Los Higos Links

2 days

2011-01-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

3 days

2011-01-10T18:13:00.000-08:00

5 days

2011-01-08T18:16:00.001-08:00

6 days

2011-01-07T17:34:00.001-08:00

7 days

2011-01-06T13:51:00.000-08:00

I'll upload a few photos each day to document my last week in the Dominican Republic.

Geidy

2011-01-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

I wish I had a picture, but I don't.

My replacement, Geidy (pronounced 'hay dee'), began working with me at the beginning of December. Geidy grew up in Jarabacoa and accepted Christ twelve years ago. She has been involved in her local church and had led a weekly cell group for the last several years. Her pastor recommended her for the position and she has been well discipled by him. She is my same age and is single. She studied accounting and likes to cross stitch.

I had about twelve work days to teach her all I could about Los Higos, running the Women's Center, and ministering to students before Christmas break began. So far the girls have warmed up pretty well to Geidy. I expect that connecting with them will be a struggle at first. Please pray that God will give Geidy direction in her leadership of the Women's Center and that He will give her favor in the community.

Navidad

2011-01-01T17:02:00.000-08:00

The preschool had a Christmas dinner a few weeks ago. The preschoolers performed a short program prior to the meal- quoting scripture, singing, and dancing to Christmas music. The families were invited and the church, where it was held, was full. For the meal, each child along with two or three family members were allowed to eat. In addition, each child was given a small gift with a toy and candy.

techo

2010-11-17T18:12:00.001-08:00

In October a team from Chicago and Indiana worked on the roof of the preschool. The tore of the old rood, replaced some rafters, squared up the porch, and put on a new roof. Because the school was repainted this summer and now has a roof, the building looks new.

The bottom side of the new tin roof is white, so the inside of the school now feels much bigger and brighter. We are thankful to all the guys that came down to give their time and labor towards maintaining the school in good condition.

celebration

2010-09-25T17:21:00.001-07:00

With the teenage girls group that meets at the Women's Center each year we have three cycles that last about four months each. In each cycle we talk about a different topic. This past spring we talked about health, and in the summer we talked about dating. Now we are starting friendship. At the end of each cycle those girls that have had good attendance are invited to a fun activity. When we finished the summer, I invited the girls to the base where we crafted a slip and slide- something they had never played on before.

When we first explained to the girls what we were going to do they didn't seem to think that was a good idea. Angie, my summer intern ran and flung herself at the slip and slide and they thought it looked painful. They decided rather to use the plastic as a sit and slide and had a blast!

At lunch time, a student who was with us on the last two-week outreach of the summer served them Mexican food. It was a neat opportunity for her to test whether she could cook without her mom's help and an opportunity for the girls to be exposed to another Latino culture.

I am really excited for this fall cycle talking about friendship. Thus far we have talked about turning the other cheek (Matthew 5) and had a vibrant discussion about how our sinful nature tells us to do quite the opposite. We read from Luke and John about how Jesus demonstrated turning the other cheek when he was being abused prior to and during the crucifixion.
We have also talked about conflict styles and will soon talk about listening. My goal for this fall is to present topics that help them to understand how God relates with us and how we can related in similar ways with our friends and family. There is a lot of conflict in Los Higos, so pray that God would use this cycle to reveal to the girls how He relates to them and how they can also relate to one another in that same way.

Jesus y ovejitas

2010-09-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

Wow! It has been way too long since I've posted on the blog!
I will try to catch you all up on some of what has been going on in Students International's ministry in Los Higos.
In August, the preschool got a face lift. Johana held a pulga (garage sale) to raise funds with which to repaint the school inside and out. The school was repainted the same butter color it has always been, but the murals were all painted over and replaced. The front of the school now shows Jesus sitting on a railing amongst a bunch of lambs and holding one in his arms. John 10:27 is painted above the lambs, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me". I love it!

exposicion de costura

2010-07-07T17:46:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we had a sewing exposition. In the past I've found these events showing off our sewing projects to be quite boring, so this time we decided to try to do something more fun.

The girls prepared a dance routine to "Soy Soldado"- a merengue song about being a soldier for Jesus. They also did a little fashion show, which really got the crowd excited. I couldn't announce the models over the noise and realized I should have brought the megaphone.

Each girl got a certificate showing that she advanced to the next level. This week I began a new sewing class with ten new girls. A couple more also want to join! Pray that I'll be able to handle so many girls at once and that they will learn to cooperate with one another in the new class.

latrina abonera

2010-06-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

The Women's Center finally has a bathroom facility. And not just a regular facility- a dry composting toilet!! The latrine is like an outhouse, but rather than being over the top of a hole, it is over a concrete box (shown above). The stool is open in the back, like a regular outhouse, but the solids fall down into a compost bin that is sitting below in the box.

When the compost bin is full, it will be put to the side to continue composting (we add leaves, sawdust, ashes, etc. each time we go number two) and an empty bin put under the hole. Urine will be diluted with water and used as fertilizer (an excellent nitrogen source, urine also has phosphorus, potassium and many minerals).

The reason I wanted this style of outhouse was that regular outhouses often flood, making a breeding ground for mosquitos. I didn't want a flush toilet, because we often do not have water (and kids always forget to flush, causing clogs, because they are so accustomed to outhouses that they don't think to flush).

About a week ago we had a dedication for the latrine which included talking in the megaphone, a ribbon cutting and picture taking inside the roomy latrine. It was all quite silly.

So far it seems that the girls are pretty happy to use the latrine. The other day we were having a baking class at the preschool and the girls left to go back to the Women's Center to use the outhouse rather than using the flush toilet at the school.

maquinas nuevas

2010-06-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

A visionary lady from California visited my site in February and decided to bless us with two new sewing machines! She and a friend came this week with two new peddle machines that they ordered from Japan (I think). I've never seen machines like this before. They are peddle machines (non-electric), but can do everything that an electric machine does- zigzag stick, back stiching, button holes.

Today the girls came to the Women's Center to learn to use the machines. They caught on quickly, because the machines are so simple to use! Next week, the visiting ladies are going to do some special classes with the girls- making skirts and collared shirts. The girls will certainly be fighting over who gets to use the new machines.

pulga

2010-06-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

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.

cooperacion

2010-05-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

My Monday beginner's sewing class is quite the joy for me. This new group of sewers has several older girls in it and they are learning so quickly! It has been fun to have a group that understands what they read when we have our Bible readings and that seems to catch on to what I teach them in sewing.

Last week we were cutting out bags, using some new fabric I had bought just for them (which was quite exciting for them). And the girls shocked me... they all started to cut out their bags together. Three of them helped one girl pin her pattern on; two girls, each with a scissor in hand, cut it out together! It was cooperation!

I realize that cooperation is not foreign to this culture- I have seen it before. However, it seems that in sewing class the girls sometimes get tired of sharing equipment and space and each starts to defend her territory. So, it was so refreshing to see that in sewing class on this day the girls chose to all help one another and stick together on their project.

reposteria

2010-04-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

We started a small baking class last week. Since pretty much all of the girls in Los Higos and the surrounding communities have learned to knit, we needed something new to do. We had our first class last Friday. I split the girls into two baking groups, so we will all fit in the kitchen, and this Friday the other group will bake. In this picture group 1 poses by their first cake- a carrot cake.

When we bake we will always have some down time while we wait for whatever we are making to bake. I am debating how to best use this time. Last time I wasn't real prepared, so we just played charades. I would like, however, to use that time to do something productive and edifying or educational for the girls. Any ideas?

Today was our last day talking about health. A nurse from the rural clinic in the neighboring community came to talk to them about preventing and treating tuburculosis. I was surprised that the clinic has a new doctor and she wanted to come along! It turns out that she is a Christian and is really excited about what we are doing in the Women's Center. When I told her that I want to soon start a series with the girls on dating and marriage she offered to come back and talk with them about waiting to get married, family planning, STDs, etc. I'm really excited at the possibility of partner with her and helping her to establish a ministry in the community, too.

shoe crew

2010-04-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

During Easter week we had a team visit from Indiana that called themselves the shoe crew. They came to do running races with the kids in Los Higos and then give shoes to each participant.

A lot more kids than expected came to the baseball diamond to participate. The older boys especially seemed to enjoy the different races. Following the race, there was a devotional comparing racing to life and with a message of winning the prize that comes from following Christ.

After devotional, each child was called up to receive a pair of tennis shoes and have their feet washed and to be prayed over. After the washing, the new shoes were placed on the kid's feet. What a special moment!

Unfortunately the team could only give shoes to those that had been signed up ahead of time. A lot of kids came hoping to get shoes, but they weren't on the list.

