pulga

One cultural experience that both amazes and annoys me is the 'pulga'. A pulga (which actually means 'flea') is like a garage sale. Donations left by teams that visit our base are sold to help raise money for special projects in our communities. A few weeks ago we held a pulga at the Women's Center to raise money to do a small construction project for a family in the community to make their house more handicap accessible for their daughter who has multiple sclerosis.

People began gathering outside the Women's Center around 8 a.m. The pulga was to start at 10:30 a.m. (Dominican can be on time!) We decided to let pregnant women come in to buy first, for their own safety. Then Rudy, our construction site worker, let people in 15 people at a time to buy. Some people tried to sneak through the fence to get into the sale. (The picture above shows people waiting to come in the gate). Others sent money with the pregnant ladies to buy them their favorite item before someone else got the chance to enter and buy it. Some pushed their way to the porch and Rudy punished them by making them wait until last. There were accusations of unfairness- people were accused of going in twice, sneaking in with someone taller, buying more than their share of towels, stealing a salami, etc. (They also broke the gate to the propery when they rushed through).

Anyway. It was quite comical to me. And frustrating at the same time. I was a bit flabbergasted that people would put in so much effort just to buy on our little sale, but also realize that the sale must really matter to them if they do put in such effort to get in.

It's often hard to know how to bless people that are in need. We don't give things away, because that communicates that we think they are so poor they can't even buy used stuff. It seems from this sale that selling things at low prices can also cause people to act in ways that are below their dignity. It's not to say that everyone acted crazy in the sale. Once in the sale, most people just calmly bought what they needed and left. What made them act crazy, it seemed, was that they all wanted to go in first.

In the end, I would say that a lot of people were blessed. Several families did get things that they needed and we were able to raise over $RD5,000 ($US 140) for the construction project. After the sale, several community members asked me when we'll do it all again.