sitio nuevo

I have rented a little house with a small yard to use as my new ministry site (shown in the photo above)! I am very excited to have found this location. It is in Los Higos, just up the road from the Casabera, on the same side of the road (for those who have visited us in Los Higos). The house has a living room (shown in the picture below) and two smaller bedrooms, an outdoor kitchen, and a roofed breezeway (?) between the house and the kitchen.

I'm excited to have yard big enough to have a small garden and a rabbit hutch.

The last few days, people have shown up to help me clean the house and fill in a large hole that had been dug in the front yard. The hole as meant to be used for an outhouse, but I didn't like the location (in the front yard, near the front gate). I'm considering building a dry composting toilet (a modified outhouse that produces compost, never has to be moved, and uses no water).

Thanks to everyone who has been praying that I would find a new location!

preescolar

SI began a preschool in Los Higos two weeks ago. Yohana, Andre's wife, who formerly worked at SI's preschool in Mata Gorda, is starting this new school. The kids' ages range from three to five years of age (as far as I know). Nine are from Los Higos, and three of them are from Piedra Blanca, a community just a little farther up the mountain than Los Higos. From what I know of the families, only three of the children come from Christian homes, so this is a great way to help these kids meet Jesus and reach out to their families.

The students have class five days a week. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, they have class from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and are served a meal, prepared my one of the preschooler's moms. On Tuesdays and Fridays they have class from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and return home for lunch.

This morning I waited outside with the kids and their parents while they waited for the door to be opened. One little boy started out the school year (last September) going to the public school's kindergarten. One day he had an 'accident' (bathroom related) and some of the older kids made fun of him. After that incident he refused to return to school and he never did go back. The mom said that when she heard that SI was going to open a preschool, she talked with Yohana about sending her son there, even though he is a little older than the other children. They decided to give it a try. After a few days of school her son said he will go to school at Yohana's school, but isn't so sure if he will want to ever return to the big school. We pray that his experience in Yohana's school will prepare him to enter into the public school with confidence when that day comes.

I pray that the children will be exposed to a different way of interacting with one another as they learn how the kingdom operates through their little school. I pray that it will be a safe place for them and a place of beauty for them.

update

Sorry I haven't written for a while. I feel like I haven't had much to say, because I don't know much about what is going on in Los Higos. I was told that the Students International preschool (to be taught by Yohana, Andre's new wife) was supposed to open today! I'll update you all on that as soon as I receive news.

I am still in Iowa, finishing up fundraising. I hope to be back in the DR within a few weeks. That is not to say, however, that I'm not enjoying my time at home. It has been a blessing to have an extended time at home to be with family and friends. Iowa joys include:
*learning to make cheese (actually done in Minnesota)
*visiting my FFA advisor from high school
*using yak-trax
*cross country skiiing
*having time to read books!
*baby lambs!