It's hard to know how to best be generous in the community. A lot of people in the community really do need shoes. Plus, having tennis shoes encourages the kids to play sports and run, which is the type of healthy activity we desire them to participate in in their free time. So, it seems that if we are going to give the community a material item, shoes would be a good one to give.

Yet, giving things out in the community can also send the message, which we don't want to send, that we see them as poor people that need hand-outs. Rather we want to communicate that they are rich in Christ and rich in ability. We want to send the message that we see more in them than just their material needs. And we definately do not want to encourage an attitude of entitlement in them. We want to encourage thankfulness for what they have, rather than demand for what they don't have.

I think the shoe crew learned a lot about generosity and poverty through their experience and I hope that this will shape all of our understanding of how to best help those who are in need.

despedida

2010-04-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

Earlier this spring I asked God to send me help. I imagined having a sidekick who could help me with the load of responsabilities that I was carrying in running the women's center. Even as I prayed, I imagined there would be no way God could line someone up until summer, but I was wishing she could come immediately.

I didn't know that God had already heard my prayer and my spring intern had already bought her ticket. Stephanie came at the beginning of February with a team of women from California. Her team came for just one week, but I didn't know Stephanie had come to stay for two months!

Stephanie immediately connected with the young women (and two boys) at my site. Her visible love for them ministered to them.

It has been a blessing to have a companion, an ear, another mind to remember, an organizer, a cleaning lady, and encourager, and a friend with me each day at the site. We said good-bye to Stephanie at the site a few days ago and she will fly out in less than 24 hours. I know that she needs to return to her family back home so she may love and encourage them in her ministry there, just as she has us. I thank her family for lending her to us for this time.

maquina de coser

2010-03-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

Sarah has been wanting to get her own sewing machine for a long time. We'd been looking for a machine since December and got one last week. She is pictured above with the machine in her house.

Since her dad passed away, her family has made it clear that Sarah and her sister will need to find ways to financially support themselves. Sarah's plan is to make bags to sell and to charge for things like clothing repair.

In the background are some bags that will be sent to a supporter in the states. He is hoping to market the bags as a fund-raiser for the church in Los Higos. Sarah is also making a profit on the bags that will help her and her family.

Please pray that Sarah will increase in skill and confidence and that she will be a wise manager of the money she makes. Pray that the money that will be raised for the church will be wisely invested for the expansion of God's Kingdom in Los Higos.

nueva clase

2010-02-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

The preschool in Los Higos has now completed a year of service to Los Higos and began a new class two weeks ago. Whereas last year the school had 12 students, this year they have 20. They are divided into two classes- in the more advanced class, eight of last year's students are learning to read. In the lower class several new students and a few from last year are being introduced to letters and colors and will eventually move on to sounds. Most of the new class are three-year-olds, although there are a few that haven't had their third birthday, yet.

Carmen Luz, who volunteered last year with Johana, is teaching the new class and Johana is teaching the more advanced class. Johandry (Johana's baby) comes to school and a neighbor girl comes over and watches him during class.

charla con Fernando

2010-01-30T04:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been eons since I've posted anything on the blog!

This spring the girls' club has transformed from an environmental club to a health club. That wasn't my original intention, but it came up from the girls and Guelo, who is helping me sometimes, that we should do different units about different topics. So, until April we'll be talking about our bodies, sanitation, etc and then in May we'll start talking about dating, marriage, etc. again.

In our first health lesson we studied where God has dwelled throughout history, starting with the tabernacle and then the temple. Then we read about how the temple curtain tore when Jesus died and read the verses that say believers are the temple of the Lord. So, that is our basis for talking about health- our bodies are God's temple if we allow Him to dwell there.

This week Dr. Fernando (showm above) came and talked to them about how babies are made. Super embarassing. He didn't go into any detail about what the man and woman have to do to start the process, but rather focused on the stages of formation of a baby in the whom and the miracle that it is. He did a great job of exmplaining that the ability to have a baby is a blessing and that is why they need to be responsible with that gift.

We had little booklets (given to me by a friend back in Ames) that show photographs of babies at different stages in the whomb. The girls all crowded around the books and seemed really interested (as showm in the photo below)! Fernando shared interesting facts, like that a baby knows if it is loved or rejected somewhere around 22 or 26 weeks and that at 26 weeks the baby recognizes the voice of its mom and dad.

Overall, I'm really happy at how the girls' 'health club' has started out. Next week we'll be excercising and the following week we'll talk more about the changes that are going on in their bodies during adolescence.

conejitos

2009-11-28T10:43:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more recent pictures of the babies:

dramas

2009-11-24T16:28:00.000-08:00

Last week Andre's church had an evangelistic campaign each evening Wednesday through Saturday. Each night they had some fun productions by local community members usually followed by a guest singer or preacher (or a movie on Wednesday night).

On Friday the girls from the teenage group at my site had the chance to perform some dramas before the main message. They did three skits to communicate caring for creation from a Biblical perspective.

In the above skit Yessica pulled several items out of a sack and asked Arisleidi if this should go in the trash can (played by Titi) or thrown outside on the ground. The ground burst into laughter when she pulled out a gallon-sized rum bottle. Arisleidi informed Yessica with each item that the things made by man (glass, tin, rubber, plastic, etc) are to be thrown in the trash and the items made by God (dirt, wood, leaves, peelings) are to be thrown outside.

In the next skit each girl walked across the 'stage' doing something harmful to the environment and then I would cross the stage after them and make a commentary about what I was seeing. Above Anglica is removing the bark from the trunk of a mango tree to make it die so she can then legally cut it down to use for firewood.

In the above picture Titi is washing her 'motorcycle' in a stream.

One of my goals in the communtiy has been to help inform people of how the Christian faith applies to every area of life. I really hope they received the message that the environment is God's creation and we are called to care for it, just as Adam was called to sow and tend the garden shortly after creation.

conejitos

2009-11-08T15:36:00.000-08:00

My rabbit had seven babies on Wednesday morning. The picture isn't very good, but you can king of see them all huddled together.

quincinera

2009-10-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

Yessica, who has been involved in our ministry in one way or another as long as I've been here recently turned 15. The 15th birthday is a big deal in Latin culture. Usually 'quincineras' are celebrated with a Catholic mass. The girl rents a dress and hsa both male and female attendants who all rent tuxedos and dresses, much like a wedding party. The mass is usually followed by a party at the girl's home with cake, dancing, and drinking.

Yessica did not want to do the typical 15th birthday celebration for a few reasons. Now that she is growing in her relationship with Christ, she has become convicted about how she should celebrate. She knows she doesn't want people to get drunk to celebrate her birthday and does not feel comfortable with the type of dancing that often occurs at those parties. For a while she didn't want to celebrate her birthday at all.

Rather than avoid celebrating her birthday, Carmen Luz and I encouraged her to celebrate it in a different way that lines up with her convictions. So, we decided to go ahead and have a small party, inviting only her family and friends. We made a cake ourselves and rented a dress for her. She didn't have attendants, like the typical birthday party (more to save on costs than because of any other conviction).

The party was successful. Yessica got all dressed up and even got her hair done. About 80 people came (although only 30 were invited!) and they played games and ate snacks and cake. Overall, I think Yessica did a good job of showing the community how to celebrate her birthday in a Christ-honoring way.

charla con Ramon

2009-10-01T16:10:00.000-07:00

I started a club for teenage girls that focuses on the environment. We are doing Bible studies that help them form a Biblical view of creation as well as hands-on things, like building the solar stove last week. On Tuesday Ramon, who works for the Secretary of State of the Environment and Natural Resources, came and gave a talk. He talked a lot about water and how it gets contaminated. He shared a few of the things that rural communities do that really harm the environment. Some of the girls seemed to be bored and others were excited to have learned something. Yessica is especially excited about this club and wants to be an ecologist some day.

A lot of people in the community talk about the environmental department as their enemies, because that department says they can't do some of the things they've always done, such as take sand out of the rivers to use in construction, or catch crabs in the local streams. I was glad that the girls could have direct contact with someone from that agency, so they could see that the agency is trying to enforce laws that will protect their local environment.

estufas solares

2009-09-22T18:18:00.001-07:00

A new club for girls has been formed. We are focusing on the environment- studying the Bible to see what it has to say about creation and doing hands-on activities as well, such as today's attempt to make a solar stove.

