Reflection from Sunday

The boys here are definately growing up. It is hard for someone to see without knowing the boys, but we know. It is just baby steps. These boys were asked to be adults at a very young age and with no tools to do so. They have learned how to survive. I am just so proud to see the little bit of progress they make each day. Luis has just opened up so much! Here is my recap from Sunday. I can tell I am just growing up so much myself. I am learning lessons and just learning to stretch my patience a little further. I will be so excited to sit and reflect at the end of my time here and just see how everything tied in and became one huge life changing experience. \I feel like God is just opening doors and presenting challenges. I am doing things I have never known I could do. I am also learning to give up things that I dont like to give up. I cant say to much now, just because I havent been here long enough. I just know that this is going to be one amazing summer and God is just going to rock my world.
Today was refreshing- sort of- after church we were at the house for a while and I got to spend some quality time with Luis. I feel like I was back to square one with him when I arrived this summer. But today I feel like I made major progress with him, he really was sweet today. Normally he will just be mean and call me malo, but today he was like holding my hand and just being sweet. I was so excited about it. He was also asking why my hair was curly. Yes, my hair is struggling to stay straight- it is interesting. Around 4:00pm Andrew, JP, Krista, Lauren and I went to my aunt’s apartment and did laundry and I took a nap. I really didn’t want to go today. I would have been happier to take some quiet time at the volunteer house and then go back to the boys. I just feel bad not being available to help Caitlin and play with the boys. I feel like I should be doing more to help support her and Kristen. Caitlin tells me how happy she is that I take care of errands and the money stuff, but I just feel like I should do more. I like doing the nutrition stuff. I guess I just struggle to take time for myself, because I see how much needs to be done. It is just hard to walk away from it all. Caitlin said that she Luis and I could sit down and talk one day. I would like that. I feel like Luis is mean not to get attention but to test us, to see if we are going to abandon him. Today, I told him that with the help of Caitlin. I told him on my own that I wasn’t giving up on him. Actually, I said that no matter what he would always be my brother. I guess they just don’t frequently see real love or even know what it is. Luis told Caitlin that he had a bad heart and had guns in Haiti which he could use to do bad things to others. I have faith that while evil rules his heart right now and influences his choices now, that the evil can be made lesser and seed of love can grow larger. It is just going to take time. Every time he hits me or does something, I give him a look and a few words that convey the idea that he is wrong, but he knows that. He is testing me, like I said. I then give him a hug that he tries to escape from. Today though, he willing took hugs. Oh yeah!!! This is how it is with most of the boys though, slow progress and a lot of work to get there. Caitlin and Kristen are so amazing that they can give so much energy to these boys.

Another great project

Below is a letter from two Haitian men, who are living in the Dominican and have started a school in a really poor area. The men are also students at a local college. They need as much help and support as they can get. I have visited the school and they are doing as much as they can and really bringing hope to children in rough situations. They are looking to pay 5 teachers 4000 pesos a month. The teachers work 32 hours a week, so that translate to about 1 dollar an hour per teacher or 129 dollars per month. This project is not under Project Esperanza, but is an awesome grassroots type movement by two men who have very little themselves. Let me know if you all are interested in helping in anys. Sometimes the best way to help is just to spread the word.

From: The Seventh Adventist Church of Muñoz
School of the United Brothers and Sisters of Muñoz

To: The Brothers and Sisters of the Church in the United States



Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ from now and forever and we take this opportunity to present to you our project for children in Muñoz. But with the same parable of Jesus Christ: What you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you have done for me (Matthew 25:40).
Why are we in Muñoz? The answer has many parts: in the area of Muñoz in the Dominican Republic the situation is very serious for students. It’s an area that has the poorest people in the country, and parents don’t have jobs that give them the ability to help their children. Those of us that live in the city of Puerto Plata went to Muñoz and formed a school called The United Brothers and Sisters of Muñoz, which has a director and four teachers. Classes are in two groups – one from 8am to 12pm from Monday to Friday, and another on the weekend from 8am to 2pm. Some of us who are teachers are also university students but because of our love for the children we have given our strength and our time to help them with their future. With your support we can pay for our transportation to the school in Muñoz; and our needs for the school itself are to find pay for the teachers so that they can discover the dreams of these young people, so that they can become professionals, children of God that preach the gospel, and people that know that they door to success in life is education. Our own studies are a testimony to that dream and we are still looking to find the answer for a better tomorrow, with your help.

