Goodbye Chicas

Today we had Boys club in the morning and girls in the afternoon...which is always a nice order because the boys tend to be way more exhausting than the girls...so by the time 2pm hits and the heat is full blown it is nice to have a calmer class. However, both classes are SOOOOO much fun...today we split the kids up into two groups; younger kids and older kids. Nikki and I worked with the older kids making hemp bracelets...it didn't go as well as we had planned with the boys...we had a hard time translating, even though Liz was in between classes. The boys ended up making a lot of beaded jewlery.



The Boys Club was over at 12, so we took a lunch break, and went to pick up Nikki's family for the Girls Club. On our way back to the club, we saw that there was this huge commotion on the street we were driving along. There were all these moto concho drivers and men standing around this woman who had nothing on but her shorts around her knees, with blood all over her body. We stopped to see what was going on, and it appeared that the woman had been brutally violated. Liz called the police immediately and we drove closer to the scene. We were not really sure what was going on, but it looked like there were only men around and this woman was going crazy. We were not sure why nobody was helping her and only standing around, but Liz told us that we could not get involved at the scene. When the police show up, they will take everyone involved and hold them in custody (in jail) until they get to the bottom of what actually happened. However, luckily we had just picked up our laundry, so I had a clean towel in the back seat. Liz ran it out to the lady so that she could at least wipe the blood off her face and cover up.People were yelling at Liz not to go near her because she was crazy. The police finally arrived and we although we watched what was happening, we were not sure what was going on. The police did nothing and just drove away...but we saw the police up the road and told them she needed immediate assistance..turns out they were on top of the situation and had a man in custody.

In the afternoon with the girls it went a lot smoother. We knew a little more of how to teach them the knots, and they picked it up really quickly. We had a few of the older boys come back for the girls club to help with teaching the hemp.
The smaller kids made macaroni jewlery...they painted the pasta red, white and blue...the Dominican flag colours. It was SUPER cute, and although it was a messy craft, they loved it!
We have come up with a system in the club where we pick two kids from each class who have stood out for us that day. We look for leadership, (even though we already have appointed leaders which are the older kids, we look for the younger ones to help out as well), we look for patience, the way they treat other kids...basically anything that makes them stand out.
At the end of the class we point them out in class, and tell everyone why they have been picked. Then they get to pick a prize out of the treasure chest. We have found that it really encourages the kids to step and behave in the class.
Since this was going to be our last girls club today, we had to tell the girls and say our goodbyes. The girls are naturally very affectionate with us, so of course there were a lot of hugs and last pictures.
It took us a good half hour just to make our way to the door...the girls are so sweet, and we love working with them...so it was really difficult to leave today.

I am really stressing about leaving...I always stress before I leave, but not like this. I have been here for 2 months, and made some really strong, great relationships with not only the kids, but families as well. Liz has been fantastic, and I am really going to miss her. There are so many people here that I love so much...it is going to be really hard to say goodbye...although I know it won't be goodybye forever...more like "see ya later".

I love the Dominican Republic!

The past few days have been busy, but so awesome...we are trying to enjoy every last minute we have here. I apologize again for the late posts, but we have not had internet all week, and we have been super busy. So again, I will post this blog with an overview of the week.
Monday was errands in the morning...to prepare for some special presents we are giving some of our kids. Nikki and I LOVE pictures. Both of our bedrooms at home are filled with photos of our friends, family, and of course the Dominican. We love to look back at our pictures, and remember all of the good times. So we decided to make photo albums for some of our families that we have been working with for the past 7 weeks. So we spent the morning organizing the photos, running around to find albums and getting the pictures developed. In the afternoon we went to one of our favourite families homes, and gave them their album. Sonia is a single mother, with three children, and is really struggling...her husband died in a car accident and Sonia has a really hard time finding work. It is a good thing that we decided to visit on this day, because when we got there, Andy, who is one of Sonia’s sons, was limping around with a walking stick. He had stepped on a rusty nail, and although Sonia had taken him to the hospital, she could not afford the medication. This had happened after the club on Saturday, and when we arrived on this Monday, his foot was 5 times its normal size. It was so dirty and infected. So we called Liz and she went and picked up his prescription...we saw him a few days later and his foot was back to normal.
On Tuesday we had boys club, and the first day that Nikki’s family was here. We had the boys make crowns, which they got VERY creative with.