The stove is made using two cardboard boxes, tin foil, and black paint. The boxes are places one inside the other. Both are lines with tin foil (shown in the picture above) and the outside box is painted black. A lid is made in a similar way and a flap is cut on the top (the lid is being painted in the picture below). A piece of glass (or a Reynold's oven bag, if such thing could be found here) is placed over the opening of the lid, so that light can be reflected from the inside of the flap into the box. We will attempt to cook rice in the box on Thursday to see if it actually works.

new intern

2009-09-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

We have a new intern working in Los Higos with Johana at the preschool. Selina arrived about three weeks ago and will stay until mid-December. Johana is about 8 months pregnant and Selina has come to fill in for Johana while she is on maternity leave.

Carmen Luz will also continue to work at the preschool as well while Johana is gone. The picture above shows Selina and Carmen Luz giving a math lesson to the class.

Caminata

2009-08-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

I went to my first march (protest?) on Thursday (although I didn't march, I went in the truck). People from Los Higos and neighboring communities were marching against the condition of the road that leads from Hato Viejo through Hatillo and to Crucero (this is the road we take to get to Los Higos before we turn left to go up the big hill). The met up in Hatillo (about a mile below Los Higos) and walked to Hato Viejo (about 1.5 miles, but including a mega-hill). When they got the Hato Viejo, they closed off the road and held a ralley. A Catholic priest spoke about the need for justice in government and spoke against how the government does not use money for projects that will benefit rural communities. Following his talk, he gave communion.

Here is the view from the back of the ralley. I am guessing there was several hundred people there

Here you can see the priest up on the stage:

Meri was at the ralley representing the 'junta de vecinos' (the city council) of Los Higos. Her sign reads, "City Council of Los Higos. No movement towards progress. Los Higos demands reconstruction of the Hato Viejo-Hatillo-Crucero highway"

Tito

2009-08-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

I found a home for Tito, the rabbit that turned out to be a boy. Carmen Luz needed a male rabbit, and I sold him to her.

So, today I stopped by Carmen Luz's house. I had heard that her younger daugher, Elisabet, was sick and asked Elisabet about it. Here is how our conversation went:

Arlene: Es verdad que estas enferma? (Is it true that you are sick?)

Elisabet: Si. (yes)

Arlene: Que tienes? (What do you have?)

Elisabet: Un conejo! Ven a ver! (A rabbit! Come and see!)

pulga

2009-08-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

On Thursday there was a 'pulga' (yard sale) at the preschool in Los Higos. When we host teams, they often leave donations (usually clothes, towels, and sheets) behind at the base. Rather than give these items away, Students International allows sites to sell them at low cost to raise money to buy things for the sites that wouldn't normally be included in our regular budgets. For example, a few months ago Johana had a pulga at the preschool to buy a television for the school.

The community always looks forward to sales like this. The picture below shows the crowd waiting at the gate for the sale to begin.

These pictures (which are my favorites) shows the people rushing towards the school once the gate was opened.

Here the people are crowded onto the porch of the school, looking through the items for sale:

coneja (o)

2009-07-30T17:49:00.000-07:00

So, the big news at the social work site this week is that it turns out that Titi, the rabbit, is a boy. That would explain the reason she [he] has not has baby bunnies, yet.

faldas

2009-07-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

Kay Yua Korean lady that lives in Michigan (she is the mom of my intern from 2006, Sandra), is working at my site during this outreach. She came prepared to teach the advanced sewing class to make simple skirts. The whole process turned out to not be so simple, but most of the girls did manage to finish their skirts. It was good to have an outsider come to the class and give the girls advice, because I think they sometimes get tired of me nagging them to sew straighter or correct their mistakes. Kay graciously told them when they needed to correct their sewing and the girls took her advice well.

Today Kay was also going to make a simple sundress for Marcela (an SI missionary kid). She cut the fabric out, but then later couldn't find it. Not long after, Gabby came out of the sewing room sporting a skirt and headband her mom made her using her new skirt-making skills. Turns out that Maciel found the little sundress fabric and cut it down to make a skirt for Gabby. Apparently she didn't recognize that that fabric was already cut for someone else's project. ;)

jira

2009-07-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

Last week the social work site from El Callejon, which also works with women, brought their teenage girls to Los Higos to have a cookout with the girls from my teenagers' Bible study. We hiked to the river, cooked locrio (chicken and rice), and swam. The top picture shows Daisy, the leader of the social work site in El Callejon starting the chicken.

The girls from El Callejon had prepared a short program where they gave each of my girls a friendship bracelet (one girl is shown giving a bracelet to Genesis, from Los Higos) and then sang a few songs they had learned. It seemed the girls had a good time, except for the fact that the rice turned out kind of hard.

One of our biggest frustrations, however, was that about 40 young men from Los Higos decided to go to the river right when we went. Dominicans often show up for events they weren't invited to, because the idea of an exclusive event doesn't fly here. We were disappointed, however, because we wanted to have an event just for our girls and we had a hard time convincing the girls to spend time with one another rather than going over to talk to the boys.

gran exposicion de costura

2009-07-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

On Monday, we had a sewing 'exposition'. Basically we decorated the community center with all the things the sewing class has made in the last four month. We laid plastic chairs down on the floor to form 'beds' to put our bedspreads on, and hung curtains behind the beds to try to make it look like they were in bedrooms. We hung bags on the back of chairs, to make it look like we'd left them there when we got home.

Unfortunately it rained on Monday, so hardly anyone came (except a bunch of kids who realized we had a snack). The participants seemed disappointed that hardly any adults came, but were pretty excited to get their pictures taken with what they had sewn:

Here, Melvin poses with his 'bedroom'. He officially joined sewing class about a month ago and scrambled to get 4 months worth of class projects done in time for the exposition:

Below, Vianelli poses by her 'bed' and a curtain made by Maribel:

Although attendance was super disappointing for our exposition, knowing we were going to have one was really motivating for the ladies. I announced we'd have the exposition about 10 days ahead of time and the women flooded by site daily to finish up their projects on time. A few that had gotten behind were able to catch up with all the class projects in time to show them at the exposition.

Lucas

2009-07-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

I bought a male rabbit, finally. His name is Lucas. (Yessica suggested the name). He is shown here with me and Gabriela.

We put him with Titi for a few hours, because it seems she was in heat, but time will tell whether or not she got bred.

Judd

2009-06-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

I'm really posting this for my sisters to see. I've had this Cabbage Patch Kid, named Judd, since I was three. When I moved to the DR, he moved, too. Yesterday I took him to Los Higos to use him in a drama in the mom's bible study, but his picture shows Carina playing with him. Carina was convinced that Judd was a girl and she really wanted me to get her a doll like mine.

Reciclando papel

2009-06-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

As a part of encouraging creativity and friendship in knitting, yesterday we recycled paper together (rather than knitting). For about two years I've been saving every piece of paper that could be recycled for such a time as this. (I don't know if this is extreme pack-rat'ism or frugalitiy or environmental responsability).

Here, a student from California pulls a piece of paper up out of the batch of liquified paper.

Marta has just formed a round piece of paper here.

And Raquel shows a round piece of paper (sitting on a piece of felt) that is ready to be put out to dry.

gorros

2009-06-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

I have felt convicted that I need to think about what it would mean to knit in a Biblical way. I believe that as a Christian, my faith should affect all of life, even my knitting! (Even as I read that, I realize how cheesey that would have sounded to me just a few years ago).

So, we talked about it in knitting class and came up with a list that would characterize Christian knitting. Here is what I can remember from the list:

Responsability

Creativity

Generosity

Honesty

Friendship

Service

Quality production

And we talked about ways we could incorporate those characteristics into knitting. We decided to start by making hats to donate. We have yet to send the hats, but are thinking of sending them to Ukraine or to Haiti (because I have connection through my church in Fertile to ministries in those countries). The ladies came back the following week with these beautiful children's hats:

Melvin came up with the idea of also doing a creativity competition- each knitter will design and knit something of their own imagination. Afterward we will sell their creations and donate the money. I was pretty happy with that suggestion.

My hope is that knitting class won't just be knitting chaos, but knitting with a purpose and we are trying to take steps in that direction.

2009-06-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for not updating the blog for so long! I kept waiting to get my camera back from a friend who barrowed it, so I can post some really old pictures of a quincinera (15th birthday party), but haven't gotten it back.

In the month of May, we had a team from Trinity Western University come and live in Los Higos. The only picture I have of them is this tiny one that I copied off of one of their Facebook pages. The team lived with host families and worked in the preschool, the women's center and the club.

Last fall, when Andre left SI to begin full-time ministry in the church, under Mission Door, the club became a church ministry (rather than an SI ministry). The club has met once or twice a week since then, because Andre has had many other new responsabilities as pastor. This summer, however, SI is using the club as 'partner ministry', which means that the club isn't an SI ministry, but we will be sending students to work there when we have teams. So, two TWU students worked with the club (which is meeting 5 days a week during the summer). And an intern, Josh, has come down to work with the club for the rest of the summer, along with whichever students might come down on two-week teams.