Dear brothers and sisters, let’s have a conscience for the poor in this country.
May the peace of God always guide your path.



Lafontant Evanz and Jacques Garry

a rather lengthy entry with lots of thoughts

I really wanted to take the time to talk about so much, but the internet café is so limiting. So being the genius I am I finally figured out I can type it on a Project Esperanza laptop and then save it to my flash drive and post it. I hope this works…
The boys are the first thing I really want to talk about. As I have mentioned before Caitlin and Kristen are really taking the time to build a strong foundation. A strong foundation is the best idea, but not the quickest. This is fine, but daily tasks can be more chaotic in the beginning in the process. However, I really feel like all the volunteers have collaborated and had great discussions about how to improve things such as meals and cleaning the boys’ house. One of the ideas is the rotation of chores using the little brother/big brother system. The rotation is posted for the entire week. There are seven chores, seven groups, and conveniently seven days in a week. The boys have to have a volunteer sign off that they have complete there chore for the day. The boys fought a bit about the system, but once they realize there was no getting out of it they have stepped up and done beautifully. If you expect good things from the boys they are better and vice-versa. We have also revamped the point system from January. Since the boys attend school we do not do as much one on one tutoring, so now the point count towards other things they are expect to do. Expectations include going to school, completing chores, behaving nicely with one another, etc. Points can also be taken away for misbehavior- fighting, begging for points, not attending school, etc. The donation store is them opened to them on Saturday mornings to buy things with there points. The point system has the potential for several things: first, encouraging good behavior and providing an opportunity for consequences for bad behavior. Without points we don’t have enough rewards for consequences. Their rewards previously were a home and food, we can’t take those away without violating human rights. Secondly, the boys learn how to save. They do not have to spend their points each week, so they can save up for more expensive items. Thirdly, it is an avenue to give the boys the donations. If there is an immediate need then we obviously meet that need right away. But things such as playing cards are not a necessity, therefore the boys can work to earn them. I love this because then we are not just Americans with donations, the point system works to eliminate that and allow us to be family.
Within the boys there are definitely leaders emerging. Project Esperanza is nurturing those natural leaders and providing times for them to step up. For example, Steve and Jerace lead the soccer team. Steve is the coach. As coach, he plans soccer practice each day and coaches during the games. Jerace is the captain of the team. The team is developing into quite the successful endeavor. Not only is the team playing well and winning, rules and structure are emerging. It is so awesome to see it grow and transform. The team name is super stars. The fans are pretty into it as well. People from the community will watch as well and get into the game- it is just so incredible.
I feel like I am growing just as much if not more than the boys. I am of course developing critical skills such as carrying food on my head and how to free style rap. Seriously, I do feel like I am going. I have been to the Dominican Republic with Project Esperanza before, but that does not mean it is a comfortable situation. I really feel like God is providing opportunities for me to use my gifts and refine them. I work daily on the boys nutrition and with a baby who is very malnourished. I am paying for the baby’s food out of pocket, so I don’t know if it can be a full summer project, but right now it is great. I am learning to take baby steps with the parents and their misconceptions and cultural preferences. The mother made the choice not to breastfeed, but then they were giving this child regular powered milk. They are on a tight budget and so am I so now we collectively come up with creative methods to better the little girl’s nutritional intake. I am so excited. The little girl, she is 6 months, was very comfortable around me and is just generally a happy little girl. The father and I talk about other things as well, which is really great. The casual conversation builds trust, so they trust me more when I suggest a new change. I have only met with the father several times, but I am hopeful that God is just going to turn this into an awesome opportunity. Personally, I feel like I am realizing how things that I thought were barriers are being used to help me in other ways. I guess hindsight is 20/20 but I think my hindsight is encourage my uneasiness to be put to rest. Often I feel like I am too young to be useful. I am realize that in this environment in able to make a change one must not be jaded by failure. My youth allows me to be that way, just because I haven’t been beaten with the “reality stick yet.” Everyday I see how Project Esperanza receives support form the most unexpected places. When an opportunity arises sometimes you just have to take it and have faith that the means will be provided. I feel like this philosophy is constantly reaffirmed here. I hope I can transfer it out of this environment into my American environment.
One example, is the school/community center that we are working on build. For the folks at First Presbyterian this is a project you all are helping support. We didn’t know how we would staff it, but a local church body has stepped up and taken some serious interest in providing support for manning and making this happen. The project is also supported by First Presbyterian in Winchester. It is just amazing the places we find help. Also, it has carried over into the boys’ home. A prominent man in the community was impressed with the work we have accomplished and is now looking at providing a place for the boys’ to live. We already have a place, but he would provide a place for free until we build a house to suite. This would be awesome because it would eliminate some large costs. Also, the lot is an acre in size, so the boys would have even more space to play and be boys. So many other community members have come into the picture to help Project Esperanza find land to build. We want to build so that the house is ours and so that we have a house that best suites the boys. We may also include a school building, so we can provide an even stronger education for the boys. We also need more space. We have sixteen boys living in the boys’ home, so we are renting another apartment for the volunteers. The volunteer apt. is full of suitcases and mattresses on the floor. Long term volunteers sleep in the living room, and then we have 3 bedrooms for the short term volunteers. The volunteers who are here all summer are generally the last to go to bed so that is why they are in one room. But we are really just one hodgepodge, very open family. In the volunteer apt. there is no real furniture, but it is great. I love it! I love it because beside our family with the boys we are building our own mini gringo family. Lots of good times already and I know more are coming.
So in summary, I am growing, the boys are growing, relationships are being built and as a consequence the world is being changed for the better, even if only in small ways. I feel like this summer is going to be one of the greatest experiences in my life and will go by way to fast. Please continue to pray for the welfare of those here, the growth of the boys’ and the enduring strength and support for Project Esperanza. God is all powerful, but each day I am, like the rest of us, faced with choices. Pray that I choose wisely and make the choice in love.
Bring on tomorrow!!!

