This is our last day in the Dominican Republic. Tomorrow morning we will head for the airport and from there we will fly for home, leaving the developing world and returning to the developed world. As much as I’ve enjoyed this experience, I can’t deny that I’ll be glad to be home. I’ve been to many homes here in Dominican Republic but I don’t know if I’ll remember any of them more vividly than Julia’s house. I wrote about Julia yesterday, describing the kind of poverty she had experienced as a girl—poverty that forced her to wear a borrowed dress just to have her photo taken for Compassion’s sponsorship program. Now a university student as part of Compassion’s Leadership Development Program, tears spilled from her eyes as she remembered the shame of poverty. Today Julia lives in a slightly nicer home—though dark and musty and sad by our standards, it was positively luxurious compared to many we saw and compared to what she had known as a child. To read more click here.
I am sitting in my hotel room mentally going over the events of the day and I have tears rolling down my cheeks. I’ll be honest, it’s not the first time it’s happened today.
On the flight to Miami, I listened to my iPod most of the way. The song “Captivate Us” by Watermark came on and as I listened to the lyrics I felt like I was seeing a glimpse into my week as I listened to Christy Nockels sing, “Captivate us, Lord Jesus, set our eyes on you. Devastate us with your presence falling down”.
In that moment, I prayed that God would devastate me with His presence on this trip. As much as I imagined that I wouldn’t walk away from a trip like this unchanged, a small part of me was worried that I might. What if it turns out that I’m dead inside?
Today was one of the most heartbreaking, yet joyous days I have ever experienced. We left this morning and headed to one of the Dominican’s Batey communities. These are basically Compassion projects in the midst of sugar plantations owned by large corporations. We were told that most of the residents are Haitian refugees who were lured to the DR with the promise of a better life, which hasn’t been the case. Instead they find themselves barely surviving in a country that doesn’t even recognize them as citizens. They aren’t necessarily slaves, but they aren’t free either. To read more click here.
A Tale of Two Houses
By Marlboro Man.
Today we visited a batey community—a sugar company-owned village inhabited by workers. This particular batey, however, while still technically owned by a sugar company, is populated with people who no longer work for the company. Apparently, after the sugar industry was privatized in 1996, the owners of this batey phased out the traditional workers who lived in this batey in favor of new, freshly-imported Haitians who worked for much less money. Ironically, the residents of this community were once Haitians themselves, and had few if any employment options outside the sugarcane industry. Still, the company determined it was still cheaper for the company to import “fresh” Haitians. This seems to be a problem common to many of these batey communities—one that seems to be worsening an already desperate situation for many families in the Dominican Republic. To read more click here.
by Keely
As I was holding little “D” she gently played with my hair then my necklace and then her little hand just kept touching my white neck. I am sure she was looking at how it would go from white to pink to red with the slight push of her tiny finger. Or she was just admiring the crazy amount of sweat I had in her tropical climate. Either way it was such a peaceful moment.As I was holding little “D” she gently played with my hair then my necklace and then her little hand just kept touching my white neck. I am sure she was looking at how it would go from white to pink to red with the slight push of her tiny finger. Or she was just admiring the crazy amount of sweat I had in her tropical climate. Either way it was such a peaceful moment. to read more click here
The Girl Without a Smile
By Brian Seay
Today several of our bloggers met their sponsored children. This is easily one of my favorite days of any trip. There are always hugs, tears, presents, and lots and lots of love being passed around. Every time I have met one of our sponsor children I really pray that I will bond quickly with the child and deep down I just want them to be fun. I always want to play a little soccer, blow bubbles, hear them cackle when I tickle them, and see the same little child that is within my own children. And usually that’s exactly how it goes - and it’s just flat out fun. To read more click here.
by Shaun Groves
In Uganda, I bought a few $1 bracelets for my daughters and a wooden car for my son. I handed the man in the market my money and he handed me a small plastic bag and some coins. “Thank you,” I said and turned to walk away.
“Vote Obama for change!” he shouted after me.
I was stunned. What does this man know about the election in America, still many months away?
I doubled back. “Why do you like Obama?”
“He will help Africa.”
This morning on the bus ride to a Compassion project, one of our translators for the week flopped a newspaper in my lap. “Would you like to read about your new president?” he asked. To read more click here.
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If you have the time please consider reading all their post over the last week. I am willing to bet that you will be changed. If you do not sponsor a child please consider it. You will find that your life will be changed for the better.
Thomas
Jennifer
Marlboro
Mary
Melanie
Nick
Tim
Brian
Keely Scott
Shaun