In other random news, our sewing class got their first 'job'- take make 10 bags to sell in a local art gallery. Fire ants have moved into my worm composting area and we're trying to figure out how to get the ants out without killing the worms. Titi, the rabbit, is getting huge! The church starting a church plant in Hatillo, a neighboring community. The knitting class is making hats to donate to an orphanage. I could write a whole entry on any of these items, but will wait until I can get pictures to expand on these subjects.

coneja

2009-04-25T11:53:00.001-07:00

I bought a bunny. We haven't named her, yet. She is living at the site and I hope to get another rabbit soon, so she won't get lonely.

costura

2009-04-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

We have begun to sew again and the new class has two new members (Josefina, shown above, and Janieri) and one old (Sara). We also have one member and isn't very committed, but I could count her and say I have a total of four girls. I was hoping to get more ladies involved, but none-the-less am happy with this small group of young ladies.

Today they began their first project (up until now they have just been learning to pedal the machine and sew straight). They each made an oven mit (shown in the picture below) and I was happy to see how well they sewed around the curves and were able to successfully put the trim around the bottom.

I have also appreciated all the moments of community the sewing class has allowed us to have. About a week ago, about eight ladies were hanging out at the site while sewing class was going on, visiting and laughing. I enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and the coming and going of women. I pray that this new site will become a safe and inviting place for women to come.

Today, one lady's daughter was at the site during sewing class and she threw a fit because I asked her not to cut paper with the sewing scissors (a pet peeve of mine, because it ruins the scissors for cutting fabric). Anyway, the daughter said to the mom, "you don't love me," and the mom replied, "no, I don't love you, because you don't behave."

In the other room I mentioned to Maribel, the lady that helps teach the class, that we need to learn to tell our children that we love them even when they misbehave, and let them know that we don't allow bad behavior because of our love. Maribel, immediately walked back onto the schene and said in a loud voice, "We DO love you and that is why we won't let you misbehave!" It was one of those chances to speak truth that occurs when we all get together.

mercadito y centro de internet

2009-03-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

The church took over the location where I used to have the agriculture site and where the church building is located. Since I moved out, they moved into the casita and the garden.

Just this week they turned the casita into a small vegetable market and internet cafe. They are selling vegetables, such as eggplant and cabbage, and some fruit.

The internet cafe isn't funcitoning, yet, because they are waiting to get electricity (as is most of Los Higos after two and half weeks without power). Joselito, pictured above, is going to work there in the mornings and Laura will work in the afternoons. The have four computers and will be using a satellite internet connection that Joselito installed in his house last fall. The church will split the cost for internet with Joselito.

My understanding is that the church is hoping to make some money with this venture while at the same time offering some services that the community needs. Many students (like Elvis in the picture above) have to make special trips into town to use the internet to do research for their schoolwork. Having an internet cafe in Los Higos will be more convenient and probably will save them money because they won't have to pay transportation for extra trips into town. In addition, it is often difficult to find fresh vegetables and fruit in Los Higos. This seems impossible, since it so easily grows here, but the truth is that people don't grow as much fruit as you would expect.

letrero

2009-03-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago the art site created a sign to put on my site. Nate hung it about a week ago. It really is a piece of art and totally encompasses what the site is about. Note that the cross is actually a tree trunk, and the arms of the cross form a hill, like we see in the green mountains all around Los Higos. The ball of yarn has plants growing out of it.

The Bible on the sign quotes Deuteronomy 30:19, "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live..." I truly desire that this verse would become true at our site- that women would be presented with choices and that they would choose life.

estudio con las muchachas

2009-03-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, we began a girls' Bible study. Nine girls, ages 12 to 17, had signed up, but only five came. The study will last two months and we will talk about dating, love, marriage, and boys.

One of the biggest problems that I see in Los Higos is that girls get 'married' (they move in together, often with his parents) very young to the first boy who ever decides he likes her. Usually they quit school when they get married. Often these relationships break apart after a few years, and the girl is left to raise a child without the father's help and with no skills, because she quit school.

This problem is overwhelming to me and I know it will take generations to change. I pray, however, that God transforms these girls in the same way He has transformed me and many of the girls who have come on teams to work with me. I see how he has changed my own view of who I am in light of who He is and changed much of my own thinking on relational topics. So, I know that the transformation I'm looking for can happen. Please pray that Jesus will begin the process in these girls: Wanda, Sara, Yesica, Natali, and Yoba.

baking with Lola

2009-03-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

Over a year ago, I tried to help my friend, Lola, begin a small baking business from her house. It started out with a bang, but fizzled.

Lola took quite a while off without baking-- she went through a time last year when it seemed she didn't have ambition to do much of anything. Her stove wasn't working properly, anyway, and she didn't pursue getting it fixed.

But about a month ago, she decided she needed to give baking a shot again. It seems like there was a small breakthrough in her- she realized that sitting around, not working, wasn't getting her anywhere. I don't know if it was desperation or inspiration that hit her. She decided that she needed to do something, however, and got her oven fixed.

So, we began baking again. She is making banana bars and just last week learned to make white cake, to which she adds coconut (very yummy stuff!). Tomorrow I think we'll attempt chocolate cake. Because she doesn't read, she can't follow a recipe very easily. Lola depends on someone else to teach her each new recipe, which she commits to memory as she goes through the steps of making it.

I always struggle with Lola to know how much to help her and how much to let her help herself. She often says things to me like, "When you are around, I just feel so much better. I feel so sad when I'm home, but you help me to feel like everything is going to be okay." The last thing I want to do is allow Lola to become dependant on me, when her dependance should be placed on God. At the same time, I want to be her friend and help point her to Jesus. I don't want to abandon her, like she has been by so many others in her past. I pray that Jesus would help her to transfer her confidence and joy to Him- the only One who truly never leaves us.

piedras de concreta

2009-03-10T17:48:00.001-07:00

Today we had some girls over to the new site to help make stepping stones to use in higher traffic areas in the yard. We made molds out of buckets (by cutting the bottoms out) and filled them with concrete (with a little wire in the middle for added strength). After letting them settle for about 45 minutes, the girls decorated them with colored concrete, marbles, buttons, etc.

I told the girls when we started that this is going to be a place for women and they are going be like the foundation of what we do. So, I want their mark under out feet.

One girl etched the words, 'Dios es amor'- 'God is love' into her stone. Others made designs in theirs.

Melvin mixed the concrete.

Sara shows the wire she put into her stone

One of our American students made one with Melvin and Uika's help.

Patria smooths some red cement onto the top of her stone.

Sara's finished stone.

Patria's finished stone

sitio nuevo

2009-02-24T17:02:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-16T18:08:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-02T15:28:00.000-08:00

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!

transicion

2008-12-30T09:46:00.000-08:00

Before leaving for the states, I moved out of the casita and the garden, leaving it to the church (which has a building on the same property). We decided that I should look for a new location from which to minister in Los Higos, because the garden was too big for me to care for and seemed to take up a lot of time that could have been used to invest in people in the community.

In addition, we all agreed that it would be healthy for the church to have its own location. They will be stretched as they take on the responsability of paying rent, water, and electricity and work together to care for the property, but we believe it will strengthen the church. Having seperate locations will also help the community to know what is Students International and what is the church.

Andre and Jesus (the assistant pastor of Andre's church) are going to continue gardening with the kids club, which I'm really happy to hear. They are also going to try to cultivate the rest of the land to try to make some money to go into the church treasury.

Moving out was a little hard, because I have invested so much time into the property. It was hard for me to let it go, and I find myself fearing that they are going to pull out the erosion barriers and other unique plants I have in the garden. I've been trying to be okay with that. I pray that the transition goes well for the club as they adjust to gardening with new people.

I hope to find a new location once I get back from Christmas where I can focus more on ministry to women. I'd still like to have a small garden- something closer to what a woman could care for near her home. I'd also like to have space to hold the knitting and sewing classes and offer Bible studies for women.

Please pray that the Lord would provide a new location and that the church would utilize well the garden.

carrera de burro y otras cosas

2008-12-30T09:37:00.000-08:00

I am in Iowa right now for Christmas and am planning to stay until the end of January. So, I don't have a lot of updates on what is going on in Los Higos, but will share some old news.

We had three students from Bethel College living up in Los Higos for seven weeks as a part of our semester program. On their last day in the community, the thing they most wanted to do was have a donkey race. We held it right after the kids came to garden, so we had an audience. It seemed that the donkeys were going to fight with one another, so we couldn't have a side-by-side race, so we decided to have each participant run individually and we would time them to determine the winner. The picture below shows the second-place winner on his donkey, 'Fuego'.