doors that i didnt even know existed

I have now been told I write the exact same way I talk. Hahaha. I guess that is good because it is the honest me writing to a varied audience. I just find it amusing.

Today, I have just been thinking about how doors that I did even know existed have opened and I have just been going with the flow and walkin on through. For example, I would have never guess that I would be the person keeping track of the money. Of course, I have a lot of help from the people in the States, but still I just think of myself as well not the money girl. I am enjoying it though, not enough to change majors though. Also, I thought I would be working with the clinic I worked with in January on nutrition education, but no. however, I have really had the opportunity to better the nutrition of our boys. I feel like it is as much of a real life problem as I can be exposed to. I have the budget and I know I can't go over. I have cultural barriers and some kids who are just plain picky for the sake of being picky. I have to find different foods at the local market and then negociate with them. i am a gringa so it is more difficult. oh but man today i got an awesome deal on bananas. go me! hahaha. but seriously i am so proud of that accomplishment. plus, i have been inviting several of the boys to go with me. i feel like it is a great experience for them to. i explain the budget and that we need some carbs, protein and fruits or veggies. they are starting to really get the hang of it. but they have trouble picking a variety of food. they are first always say arroz, habichuelos y pollo (rice, beans and chicken). then we go from there. oh they crack me up. I am just excited to be here, to be challenged and doing pretty well. My spanish is also improving, definately with the vocabulary I use in the mercado. I am glad I brought my pocket spanish dictionary along though. Well, it is time for my afternoon trip to the market to get some stuff for dinner. time to get my barginning on. oh and i am getting pretty good at carrying food on my head. i am turning into a real local, minus the blonde hair. hope all is well with you! hugs from puerto plata's newest local.

Big Brother Little Brother system

So the house can be really chaotic. Caitlin has come up with a system that reduces the chaos. the boys who live in the house are divided into littles and bigs. Each big has a little and helps them with daily routines and chores. For example, getting ready for school in the morning or doing laundry on Wednesday. The pairs are also assigned one chore for the day, such as sweeping and mopping the floors or helping clean up after a meal. The system is young and needs to have the kinks worked out. But who knew that greek life could provide us with such tools.

On a personal note... I had a blonde moment this morning.
Yes, I walked into a glass door. Not just walked into the door, no I slammed my body unknowingly into a very solid piece of glass and woke the entire volunteer house up. Of course they were laughing and have not stopped joking on me. But I have to admit it was hilaaaaaaarious. Go ahead laugh, because I am still very much a blonde. But JP did write a song about it, so I now officially have a song with guitar chords and everything about me. hahaha.
much love and watch out for those tricky glass doors!