After boys club, we showed them around a little bit, and took them to Sonia’s house. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing some miscellaneous things for the club. We went to a couple of homes to sign kids up, and took their information.

Wednesday was Nikki’s birthday and we went to a really secluded beach about an hour away with her family and 7 of our main boys. When we picked them up, they were so excited and started cheering and screaming.



We had such a great day with them, and they had the chance to get out of their community, away from their town and just relax and have fun. We had a picnic on the beach, and Nikki’s Mom paid for everyone to go banana boating...which was the highlight of the day for everyone...especially the boys!
We had such a great day, and I am so glad that Nikki got to spend it here in the DR, in the beautiful ocean with her family and friends. And honestly, I dont think I have ever laughed so much in one day...I had tan lines on my face from laughing so much!


Thursday was girls club, and we made the cutest craft with them. They drew a butterfly, coloured it in, and then decorated with sparkles...they loved it!
Since Sam and I have decided to sponsor two families together, we still had one more to pick. So I decided that Hilda, who I have mentioned before was going to be our second family. She raises her two granddaughters, and is one of the most humble people I have ever met. She runs her school, which another missions group built for her, but is always short of funding. She tries to feed the kids, but is always using her last few pesos to make sure everyone gets fed. She is living in a house that has numerous holes in her roof and opens up her home to everyone. She knows everyone in her community and would do anything for them. She directed us to the homes that needed our help the most and is always at the club helping clean and run the class.
On Thursday after the girls club, I had Cathy translate in Spanish to Hilda, that I, along with a friend in Canada would be sponsoring her family. She gave me a huge hug and burst into tears. I, of course started crying too, and then even Cathy started. Hilda was so happy and appreciative; it was one of the best moments of this entire trip.
Today we took Nikki’s family to Arroyo Seco. I have a little friend there, named Roegina, who for some reason has attached to me. She is 2 years old, and I have mentioned her before. She is SUPER cute, and when we were there last week, another little girl tried to hug me and Roegina ran up and started hitting her yelling “noooo! Melissa is Mi Amor!”, which in English means, no, Melissa is my love! Today we had to say goodbye to our Arroyo kids until next year, and although it is a moment that I always dread, I know that when I come back next year I will be welcomed with open arms.

That was confirmed when one of my girls Dad’s drove me out to the main road on his moto concho. I told him that I did not like goodbyes, and that I was leaving for Canada next Tuesday. I also told him that someday I might like to live here for a year or so, and he told me that I could live in their house...no rent or expenses, because I was like his family.
I have had such an emotional, and amazing week...I cannot even describe some of the emotions I am feeling right now. Not only do I feel like I am making a difference, which is much easier to see when I have been here for 2 months, but I feel so loved and appreciated by the people we are helping.

Kick Off!!!

Today was the kick off day of the new boys and girls club. We are temporarily using a school in the community run by a very sweet lady named Hilda who knows everything about everyone in the community. She was the one who recommended a lot of families for our program. Everyone that was supposed to be there today, showed up, and the attendance sheet was full! We held the boys club in the morning, and the girls club in the afternoon. Everything went SO smoothly.

For the craft, we had the kids cover their hands in paint, and then make their hand prints on construction paper. Then they decorated with sparkles, and wrote their name on the sheet. We also had them write (with our help) what they wanted to be when they grow up in English and Spanish. One of the boys, Saurino who is 14 and one of the leaders in the class wrote that he wanted to be a fisherman. We asked him why and he replied “so that I can feed all of the people in my village”.
After the craft we let the kids outside into the basketball court, and they went crazy! Running around, playing basketball; they LOVED it! At the end of the boys club, two of the older boys, who we have appointed as class leaders, one of them being Saurino, came to us and said some very kind words. Andy, who is 13, and who I have gotten to know over the past 7 weeks from the original boys club, said, “on behalf of everyone in this community, all of the Mother’s, and all of the boys who were in this room I want to thank you all for working to help our future”.

As soon as Liz translated this for me, my eyes welled up with tears. Andy looked at me, and I looked at him, and all I could do was give him a huge hug. This was also the same boy that said he wanted to be a pilot so that he could fly to Canada and visit us. For me, this moment made all of the paperwork we did, all of the dry preparation and application process we did for this club SO worth it.