On a more serious note, the church began adding on to the church building before I left and were hoping to have the addition done for Christmas. From what I understand they were not going to enclose the new addition, but rather just have a roof and partial walls (or no walls?). I'm sorry I didn't have my camera on me to get a picture before I left.

kermes

2008-12-10T18:39:00.000-08:00

The church had a kermes, a fund-raiser, last Saturday. They enclosed the basketball court with palm branches and tarps, and charged $RD30 entrance. They had a flee market, local entertainment, and a concert with singers from the capital and Jarabacoa. They made about $RD15,000 (about $US425).

Some girls from the club did a worship dance

They raffled off a 25-pound bag of rice.

Duary lipsank to Marcos Witt song (check out the kids that are pretending to play the instruments in the back).

They sold a lot of used clothing.

A politician loaned his truck with huge speakers for the concert. You could hear the music everywhere in Los Higos. These are the trucks they use during campaign season to blast political jingles.

charla con los adolescentes

2008-12-05T19:20:00.000-08:00

Guelo has been leading a couple English classes/ Bible studies with young teenagers and recently asked Dr. Fernando (a gynecologist on staff with Students International) to give a talk the young people. Last Friday the kids met in the Los Higos community center to hear Fernando talk about relationships and the health issues of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. It's just so clear that what medicine says and what the Bible says about relationships and sexuality are totally in agreement and Fernando made that clear in his talk.

In other news, tomorrow the church is hosting a concert at the Los Higos basketball court to raise money for the mercy ministry. (The mercy committee focuses on helping widows, orphans, and other people who have need). It will cost $RD30 to enter (a little less than a dollar) and they will be selling food and having a yard sale.

mas de la Lorena

2008-11-13T05:37:00.000-08:00

So, the Lorena stove that Dulce built on her own and was so proud of apparently didn't function. So, she took it apart.

I have realized that anyone can make a Lorena stove, but you need to know a bit about how to make it. Her stove was pretty, but apparently the holes were dug out too big, so the stove heated slowly. In addition, the method we have been using uses really wet clay, so it takes several weeks for the stove to dry out, which also makes it cook slowly in the begining. So, the big holes combined with wet clay made her stove cook so slowly that she got angry, tore it apart and went back to cooking on a 'fogon' (tradition open fire place).

I'd met a lady who knows a different method for making the stove with clay that is practically dry and that isn't so sandy (meaning we can use almost any clay and don't have to go all the way to the river to get it). And her process only takes a day! So, I asked her to come and teach us her method and we rebuilt Dulce's stove.

We made the stove using a mixture of the red clay we'd previously gotten from the river and some clay found nearby.

We dug the holes the same day using garden trowels, a kitchen knife, and a machete.

We smoothed the outside all out using a wetter mix of clay.

And we were cooking on the stove that same afternoon. Can you see the smoke coming out of the chimney?

La Iglesia de Andre

2008-10-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've blogged about this, yet, but those who get my newsletters would know that Andre left SI in September to pastor the church that he is planting in Los Higos full time. He had felt for quite a while that the Lord was leading him to focus more and more on the church, and SI tried to put him in contact with some people and churches that might support him so that he coud make that transition.

Andre continues to work with the kids' club, but it is now considered to be a ministry of the church. The above picture shows Andre meeting with the club. The club now only meets twice a week, Thursdays and Sundays, which gives Andre more time to focus on other parts of his ministry as pastor. When SI has teams in the summer, they will continue to partner with Andre by sending students to work with the club. The students will be able to hold club every day and give classes, such as English or music classes, as they have done in the past through SI.

The church continues to grow in numbers and maturity. Last Saturday three more people were baptized, including Hector Luis (who is in the picture below in the red shirt) and Negro/ Peña/ Jose Antonio Delgado (he has a lot of names). Robin wasn't able to go on Saturday, but was planning to be baptized on Monday. The church continues to meet on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Thursday nights is a 'meeting', not a church service, and is ran totally by church members (i.e. Andre doesn't lead anything that night), and it's always fun to hear different church members take turns preaching (which is what Hector Luis and Guelo are doing in the picture below). Saturday and Sunday services are considered to be official church services, and often features different members preaching.

megafono

2008-10-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I got a megaphone! It was donated by a guy who came down on a two week mission trip this summer.

Here in the DR, it's really common for truck buying or selling something to drive around with a small megaphone attached to the roof, announcing whatever their business happens to be. For example, "plantains, bananas, yucaaaaaaaa... all types of root crops, all for three pesos, only threeeeiiii pesooooos." It's pretty funny to hear some of the things they'll announce, but I've found that it's quite effective. When the truck that buys scrap metal drives through town, people run to collect their scraps and out to the road to catch the truck and make a few pesos.

So, as silly as it feels to walk around town talking into a megaphone, it seems to work. I've mostly been using it to announce when the trash truck is going to come (SI brings up the dump truck about once a month to help with trash collection and removal). The picture above show a couple of our semester students announcing that the truck is coming. We always announce it a day ahead of time and pass out trash bags, and people literally come running out of their houses to meet us on the road and receive bags.

The youth group in Andre's church have also used the megaphone to announce meetings and events and I imagine that as word gets around that I have a megaphone we'll find many other uses for it.

bultos

2008-09-17T18:52:00.001-07:00

Our sewing class continues to happen, although it's not as organized as I would like and we only have two faithful attenders (Sara and Vianelli, pictured above). We got some wild, blue cheetah-print cordoroy fabric in the mail last week. I expected to just stick it in the drawer, but when the girls saw it, they wanted to make book bags.

What has been neat about this project is seeing how motivated the girls have been. I think that their drive comes from the fact that the bags are for them and they really do need them. We've done other sewing projects, but those were with the intent of selling things. It seems, though, that the girls aren't as interesting in making money as they are in just making things for themselves.

I have really come to appreciate Sara and Vianelli as I've seen their presistence in coming to the classes. They really push to keep the class going. I'm praying that Jesus might use this simple class to open doors to bigger opportunities for these girls and that the girls would be ministered to in deep ways as we interact with one another around fabric, needles, and threads.

brazo roto

2008-09-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

Chipo ("Cheap-O) broke his arm on Monday. He fell out of a cereza tree and broke it right above the elbow. I know that most people who have visited Los Higos will remember Chipo, and probably share my opinion that I'm surprised this didn't happen earlier.

Rain

2008-09-12T17:16:00.001-07:00

A lot of people have asked if we've received any damage from all the recent hurricanes- Fay, Gustavo, Hanna, Ike...

Basically we've had about a month of off-and-on rain. Most days it is sunny and hot in the morning, but we usually get a thunder storm in the afternoon and then some more rain in the evening. Usually this time of year is dry, but it's feeling a lot like how typical rainy season would feel, except that it's hotter.

The picture above shows some girls playing in a ditch in Los Higos. They were trying to form little dams out of clay, but I saw that they were washed out by the next day.

And my garden is out of control with weeds, but it's too muddy to do much about it.

Casa de Elvis

2008-08-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

Elvis' family's house is basically finished and has been for a while. It just took me a few weeks to finally walk up to take the picture. The floor is red concrete. They still don't have the interior divided into seperate rooms, so the house feels really big inside. And, I guess, they still need some other type of window covering.

maiz

2008-08-21T18:16:00.001-07:00

Since coming to the DR, I've tried to grow corn three times. The first time I was so disappointed. Having grown up with hybrids and chemical fertilizer, I'm used to stunning corn. The open polllinated stuff here just doesn't measure up. But this third harvest looked somewhat like what I'm used to (thanks to some granular fertilizer and timely rains). So, we shelled the corn out today, and I harvested a total of 35 pounds, grown on about 1/20 of an acre (I'm guessing). that adds up to 12.5 bushels/ acre. So, although I felt more proud of this corn (and everyone told me it was beautiful), my yield was still quite embarassing. I guess I could account for the fact that I know some of the corn was stolen out of the field before it dented (people here eat field corn), and I didn't shell the 10 biggest ears, because I am going to save that back as seed. However, even with that in account my yield wasn't too impressive.

I sold the 35 pounds for 200 pesos (about $US 5.80). So that comes out to $US 9.28/ bushel. I know that any farmer back home would be thrilled to get that price. (Actually, imported American corn is actually selling for more than that here). However, even with that price, I don't know if a farmer could make much money, because yields are so low. I'm learning how tough it would be for a Dominican farmer to make enough money to live.

lorena

2008-08-21T18:08:00.001-07:00

Dulce, the lady I lived with for most of the summer, has wanted a Lorena stove, but wasn't sure if she could afford the cement and block which we ask the women to provide before we'll build it. So, she built her own! She made the base with wood and got her own clay from where they opened a new road near Los Higos. Jose Quezada helped her to dig out the holes. The chimney is not real tight, so smoke still gets into the kitchen, but it still works a lot better than an open fire. She hopes to rig up something different for the chimney soon. This is the kind of thing I really love to see-- people taking initiative based on an idea that we introduced.