the market

the market is an experience. i go with Rosa, our cook, everyday to get food. we go to a truck full of plantains and buy plantains, then we walk in to a little tent to get makings for the salad, but they try to over charge so we walk to another. then an area with just sacks of beans and scoop out beans and argue a little to lower the price. then we stop to get some oil for cooking. it is full os smells. but if you are picturing a romantic outdoor market, scratch that idea. no, this would not meet FDA standard by any means. our chicken, which is dead and clean, but still a whole chicken, is cut on an cutting board, that is really a log. it is weighed on a scale that i doubt has ever been cleaned. all this just is so incredible to me. i suppose it is by the grace of God that people here are as healthy as they are. i plan the boys meals, with the help of Rosa. I discovered that they are not a fan of corn. oh well, they are going to be exposed to veggies no matter what. today it was peas, but that went over fine. tomorrow squash, maybe? fruit is not a problem we have 3 fruit trees in our yard and we buy them even more. they love fruit. they also love vinegar. i feel like i am really being exposed to situations that i want to deal with in the future. taking a budget, resources and taste buds into account and creating a balanced meal. it is hard but i love it!!! the volunteers eat breakfast at the volunteer house, where there is no stove or fridge. i need to get a balanced meal that 6 to 12 people will like that is inexpensive and requires no special storage (like being kept cold) or preparation, like a stove. we have things such as wheat rolls with peanut butter and apple sause. apple sause is the jelly, because traditional jelly is too expensive. it is like a logic problem, but yummy. i am also enjoying being "house manager," but since time is running out here at the internet cafe i will save that story for later. smiles from the island of hispanola!

taking care of business

Wow, it is so busy here. I am visiting a culture that has a 2 hour siesta each day and by the end of my day I pass out from exhaustion. The boys are wonderful, for the most part. I am working hard on their diet and the diet of the volunteers. On such a tight budget it is tough, but this is great experience. At the volunteer house we dont have a fridge or a stove, so getting a filling, healthy and inexpensive breakfast for a lot of people is tough. With the boys they are so picky and have started complaining. We had a good talk the other night though. Caitlin, Kristen and Enzo talked about being grateful when so many around them have absolutely nothing. They got it and the next day meals went much smoother. It is hard, wanting to help them and allowing them to make choices, but on the same time we are on a tight budget with a lot of boys. I think it will all smooth out. We had some corn and plantains for the first time since january yesterday and today I am hoping to make sweet peas for them. we will see. the boys who live in the house are still going to school and doing supplimental work at the house. the boys who come to the house just during the day do some tutoring and activities.
We have started taking the boys to the beach after lunch each day. It is great, because they run and swim and expend energy. they also dont fight with each other (knock on wood). they have soccer practice after the beach so by the end of the day they are a bit more mellow. the volunteers and the boys both love the beach because it cools you off. i generally do not like the beach and would opt out of going, but i love it now!!!

okay well time is running out and there is a lot of work to be done. love you all!

14, 15, 16 de mayo

Hello All.

I gave my blog to so many people is seems odd to address so many at once. So with 20 minutes remaining. I will try to summarize all that has happened in three days.

we have 13 boys with 2 adults living at the boys home. more visit the house each day and receive two meals. food is always tight. some how it all works out. water disappears rapidly, as it is hot and sticky here. Sandy and Jen, I have seen a few boys sporting YMCA shirts, none from b burg though. Oh Jen, I am saving water. At the volunteer house the waste water from the sink now fills the toilet basin. although there are some kinks the plan. we have currently 6 volunteers here. we are all very busy all the time. but i have seen the fruits of our previous labor, the boys who were here in january have grown up so much and are going to school everyday! we started a soccer team for the boys they are doing so well. they won there game today two to zero. they have jerseys that a team in the states donated, i believe godwin high school in richmond. the other team was made up of much older and bigger boys, but our team is just too awesome. they also have donated cleats that they wear. they are looking good, hahaha.

we have a puppy at the house that suzie, krista and I have taken under our wing. it is a very skinny, sickly puppy, but seeming more lively each day. it can be but 2 months old. his name is jack.

i am 'house manager' meaning i keep track of when we need water, getting supplies, setting up the new volunteer house, making sure it gets clean, going to the market with rosa, our cook, to get food. i also look after the volunteer retreat apartment, so kindly rented by my aunt kiss for me. volunteers can go to the outskirts of puerto plata for a day or so to just take some quite time and personal space. we have a different house for the volunteers, i think we will all want a break at one point or another and the retreat apt. is perfect for that.

i am sorry this is so choppy. i will hopefully have a bit more time to be more fluid once everything finds some sort of pattern, i use 'pattern' loosely.

and one last thing HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

i am tired, very dirty * i have yet to shower*, hopeful and empowered.
hugs and best thoughts to all!