On Hold...

Things have been on hold for a while... Okay, a long while. :)

A return trip to the Dominican Republic is currently in the works. I'll update the blog page as more information becomes available.

International Family

This letter was also included in the mailing from Children International:

Dear Greg and Wendy,

   I realize you both enjoyed memories from Wendy’s recent trip to the Dominican Republic and the many experiences she brought home to Olathe. Surely, you showed Greg many dear photos so that he too got a sense of the visit you shared with Daichela and Jose.

   With grateful hearts, Daichela and Jose are also reliving the special time you spent together! Your thoughtfulness to send photos of your visit makes your sponsored children sparkle with delight.

   We are told that Daichela told everyone around her just where each photo was taken. Jose was very happy and held the photos with great care! Thank you for further solidifying your special bond!

   Enclosed you will find even more photos of Daichela and Jose – holding photos of you! They each included a handwritten thank you note as well.

   We, at Children International, appreciate seeing how your role has changed from sponsor and recipient to one better described as “international family.”

With warm gratitude,

Kristen

Coordinator of Development

What a great way to describe the relationship change that has taken place.

Receipt of photo books

As part of trying to organize the photos taken during the trip to the Dominican in July, as well as send a few to Daichela and Jose, I put a few of them in a photo book and sent it to them in October. The kids received them and sent thank you notes and photos.

Thanks for the picture album. I hope that you are fine. Thank you for thinking of me. It is very nice. Sponsor, I hope that you and your family are fine. I was very happy for the picture album. I hope that you all are doing well. I am waiting to know more about you and your family.

-Bye from Daichela

Thanks on behalf of Jose Rene and thinking of him. Jose is fine and I hope so you are doing also. Jose Rene greets you and your family. Thanks for the present sent and he became very happy when he received it. I hope that you and your family are fine. Thanks for all.

-Bye from Jose and Felipa, his grandmother

Such big smiles... :)

Going back!

Tentative dates have been set for a group to visit the Dominican this summer during the first week of June in 2012. A water filtration project and sponsorship visits on the agenda!!

More wonderful letters

Dear Wendy,

I am very happy for the gifts that you sent me. We bought sport uniform for school, hair accessories, an umbrella to cover me from the sun and milk to drink. I love everything.

With affection,

-Daichela

Hello!

I hope you are doing well. Jose Rene and his family are very thankful for the gifts tht you sent him. The child bought a blender to prepare milkshakes, one pair of jeans and one pair of sport pants. These items will be very useful for the child because he needed them.

With affection,

-Jose Rene and his aunt, Quircia

The possibility of another trip

We are in the process of determining if a few of us are interested in going back to the Dominican again in 2012 to help with a water filtration project. Hopefully this will all work out and there will be time while we’re there to see the kids again for even the smallest amount of time.

More hugs in the form of letters

Hello dear, Wendy,

Thank you for the letter. I was very happy to meet you. You are beautiful. I enjoyed sharing with you. I hope to see you again someday. Thank you for everything.

With affection says goodbye.

-Daichela

Hello dear Wendy,

Jose Rene was very happy to meet you and he is grateful that you write to him. Your visit to our country and to our house was very nice. We hope you can come back someday.

With much affection, says goodbye,

-Jose Rene and his aunt, Quircia

These were the sweetest letters ever!!

Jose's new bed

At the same time the letters and the photos arrived I also received a letter from the President of Children International, Jim Cook, thanking me for the kindness and generosity given to Daichela and Jose. He was delighted that I recently had the opportunity to visit them in the Dominican and enjoy time with them. He made mention of the special needed items I helped support and said Daichela’s family was delighted with the items and most grateful and that in the photo enclosed Jose looked quite proud of his new bed.

I’m very happy to provide them with smiles every once in a while.

Daichela's special needed items

I sent a request early this summer to Children International asking if there were any special needed items that Daichela, Jose or their family may need.