Boda

2008-08-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

Andre and Yohana got married on Saturday, August 16. The wedding was held near La Romana (where Yohana is from) at a beautiful Christian retreat center. The ceremony started at 9 p.m. and was very short. It was followed by a dinner and picture taking near the pool.

Andre and Yohana will be living in La Medina, a neighborhood close to the downtown of Jarabacoa. Andre is expecting to be back to work in September.

party

2008-07-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

I had an agreement with the club that if they picked up and put away all their tools for six consecutive weeks they'd win a party at my house (Nate and Maggie's house, really) in town. it took about four months, but they eventually did pick up their tools for six week straight.

They came over on Thursday. We had games planned, which most of the kids thought were dumb and refused to play. But they did go nuts when I brought out my huge blue exercise ball and when I let Cloe (the dog) out. And we had lots of good food- hot water cake, grilled hotdogs, potato salad, yellow rice, popcorn.

And at the end we had a door prize, a fig tree, which Elvis won.

It turns out that I only got pictures of food related things- the top picture is Daury eating a whole potato that accidently didn't get cut up in the potato salad (and which we decorated like a pig using toothpicks and sprinkles). The bottom picture is Cristian grilling the hotdogs. He eagerly wore that apron.

turnips

2008-07-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

Some kids planted turnips in the garden, believing that they were radish seeds. So, they dug them out the other day and were asking me what to do with them. (I have no idea what to do with turnips). They asked me what they are called, but I don't know the Spanish name, so I told them in English. Randy ran and told the other kids, "They are tour-neep."

La casa de Elvis

2008-07-19T07:23:00.000-07:00

The constuction for Elvis' house has taken off since they received a donation to help complete it. Here is a picture taken on Thursday. They are ready to pour the floor, and I believe the SI's construction ministry will come next week to help with that. Then all they will have left is to put up doors and windows (which they lack a bit of wood for) and hopefully paint (again, if they have enough money in the end).

The picture below shows Elvis pounding the dirt floor to prepare to pour the concrete floor.

I asked where they are sleeping while they finish the house. Elvis' mom replied that they are sleeping in the house as it is, they just haul the beds outside when they are working on the house and bring them back in at night.

atardecer

2008-07-12T14:31:00.001-07:00

I don't know if I've ever really mentioned on the blog that Los Higos is beautiful. I know that anyone who has ever visited knows that. I'm putting up a picture of an incredible sunset, as seen from the yard of the family that I'm staying with. The picture really doesn't do things justice.

jugar 'americano'

2008-06-28T18:20:00.000-07:00

I wish I had a picture, but I'll just have to tell the story...

After lunch, a bunch of the grandkids of the family I live with in Los Higos were at the house. And one of the girls started to get impatient, saying to the rest of the kids, "Come on, let's go play 'americano'."

I asked, "You play 'americano'?"

"Yes."

"How do you play?"

"Well, one of us is Arlene, and one of us is Andre and another is Sandra... [and she kept listing different Americans that have come to Los Higos]."

"And what do you do?"

"We all have water bottles," she said as she and another girl hold up used pop bottles filled with water.

After laughing that off, I asked, "What else do you do?"

"Sometimes we speak English without knowing what we're saying."

ha, ha.

2008-06-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

An eye doctor from Ohio came on this outreach and has been going from community to community to do eye exams. He came to Los Higos yesterday, along with Dr. Fernando, and they did a joint medical/ optical outreach. A lot of people in Los Higos were able to take advantage of the low cost eye exams and practially free glasses and here are some pictures of people sporting their lenses.

Ramon with bifocals which he says are only for reading:

Josefina with reading glasses:

La Negra with glasses to be used all the time (in one eye she couldn't see anything, now she says she sees something, and the other eye sees better, too):

Yan Carlos' birthday

2008-06-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

I went to a birthday party yesterday for Yan Carlos. It was pretty cute.

They held it in the pink house and had lots of balloons and streamers up. Yan Carlos was all dressed up (as shown in the picture of him holding a goat). The kids all danced, which was so cute, because even the little ones know more or less how to dance merengue. And they had a pinata.

The picture below is of Pancho and Yisenia's baby girl all dressed up for the party.

another knitting fashion show

2008-06-01T17:56:00.001-07:00

Last sunday we had another knitting fashion show. We had even more girls involved and in an even smaller space. The picture below shows the people that crowded into the chicken coop church to wath the event. (Origianally we'd planned to hold the event on the basketball court, but because of rain we had to change locations).

The girls themselves came up with a dance to perform. The only rules I gave them was that they had to dance to Christian music and couldn't do anything scandelous. In practice the dance was pretty tame, but, unfortunately, it was a bit scandelous at some points (typical dominican dancing), but I may have been the only one who thought that.

Each girl received a gift. I'd received personal hygiene kits from the Clear Lake Church of Christ when they visited last February, so I put those in the gifts, along with a ball of fancy yarn.

Cristian, Andre, and Franddi pose for photos afterwards.

Elvis' house

2008-05-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, a bunch of people from the church in Los Higos went to work to help build a house for Elvis' family. Elvis is almost 14 years old and has been pretty involved in the church and club. Jose Quezada was able to get some building supplies donated to build a house for them, because their old one (seen in the photo above) is in bad condition.

The picture above shows Cristian shoveling concrete into the hole dug for the new foundation (doesn't their house have a great view?).

The new house is being built around and over the old one. They will build up the walls, they fill in with dirt between the old house and the new walls to the level of the old floor. Once they have the roof on the new walls (and over the top of the old house), they'll take down the old house and pour a floor around the old floor reaching out to the new walls. This way they have a place to live while the new house is being constructed and they can make use of the old floor. Plus, their land is really sloped, and this way they don't have to level a new place to build a new house.

The supplies came from a politician. Elections are coming up soon, so politicians are in a rush to help the people- giving away building supplies, working on road repairs, etc.

There are five girls from Trinity Western University living up in Los Higos right now, and they helped off and on throughout the day with the construction. You can't see it well, but here they are filling a large can with rocks to be thrown into the concrete for the foundation.

Chipo

2008-05-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

Chipo showed up at the garden yesterday wearing this dinosaur costume. He said that Maribel bought it for him because he was crying. (I don't know if I understood that right, though). He was walking around acting as if wearing that outfit was quite normal. It was so small on him, too. Look at how his paws only come a big past his knees.

Kermes

2008-05-06T16:04:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Andre's church did a kermes, which is basically a fundraiser for the church. They held it on the basketball court in Los Higos, and had games for kids, dramas, and a performed dance. They sold food and raffled off two cell phones to help raise funds to pay the loan that they took out to buy a drum set for the church.

There was a pretty good turnout of people- I'm guessing around 150. I don't know, yet, how much money they made. I do know that they made almost $RD2,000 (almost $US60) just on the moro (rice and beans) that they sold. They were pretty proud of what they'd made and are hoping to do it again in the future.

Here Daury and Guelito rapped while Negrito and Randy break danced.

chicken coop church looks more churchy

2008-04-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

The chicken coop church is now being used. I haven't gotten a picture of an actual service being held, but I do have a few pictures of what the interior looks like, now that it has been painted and moved in to. Note that the church recently bought a drumset, which they are very excited to use!

Also check out the curtains-- Maribel sewed them using the sewing machines that we use for our class. Finding that frilly tassely stuff to sew on the bottom was a long process, because no store in Jarabacoa even had twenty yards of any color, but it was worth it to make the church look Dominican.

Final Lorena stove pics

2008-04-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

The Lorena stove is finally totally finished! It was finished a couple weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to putting up the pictures now. Once the blog of clay/sand mix on top of the base was dry, a machete (shown above) was used to dig out hole where firewood is entered and where pots sit.

Then some students that were visiting helped make the chimney using a piece of flat tin (shown here).

And now the chimney has been installed and the stove is being used (as can be seen by the soot in the picture above)! It seems to be working pretty well. Some smoke does enter into the house through the mouth of the stove when the fire is first started, but once the fire is going, the smoke mostly goes out the chimney. In the future, we're hoping to find a cheap way to make a more permanent chimney, since the tin will eventually rust.

limpieza

2008-03-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we had a community clean up, which is the first activity that has been put on by the 'gran comision', let by Jose Quezada. Starting around 8 a.m., Jose and different community members, mostly kids, started picking up trash. By the time I got there with some students that were working with us, around 9:30 a.m., they had already used up all the garbage bags they had. We ended up hauling two dump trucks full of trash out.

