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.