The girls club in the afternoon we did the same craft, and we realized that girls are a lot calmer than the boys. They are so sweet, and they listen so well. Some of the girls brought containers full of cut up fruit such as pineapple, cantoloupe, and banana to share with everyone. After the craft, we played the game “What Time is it Mr. Wolf”? They had a lot of fun with that, and then of course, they wanted a huge 25 person game of “Stella Ella Hola”. It took a really long time to finally get a winner, but the girls had a great time.
Overall, we had an amazing day. I have no other effective words to describe it.

New Meeting Day

Today was a very emotional day for me. We had the information meeting for all of our new families that we have accepted into the program. We started the meeting with introductions and then moved onto making the club rules. We had the kids and Mother’s tell us what they thought their club rules should be, so that they know, and we can make them accountable. Right from the beginning of the meeting, I stood up at the front holding back tears. I was so happy to see all of the kids and Mom’s there, on time, and so excited and eager to find out what was in store for them. Just to kick the club off, we handed out bags full of donations with clothing, shoes, toys, etc. to each family. Nikki organized all of the bags so that each family had the right size clothing, shoes, appropriate toys and things to suit that family. The meeting was a huge spirit lifter, and it really pumped everyone up; it gave them hope that their kids would actually have some opportunities in life. Cathy also explained the food voucher system to the family. We have set up a system that for the family sponsorship program, every family will get a food voucher for the super market for $25 each month. However, the food voucher will have specific items on it that they can buy, such as rice, beans, pasta, plantains, pasta sauce, salami, oil, sugar and salt. This is so that the families cannot take their $25 voucher and spend it on alcohol, and other unnecessary items. The voucher will also have the name and ID number of that person, so that they cannot sell their voucher to anyone else for money. While Cathy and Liz explained this system to the Mother’s, Nikki and I entertained the kids in the next room. Imagine 50+ kids, in one room, trying to entertain them, while keeping them quiet at the same time. It was complete chaos, but so much fun at the same time.
When the meeting was over, Nikki and I stood at the door to say goodbye to everyone. I have never felt so appreciated in my life. All of the Mother’s and children were so grateful. They were acknowledging all of the work we did to get organized for the meeting and the start of the new club. They were so happy just to receive a new mosquito net and a few shirts for their kids.
Everything really hit me today. Since I have seen poverty before, I am usually okay with handling the broken down homes and the people. But we got home today, and I had a complete emotional breakdown. The unfairness of their situations, the gratitude they showed towards us, the smiles and excitement for the hope they have received, and the amazing kids and families. Everything affected me today, and I had such a wide range of emotions that I just could not hold in.
It was the appreciation of the families and the excitement of the kids that really makes this entire trip worth it. Today was just one of those days that I will never forget.

P.S. We have limited internet access, so these blogs will be behind, and pictures to come.

Wicked awesome Day!

Today Nikki and I went out to Arroyo Seco; one of the villages that we have worked in with Hero Holiday the past few years. Although we are not working with a group out there right now, we love going to visit the kids and their families. So today with some colouring materials, Spanish books, and a soccar ball we headed out to spend the afternoon.


As soon as we got off the moto, we had a bunch of kids running toward us. They were so excited to see us, just as we were to them.


All we had to do was walk down the road and eventually had a crowd of kids walking with us. We stopped at one house, where we know the family well. There are two girls, Jessica (a close friend of mine), and Tata (a close friend of Nikki's)who live there. Jessica is 15 and Tata is 10. Jessica babysits a 2 year old little girl who is SUPER cute. I knew her a little bit last year, but this year she has completely clung to me every time we are there.

This is the fourth year that I have been able to be in Arroyo Seco, and so I can pretty much recognize everyone who lives there. What I love is that each year we go back, all the kids have grown so much, and I love that we are able to watch them grow up.

We had one of the kids Dad's drive us back into town on his moto...everyone takes such good care of us out there. We had a wonderful day, and plan on going back this week.