Our next challenge will be to educate people about how to better dispose of their trash. People mostly burn their trash, but that leaves all the non-burnable things along the roads (glass bottles, soles from shoes, tin cans).

The picture above shows one of the students that was working with us, myself, and Franddi picking up trash.

more lorena stove

2008-03-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, saturday, we finally made some big progress in the Lorena stove. We just have one more step left!! Now that the base is finished and filled with dirt and stone, we were ready to actually start making the stove part. Here is how the procress went, more or less:

Cristian and Ramon mixed the red clay with sand and water, kind of like mixing cement

The mix was put on the base, inside of a wooden frame we'd built. It was added layer, by layer.

With each layer, we'd mix it with our fingers, and pound it with our fists, and then pat it with our palms. In this photo Mateo is helping. At one point we had about 4 kids crowded on one side helping us.

Then we'd put a piece of plastic over the clay, and pound it with a concrete block.

We got dirty, and today I feel like I've exfoliated my hands. Eugenio is the guy in the red shirt, who volunteered to teach us how to build the stove.

The finished product, for now. When it is dry, on Monday or Tuesday, we'll finish the stove by taking the wood off, digging out the tunnel where the firewood goes, and making the holes where the pots and chimney go.

La Gran Comision

2008-03-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

We continue to have meetings, led by Jose Quezada. The goal is to bring together all the different associations that already exist and the community leaders to form a group that has enough vision and man-power to bring positive change to the community.

Today's meeting was the third one, and we identified who we want to invite to be a part a the group and which issues we want to tackle first. They decided that litter and people not paying their electric and water bills will be dealt with first.

As far as littering, we decided to have a community clean-up day on Friday. SI is going to send the Daihatsu dump-truck to haul the trash away with, and we're going to ask the school to send students to help us. We are asking all the associations to participate throughout the day. We also discussed the need to educate people about the need to keep the environment clean, but I'm not sure how we are going to go about doing that.

A community can receive electricity 24 hours a day only if the majority of people living there are paying their electric bill. Jose estimates that only about 25% of the houses in Los Higos are paying for their electricity. Electric bills have also gone up recently, and they suspect that the company is increasing the bills so that those who do pay will cover for those who don't.

The community has it's own water system that is ran by a committee of people from the community. They only charge $RD35 per month (a little over a dollar), but about 25 homes are not paying! Augustin (who is president of the water committee) has been threated with violence when he has gone to cut someone's water off (once I saw a man threaten him with a machete). In the meeting they came to the agreement that it's not enough for Augustin alone to warn those who aren't paying. Rather, a group of people need to approach those who don't pay.

They also want to start planning a preschool for Los Higos.

The coolest thing about these meetings is see how passionate everyone gets and watching Jose cooly take in what they say and direct their comments to keep us focused. At one point Ramon stood up and shook his fist raving that those of us who pay for electricity shouldn't have to pay for those who do not. Jose listened calmly and afterwards said, 'You are right. And that is why we are forming this commision..." and he continued on with the business of talking about the commission.

Jose continually brings up that we need to become Godly people of character, who don't just complain about the problems in the community. Rather, as believers, we have a responsability before God to act in ways that solve the problems and teach others to do the same. He said that the community is currently like a gold ring in a pig's nose. We have some real gems (like great people and a beautiful location), but we are not being careful with them.

church

2008-03-02T15:19:00.000-08:00

Boy, I hadn't gone to a church service in Los Higos for a while (a couple months). The church continues to meet on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Lately, the newly baptized members have been preaching, and Carmen Luz gave the message for the first time on Saturday. (In the picture above, the church is praying for her before she begins). She talked about I Corinthians 13.

The Bible studies that we used to hold on Monday nights were cancelled to begin having cell groups (smaller groups that met in homes). But it seems that none of the cell groups are still meeting. But even with that setback, the church seems to be excited to grow and try new things. For this past month, the church has been fasting on different days and praying for Los Higos from different places in the community.

Lorena stoves

2008-02-21T16:27:00.000-08:00

We've taken a few more steps on the Lorena stove. We laid the block for the base (which Ramon actually did, under supervision from Eugenio, the guy who is teaching us). The stove is actually going to be a lot smaller than I thought, and will use less block than I thought.

And we had to look for different clay today because the stuff we first got was apparently too pure. We needed to find a clay that had a lot of sand in it and was red, which we dug out near the river. That might be illegal to do (an environmental law)- how ironic because one goal for these stoves is that they're better for the environment, because they use less firewood.

Visit from Clear Lake

2008-02-21T16:24:00.000-08:00

Man, I wish I had a better picture to post.

On Saturday a group from the Clear Lake Church of Christ came to visit me for a few hours. They'd been in the DR working with a missionary in Santiago for about a week, and came up to see me and go to Los Higos. They put on a puppet show (in the picture), at lunch at Meri's, and toured the garden. It was a quick trip, but great! It was so crazy for me to have my two worlds meld for a few hours.

Keep your eyes open for a better picture in the Clear Lake Mirror Reporter.

Dia del Amor y la Amistad

2008-02-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day in the DR is celebrated similarly as in the states. The kids were allowed to wear normal clothes, rather than their uniforms, to school and most went wearing red. When I went into town, almost everyone I saw was wearing red, too. And it's common for kids to give eachother little candies (mints and Hall's cough drops, ha, ha) and Valentines cards. Even a shoeshine boy gave me a carmel. The picture above shows the cards I got from Yesica, Melisa, and Emelina.

estufa lorena

2008-02-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

We're finally getting moving on the fuel efficient stove. Some of the young guys from the church in Los Higos want to learn how to make the Lorena stoves and use it as a part of their ministry to the community. The idea is that they will make the stoves for people free of charge, but the people themselves will have to get the materials (clay, sand, blocks or brick and some cement). It's possible that SI will chip in on some of the cost, but we want the people to at least cover part of it.

So, we are gathering materials to make our first stove at Melu's house. A few days ago we went and dug clay out of a path near the river. The guys carried it in gunny sacks on their heads or shoulders up to a point where I was later able to pick it up with the truck. The picture above shows the clay outside of Melu's house, where it will need to be dried in the sun and broken up into a powder, from what I understand.

The picture below shows Ruben and I showing off our hands after trying to get the sticky clay out of the bags.

FODA

2008-02-11T15:55:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't written in a while- it's because I misplaced my camera cord, so I couldn't put up any pictures. But today's entry doesn't have a picture anyway, because I forgot to take one.

Today we had a meeting with leaders from all the associations in Los Higos, led by Jose Quezada, and it was great! He led a discussion going over FODA for the community:
Fortaleza (strengths)
Oportunidades (oportunities)
Debilidades (weaknesses)
Amenazas (threats)

I was so impressed with this idea and found it interesting that a lot of the things that were identified as strengths were also identified as weaknesses. For example, they identified the associations in the community as strengths (such as the casabe producers association and the association that is in charge of the community center and sports field). But as they talked about these associations, they identified disunity and lack of purpose in these associations as one of the community's weaknesses.

As they talked about threats to the community, a lot of the things I'd expected came up, like alcohol and drugs. But I was also surprised that they mentioned lack of trust as a threat. I also learned that the aguaduct doesn't charge enough for water service to pay the monthly electric bill (for the well pump), so that could mean that the electric company will cut the community well off.

As they talked about opportunities, they mentioned that the community has a lot of strong leaders that are not being utilized. They also mentioned the power of the associations to bring economic growth to the community, because many organizations will give grants to a community only if they are organized in somethings like an association.

This group is planning to meet again on March 1 and each association leader is going to try to bring at least one other person from their group. Please be praying that theses discussions will lead us to clear vision and promost unity among the various associations.

chicken coop church

2008-02-01T13:48:00.000-08:00

The chicken coop church is almost ready for use... they just need to move in. This picture is a few days old. Since it was taken, a gravel driveway was put in from the gate (which now covers the hole in the fence shown in this picture) to the front steps. A concrete floor was poured last week and electricity was put in this week.

Oh, I just found a more recent photo. Here it is:

Bautismo

2008-01-29T17:12:00.000-08:00

Six people from Los Higos were baptized on Saturday, the 26th. They were Amado, Joselito, Jose Quezada, Elvis, Carmen Luz, and Jesus. Along with those who were baptized last year, that makes 19 total baptized believers in the church.
Here are some pictures:

Joselito

Amado coming up out of the water as Jesus claps.