A few weeks later I received a letter response telling me that there were a few needs so I responded with the funding for those items.

I received letters from both of the kids and a few photos from each of them.

September's dear letters

Hello dear, Wendy,

First of all, this is to greet you. I hope you are doing well like me with the beautiful present you made (gave) to me; my pants and my sandals and shoes. They looked on me beautiful. May god bless you so much always.
With love and affection, says bye,

-Daichela

This was the sweetest little letter!

Hello dear Wendy,

This is to greet you and at the same time to thank you for the great gesture you have shown to my son, Jose Rene; buying him his backpack, pants and tennis shoes. They will be helpful to attend school. I hope God keep blessing you and your family

With much affection says buy,

-Kadilja and Jose Rene

I think this may have been one of the first letters Jose’s mother has written to me for him. I was very grateful to get her letter. :)

Beautiful braids

During the home visit with Daichela I had given her a small back-sack as a gift with a few toys, ponytail holders, a doddle pad and some markers and crayons. The very first thing I noticed the next day at the science center was that her mother had done her hair with the little ponytail holders I’d given her the day before.

That was such a good feeling.

When I take the time do my daughter’s hair it’s a time for both of us to sit still and maybe talk about the day. If it were in the morning we might talk about what the day might have in store for each us. If it was in the evening we might talk about what had happened in the day that was exciting or frustrating.

When I saw Daichela’s hair full of beautiful braids and thought about how much time that might have taken, I wondered about them sitting together and what they might have talked about. It could have been about how uneasy or nervous she might feel about seeing me again, or maybe how overwhelming it all was to have a group of people come to her home just to see her.

I really hope it was about how excited she was.

An intruder?

It would be very humbling for me to accept the help of a stranger if I couldn’t care for my children, in even the smallest way.

I worried while on this visit that the parents of these children might feel as if I had intruded into their lives and have some reservations or even resentment toward me.

I was assured by the CI staff that these parents put their children on a list, usually a waiting list, so that their children can receive help. The parents understand what is expected from them, the children and the sponsors when signing up.

During the few days I spent with the children and their family I saw lots of emotion from the parents and resentment wasn’t at all what I witnessed. The parents were very gracious, thankful, tearful and respectful of the sponsors.

At the children’s home visits I met Daichela and Jose’s mother, aunt and grandmother. I even spent additional time with them at the Science center and shopping.

I thought they were amazing and made me feel very much included in their family.

Gathering water

One of the local villages we visited had water pump that had stopped working months ago. They began to walk miles away from the village to get their water as they had in the past before the water pump had been installed. They didn’t know how to fix so they just left it.

We were told one of the problems with getting clean water into the villages is teaching the residents how to use it, maintain it and to do the repairs if it breaks down. It’s hard to assign a person or group of persons in a small village to oversee that type of job when they have their own daily jobs to do.

In this photo (that was taken from inside our van) a man is gathering water from the stream and putting it in a five-gallon bucket. He'll then will then travel with it on the motorcycle possibly miles away back to his village.

I was amazed by the outlook the people in the villages had, they don’t seem to get discouraged about things that don’t work, they just keep moving forward and find an alternate route to get something accomplished.

Take a deep breath...

A few of the main concerns while visiting the Dominican was the risks of sickness from consuming anything when there are poor water conditions as well as contracted viruses from mosquitos. So during our visit we were very conscious of the water we were drinking and making sure to use insect repellant.

During one of the home visits I happened to notice an insect on an open wound of one of the adults that was living in poor conditions. I realized quickly after that I apparently can trigger my own anxiety levels. I pretended not to notice the insect and while talking to the adult tried as hard as I could to calm myself down and have it not be too noticeable.

It took a little longer than I anticipated overcoming the lightheadedness but I don't think anyone noticed. :)

Tiled floor

One of the homes we walked into that first day had thick tiles laid down loosely on the dirt floor. When we initially walked in to the home one of our group members mentioned she was worried about tracking in dirt on to their floor as she walked across.