Recruiting and Home Visits

So as I mentioned before, our week has been busy, looking for new kids, conducting interviews with the parents, and checking in on some of the families, just to see how they are living. What we found was some of the worst situations I have ever seen.
Every family has their own story, all stories that broke my heart. One family, a grandmother raising her 16 grandchildren all under one roof. The parents have all taken off somewhere, and this grandmother is raising 16 kids aged 5-15 all by herself. Another family, with two kids, lost their Dad 3 years ago in a random act of violence.

We did a lot of home visits this weekend, and went into some VERY rough homes. Some people live in concrete houses, but with no windows...imagine the heat! Others live in shacks made of scrap metal and wood. Everyone has some sort of roof...all leaking. And if you have ever experienced rain in the tropics, you would know that when it rains it POURS! Most families we met with had a fridge, but one that did not work. The sleeping situation in these homes was no better...most of the time there were multiple people to a bed, if there was one. In one home, there was a 7 and 9 year old sleeping together in a crib.
To be quite honest, it is hard for me to throughouly describe what these living situations are really like. It takes all five senses to truely understand it; the smells, the heat, the constant itchiness from being bitten by the bugs in these homes, the look in someone's eyes when they are telling you thier stories, and asking for help.

So when Cathy is talking to the new potential families, the kids all tend to follow us. So I decided that I would take the kids somewhere else and play some games. We had a HUGE game of Stella Ella Hola going, but the kids here do not know that game. So I taught it to them and they loved it. What started out as a game with a few girls turned into a huge games with a lot of boys and girls. The kids caught on really quickly to the words, and they loved the game so much that I think I sang the song 100 times...seriously.
I also met two babies...one was 10 months and the other was 2 months. They were soooo cute. Their older siblings took good care of them...the Mother's let the kids take the babies outside because it is so hot and small in the homes.


I am really excited about all of these new families. We have recruited a lot of younger kids, in hopes that we will be able to influence and provide opportunities that will keep them off the streets.

Hugs and Opportunities

When I feel homesick, it is mostly my family that I think about...I miss my friends a lot too, but I really miss the “Mom” hugs, and everyday love from my family. And then I thought to myself...today, we interviewed about 30 kids for the new club, and I received about 50 hugs...from the kids, and their parents. And then I thought about what my hug must mean to them. For me, it seems like just another little kid wanting a “gringa” hug, but really, for them, it is a hug into their future...a hug for reassurance that I am there to help them; a hug of hope knowing that I care about them, and that I want them to have opportunities. Which is really why I do what I do...for the past few days I have been asking myself the question: why am I here? Why did I decide to spend my summer here To be honest, I have not really been able to come up with a solid answer. I know that it’s not because I just wanted an excuse to live here in the DR, which really is a bonus, but it’s because I want kids who have been born into a life of poverty, a child with no choice of their lifestyle to have another opportunity than just begging on the streets, or becoming a moto concho driver, , or having sex for money; I want them to find out what they are good at and prosper...and I want them to have these opportunities to become somebody; to live a life different and better from what they know. I met a lot of new kids today, and along with their parents they showed up, looking their best, eager for a new opportunity. When we left, I could barely get into the car, because I literally had a sworm of kids around me, wanting to hug me goodbye.

And I now realize that their hugs were more than just a hug. They know I am here for a reason; to help them, and they appreciate it, and are excited for whatever new opportunity or adventure we might bring into their life. But what they don’t realize is how much I appreciate them; how much I admire their strength, their will and their eagerness to have a better life. Right now I am part of something that will hopefully change someone’s life for the better; part of something that will provide an opportunity for someone who will embrace it, and never have had it unless we stepped in; right now I am part of a change.

This Week So Far...

OK and now an update for this week...
Basically we have been recruiting for Liz's new club. We want to focus on Playa Oueste, since there is so much need there, and so little help and opportunity. The problem is deciding who to accept and who to turn away...since we only have room for a certain number of kids at this point. So here is our biggest challenge: who to accept into the club, and who to turn away. Doing this recruiting and application process is something that I have never done before, so it is a new learning experience for me. So we spent the day on Monday preparing applications, coming up with guidelines, and coming up with determining factors of how to pick kids/families. On Tuesday, we went to Playa Oueste to find some new families! Word got around pretty quickly about why we were there, and soon enough we had several families lined up for us to do a preliminary evaluation. We set them up with appoinment times to meet us the next day to fill out a detailed application. So that is what we spent yesterday doing; interviewing families and taking thier information. I was able to practice my Spanish a lot! The families were very patient with my misunderstanding of most things they said, and were very helpful when I spoke to them (in my very broken Spanish). By the end of the day, my head was spinning, and we left the information to sort through for today.
Nikki and I spent the afternoon today sorting through applications, inputting the information into the computer, and organizing everything. We have come to realize that it is not an easy job! However, we love that we can be a part the decisions, and preliminary "getting to know the families".