Isn't this a gorgeous picture of Amado?

Jesus coming out of the water, with Andre and Andre's pastor.

more knitting

2008-01-12T10:24:00.000-08:00

Meri has been pretty concerned for a long time about the fact that they were taking the offering in church using a chipped soup bowl. So, she acquired this basket and had Laura KNIT a cover for it. This way, no one can see what a person is putting in and the coins won't slip through the sides. It made me very happy to see that one of the girls used her knitting skills to serve the church.

sewing class

2008-01-12T10:18:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we had our first sewing class in Los Higos. About five students came along with about ten spectators. The class is being taught voluntarily by Maribel, a lady from the community. She goes to town about twice a week to take a sewing class there, to refresh herself, and will be teaching twice a week as well. It's been so exciting to see how willing she has been to put a lot into this class already.

The girls are learning to sew with pedal machines, so the first classs was spent mostly trying to get the rythm of pedaling. We do have a few electric machines, as well, but most of the time we don't have electricity in the afternoons, anyway. I'm thinking about purchasing a small generator to be used for this class and also for Andre's activities.

In the top picture, Maribel is trying to show Yoba how to move the paper in order to control where she is stitching. The bottom photo is an example of the spectators.

One more knitting photo

2007-12-31T08:33:00.000-08:00

Here are several kids waiting behind the curtain for the fashion show to start. From left to right: Darlene (Titi), Melvin, Carina, Rubieli, and Melisa.

exposicion de tejer

2007-12-30T19:40:00.000-08:00

Today was the knitting exposition!

The knitting class has been planning this for months. As they talked about renting dresses, model runways, fake nails, and big hair I thought they must be joking; certainly they were trying to pull one over on me. But as the day grew closer, I realized this was totally serious.
So, we decorated the Salon Comunal (community center) with balloons and puffy yarn balls (like the ones you'd put on top of a stocking hat). We marked off a runway with finger-knitted cords. And we had a knitted fashion show.

I'm guessing that over 100 people came; many had to peak in through the windows. We gave out prizes for the most creative (a knitted skirt!) and most corageous (one funky mitten). And everyone received a gift (a pair of socks, a ball of funky yarn, and a hair thing).

People are already talking about our next knitting exposition. They all seem to agree that we need to do it on the basketball court, so that everyone can see better. One guy suggested that we do a knitting drama, a girl asked if we could do a dance, another suggested we invite a preacher.

The girls are lined up as one of the first girls models on the stage.

Melvin was the only boy in show. He won third prize for the best knitted item for his black, wool hat.

The knitted skirt and belt!

Wanda models a too small, multi-colored hat.

These church guys provided music before and after the show.

Jose Quezada gave a spontaneous speech.

The crowd joining in with the music.

Dia de Ninos

2007-12-24T18:01:00.001-08:00

At all the schools, they've had a Dia de Ninos (Kids Day) as their last day of school before Christmas break. In Piedra Blanca de Hatillo, the school where most kids from Los Higos go, they had kids day last Friday.

The kids came dressed in their best clothes and a lot of the girls got their hair done (on Thursday I saw lots of girls walking around Los Higos in curlers). In one classroom, a sound system was set up and the kids danced. Others played basketball or volleyball in the yard.

At one point, the kids all lined up to get apples (shown in the picture above is Chipo after he went through the line). The fruit was donated by a politician. Before they handed it out, the director and a political worker both gave little speeches explaining that this particularly politician really cares about children that live in villages and that he wanted them all to at least get an apple for Christmas.

The picture below shows Paola and her apple. She saved all the seeds out of hers and gave them to me. I laster planted them in a couple little bags for her, along with a few tomato seeds, just in case the apples don't sprout (which I doubt they will).

Panaderia de Lola

2007-12-12T18:43:00.000-08:00

We've been trying to work with Lola to start a small baking business in her home. She has hit hard times in the last few years and really has no way to support her family, but she herself brought up the idea of baking.

We originally thought the business would be running by now, but I'm learning that my expectations for how long things should take are never fulfilled, so I need to change those expectations. Anyway, it took a long time to get her stove fixed and hooked up, but it's finally connected.

Today we spent a good portion of the day at her house planning the business with her. We've decided to start by first making banana bread and chocolate (hot water) cake. We also helped her to make a display box out of cardboard. As we made the box, it was so fun to hear her and her family come up with ideas for how they will market what they bake. It sounds like the sign on the box (shown below) is going to become their logo-- they want to print little logos to put in every package they sell and eventually want to make a wooden sign with the logo out by the road with an arrow pointing to their house.

Luis Emilio, Lola's youngest son (shown with her in the very top picture), recently had an accident. He got kicked by a donkey and broke several bones in his face. He is still recovering and has tried to go back to work, but can't do the work because he gets dizzy when he does hard physical labor. He is getting really excited about this baking business, though, and is thinking he'd like to stay home with Lola and help her get the business going. It's really encouraging to see her family supporting her in this way.

Meri's new cabinets

2007-12-12T18:40:00.001-08:00

Meri got cabinets in her new house. I think it makes it look a lot more like a house. She'd been putting away money every time Ramon gave her some to pay for the cabinets.

Tire gardens

2007-12-03T16:27:00.000-08:00

Fighting off chickens has always been a big challenge in our garden. They do a lot of damage, so we've resorted to only planting things that chickens don't like (cilantro, radishes). I'd been communicating with a missionary in Haiti asking him what he does to control chickens, and he gave me the idea of constructing raised structres and planting in them, so that the chickens can't reach them. He uses old tires to hold the soil, so we decided to try the same thing with the club.

We divided in four groups to construct the 'tire gardens'. The main challenge was making a structure that was tall, yet stable, and strong enough to hold the weight of the soil once it was in the tire. We have two tire gardens that I think will pass the test (Willy is shown with one above in which he's trying to put wood across the bottom to hold the soil in) and below is a picture of one of which I won't be surprised when it falls.

Chicken Coop Church II

2007-11-29T16:00:00.000-08:00

The chicken coop church is looking much less like a chicken coop and more like a building. In the last few weeks kids in the club have been really busy nailing up boards and moving dirt to fill in the floor. Check out the slanted wood near the top. They are even putting in a little stage with Malta Morena bottles all along the front (picture below). Very creative in my opinion.

Teaching English

2007-11-29T15:54:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I've mentioned this before on the blog... anyway, I teach English to 6th-8th graders at the public school every Wednesday morning. I teach in Piedra Blanca, a village about a half mile from Los Higos where all the LH kids go. I don't think I'm really the best teacher in the world, but I'm glad for the chance to be in the school. I'm thankful for the opportunity to partner with the school and know what is going on there and get an idea of how the Los Higos kids are doing in school.

The picture above shows Curtis and David, two of the students who are working in Los Higos as a part of their semester abroad, are teaching 6th graders about days of the week and months. (When I asked David about wearing what looked like a school uniform he said he was being 'incarnational').

chicken coop church

2007-11-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

The church in Los Higos is growing and just doesn't fit in the pink house anymore. It is also beginning to reach out to the community in new ways, which requires space. So, we recently moved an old chicken coop, left from a former project in the community, down to the garden.

The coop is actually bigger than the pink house, and I think will be left somewhat open on a side or two to allow overflow (I think). We're hoping that this will work well to hold church services and can also be used by the club and the new literacy classes that the church is beginning to offer.

I especially like the idea of having church services outside. I really like the idea of worshipping the Lord in an area where we can see His creation.

Hike

2007-11-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today was so fun! The sun finally came out after about a week of hiding. The club was supposed to work in the garden today, but it was too muddy, so we went for a hike.

Franklin has been wanting to take us to a waterfall all week anyway, so we went with the whole club. It was much farther away than I expected, or rather it took, us longer to get there than expected, but it was worth it. We went down through a yuca field and crossed a crick, walked back up a big hill, ate grapefruits, went down a very steep hill (I decided to just slide down on my rear), walked through a crick for about 15 minutes, and then up another crick and there was the waterfall.

The waterfall was more a series of rocks on a steep hillside that the crick ran through, but at one spot the water probably dropped 6 feet. The kids really enjoyed climbing up the rocks to the top. The top picture kind of shows the height of the falls and the picture below shows David, a semester student working with Andre.

After a while of getting wet and climbing we stopped and prayed together- each kid thanking God for the thing they most enjoyed during our excursion.

When we finally got back to Los Higos, Tiva had prepared sogu (like 'so good') for us. Sogu is a plant that we had growing in the garden, that has edible roots. Tiva and the girls in the club had ground it into a flour and dried it a few weeks ago and today she prepared something like a hot chocolate drink with it.