A Full Day of Mission Work

Today is Day 3 in the Dominican Republic and it is our first full day of work! Yesterday we worked a half-day while spending the first half of the day on retreat at the Bishop's compound and at the Basilica. Today my primary job was to move gravel to fill a long low spot in the road right in front of the school. We had a team of four or five (Matt, Becca, Chris and me) to start but our membership ebbed and flowed during the day as one activity finished and people waited for new work to begin. I helped briefly in the infirmary which on the one hand was very exciting because we had a local doctor assist us! The sad thing was that there were so many families, all of which were very large, that we could only see 9 or ten families today. We'll be able to see more (by appointment to reduce the chaos!) both tomorrow and Friday.

I was able to make my way to all the different jobs going on around the work site and of course took lots of pictures! I'll try to send just a few to my Facebook account so check it out if interested!

We have some regular routines which I really like. Each day we begin with breakfast at 8am at a restaurant here at the hotel. Basically the same food is served each day -- eggs (scrambled and scrambled with diced ham), potatoes and toast with jelly and butter. There is also water and coffee, which is not that great so I've been avoiding it all week. Can't wait to get a good cup of coffee at Starbucks when I get back! Lunch is brought to us by the Diocese Sisters wherever we may are (retreat or work site). Lunch is my least favorite meal of the day (peanut butter and honey sandwiches, fries, and pineapples) but trust me, noone is picky about the food because we are usually so hungry and the choices are limited! Plus those who we are helping have almost nothing so it would just be wrong to complain. Dinner has been at the hotel every night, usually at 6:30 pm. It is rice, beans, chicken, beef with peppers, fries, salad, plantains and water. Breakfast and dinner are served family-style and for lunch we get in line while the Sisters serve us.

Since today was a full day of work, we were definitely not shy about digging in at dinner time! We were so hungry we probably would have eaten just about anything! It was actually kind of comical watching everyone digging in, passing plates around, or just getting up and going directly to the plate or bowl you were looking for to get it just a little faster!

After dinner we've been breaking out into small groups to debrief and reflect on the day's activities and relate things to the scripture. The groups are lead by the two youth ministers (Matt and Teresa) and another group leader (Becca). This activity is new to the mission trips and I would say a welcome addition by many accounts.

There are 51 of us on this mission trip which is a very large group, probably one of the largest so far. There are people from a few different parishes in the area (Brunswick, Medina, and the East side) as well as friends from as far away as Arizona. We even have a missionary who is a member of the family who owns the Cleveland Indians. Other members of her family are coming down later in the week to visit the work site. What a thrill that will be!

Another thrilling piece of news shared by Father Bob this evening is that he has been working on getting additional funding and support for the work that needs done. A visitor from U.S. Aid was at the work site today as part of a review to determine needs and how they may help. One way might be to install a proper septic system. The current one basically holds the human waste until it rains, and then it overflows and carries all the human waste out and into the local area and water ways. Also, black and green mold can be found in several areas including on houses and in the chicken coup. By fixing things like these, the quality of life could be greatly improved from a health and safety standpoint.

The teens have a curfew every night and because of the area, all of us are not permitted to leave the hotel after dinner. We did get "special permission" for the adults to escort the teens to the nearby ice cream shop. This was extremely well received with 42 of the 51 choosing to go. This was a nice surprise which undoubtedly will be one of the highlights as much for the freedom as for the ice cream!

I realize this post is a little long to say the least! I finally had a chance to get a connection and some free time, and there has been lots going on! Adios for now....hopefully more tomorrow!