This GrandMother takes care of her 16 grandchildren...with no income and no parents in the picture we are eager to help this family.



This Mom takes care of 8 kids, including her 2 nieces, with no stable father in the picture.

These are just two examples of the need we are facing.
We will continue this week to interview people, and press through this application process. Soon we will start doing some home visits to obtain some photos and video footage for potential sponsors.

Updates

OK, as you can see I have not posted anything in a while...my apologies. However, I will tell you about some highlights since my last post.

So last Monday was my last post, and here are some things that have happened since then. Since it was Sam's last week, we wanted to spend some time with the boys.
One day we took them to eat, and then to the Melacon, which ended up being a fiasco.
At first, it started out like a regular trip to the Melacon, the boys running around having fun, and p.s. they really find it funny to beat me up for some reason.




There is one little boy in Puerto Plata who we see on the streets all of the time...Liz knows who he is, and from what she has told us, he is a problem child, with some mental issues. However, anytime that we have had an encounter with him, it has been pleasant, and we normally give him something to eat and he goes on his way. However, on this day, he seemed to hang around us some more, which was fine. He was getting involved, and being a great kid. However, somewhere along the way, he said something that the boys didn't like, apparently something crude, and that's when he started fighting with them. So we decided that it was best to leave...the boys thought this was best as well. Well the kid followed us, and our boys were getting upset again because this kid kept saying rude things. So this kid flipped out on us, and started going after us with huge rocks...we kept walking away and he just followed. Finally, he jumped one of our boys, Alberto, and when Alberto started to defend himself, is when the police walked up. Since Alberto is older and bigger than this kid, it looked like he was just beating up a little kid. The police arrested both boys. So we called Cathy, and she came and picked all of us up, and we went to get Alberto. Since Cathy is fluent in Spanish and lives here, she knew how to handle the police, and ended up getting Alberto out. Although it turned out okay, we still felt really bad. Here we were trying to keep the kids out of trouble, and then one of them gets arrested.
On another day, we held a boys club, and played some games, including "Follow the Leader", which the kids LOVED by the way...and since I was the leader, I probably looked like a crazy hopping on one foot down the road. It was a really fun, and spontanious boys club, because we had only mentioned to our English students that we would be meeting this day...so we only expected to do an English class...however word spread, and all of the kids showed up. So we improvised, and played charades in English, listened to some of the English songs, and played some fun games.

Birthday

So the other day we took the boys to the beach instead of holding an art class due to last week's disaster. It was a blast, as usual. Well one of our kids, Bebe, told us that Monday was his birthday. He told me, and then cornered Nikki and told her as well. I was not sure if I believed him at first, but then his friend came and told me seperately that it was Bebe's birthday on Monday. So when we showed up in Aguas Negras today with cake and presents for Bebe, we ended up having to hunt him down. Well first, we ran into his Father, and told him that we had brought birthday cake and presents for Bebe's birthday. His Father had no idea what we were talking about...Bebe's birthday was in February! That was the moment we realized that we had fallen for the exact thing Liz warned us about - how the boys love to pretend it's thier birthday...they always get their friends involved and play tricks on us to get birthday presents! We couldn't believe that we had fallen for the trick, but at the same time we didn't want to start accusing him of lying...but it was quite hillarious. The parents felt really bad though, and called Liz later to apologize.

In English class today we played charades - it was so much fun! After English we took some of the boys to the Melacon...it was super hot today...it is getting hotter by the day as it gets closer to summer. On our walk to the Melacon, Jose asked me for 10 pesos for water. So I gave it to him, and he bought an ice-cream bar instead...as much as I know I should have said to him that it was wrong, I couldn't help but laugh and get everyone else ice-cream too...and Jose still went on to point to his ice-cream and tell me "good water"! Hahaha.