I can only imagine what the floor might look like during the rainy season when it would be extremely difficult to keep them dry and free of mud with two children running through the small home.

In parts of the Dominican it can easily accumulate two or three inches or more of rain in a day during the wettest part of the season.

Glass topped walls

As we were driving through some of the villages we noticed a few five to six foot tall concrete walls around some of the homes or certain yards that had broken glass remnants cemented into the tops of them to keep people from access into the areas or from climbing over the walls. A few mentioned that they saw walls built like that in Mexico as well.

Jifriesy's borrowed home

We noticed after doing our home visits with our sponsored children that when we visited Pr. Roger’s sponsored child Jifriesy, her home was by far more furnished and up to date than any of the others we had visited.  We were told later that it wasn’t Jifriesy or her family’s home; they borrowed it as a space to do the home visit for Pr. Roger and our group.  A European family owned the home and Jifriesy's mother was the housekeeper or did cleaning for them.  

Say "Cheese..."

I initially noticed while walking through the Bailey Center that the kids really like getting their pictures taken. When we were walking in the Dentist office a mother with her little one noticed we had cameras and before leaving from their dentist visit turned around and positioned her child in front of her so we could take their picture.

Later when we were visiting classrooms kids would stop and look at us with big smiles waiting for the flash and a few girls in the hallway posed for us. They were really pretty fun to see.

Letter writing

When we were at the Bailey Center we happened upon this class during their ‘letter writing’ session. This class brings the kids in and shares letters with them from their sponsors and helps the children write letters back to their sponsors with the help of an adult, a parent or caregiver of the child. The letters are then forwarded on to the CI staff to be translated into English if needed (most of the children there speak Spanish) and then mailed to the sponsors.

Thank you from the kids

Dear Wendy,

I want to tell you that I really loved to receive you in my house. Although I talked too much I was so happy for the gifts that you made (gave) me that day. That will be an unforgettable day, the backpack, the tennis shoes, the sandals. I liked everything.

Thank you. I love you so much.

-Daichela

As I was reading this I was guessing that she meant to say “Although I didn’t talk much”, because she was so overwhelmed that she didn’t say even three or four words the whole time we were there.

Dear Wendy,

On behalf of my nephew Jose Rene I want to give you thanks for the visit that you made to us in our house. I also want to thank you for the gifts that you brought to the child, the visit to the museum and for going shopping. The child and I felt very happy. Thank you for everything.

With so much loves says buy,

-Felipa and Jose Rene

What a great trip that was!!

You're finally here

One of my favorite moments from the trip was traveling from the local museum to a small shopping center. There were a few CI staff members and a few other sponsored children riding with us in CI’s van.

Daichela wanted me to sit next to her so she had me sit in between her and her brother and she had a few other little girls sitting beside her.

No one was really talking much on that short ride to the store but there was plenty going on and I tried to soak it all in. Jose was on my right looking out the window watching everything and everybody in the streets as we drove by. Daichela and Jose would look up and give me inquisitive looks every so often.

There were two little girls to my far left sitting on the other side of Daichela. They were neighbors and knew each other well and were singing a song the whole way to the store. I really wish I knew the words to it. It was an upbeat, chanting type of song and it sounded beautiful.

Daichela was sitting directly next to me on my left with a smile on her face and both of her arms wrapped around my left arm. She was holding on to me very tightly, as if to say “I’m so glad you’re here”.

The memory of this short van ride is very special to me.

The farmer's market

Other fun photos



My new friend, John.



 



A stick and a milk cap

Luis' rabbits

 



Yep, our driver crossed this bridge... twice... way too fast. :)

 

Going shopping

This afternoon we took the kids shopping at a local store. Each of the children had a predetermined spending limit on a shopping voucher. It took a while to check out but they were exceptionally well behaved and very patient. Then we had to say our good byes to the children and staff.