugar cane works. I saw the burden of life weigh heavy in the eyes of an elderly man as he told us that everyday in the batay was horrific, but each day is better than his life in Haiti. I saw the oppression of racism and slavery in the lives of humans, just like you and me.
These are not easy things to experience or read about it, but it is through educating people that this is happening around the world that gives them hope that maybe one day they will not have to live like this. Please be praying for these families that freedom may come physically and that they may experience the life giving freedom that comes from Christ.
A major problem that this community faces is access to clean water. We brought with us 50 Agua Pure water filters (you can google the company, it’s awesome) that were bought by a Rotary Club in Texas. These filters require no electricity, can be used with river water and will last them as long as 5 years if they continue to take care of it. Krista, the director and founder of Doulos, did a training with the community members on how to use and maintain clean filters.
Krista Training the community
We distributed a filter to each household and got to see a little bit of the burden be lifted as we gave them the gift of clean water and a chance at a healthy stomach.
I think that’s all for now. Love you guys and hope you are all doing well.
Cuidate!
Rachel
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