Service reports #3
Rio Limpio
Nick
and Rustin are in the most remote location of any of the students.
(Nick is shown, in front of his house.) Rio Limpio is located in the
northwest part of the country (between Elias Piņa and Monti Cristi)
and is only 10 miles from the Haitian border, but it would take a good
two hours to get there in a good 4-wheel drive vehicle. Rustin and Nick
could probably run there faster than that. It took us one hour to drive
the last 15 miles into Rio Limpio.
There
are no phones in Rio Limpio and the town has been without electricity
for the last month because the electric generator broke down and nobody
has yet come to fix it. Rustin and Nick report incredible night skies
free of light and other types of pollution. They also report going to
bed when the sun goes down and getting up when the sun come up. Work
at the organic/environmental agency in town is very sporadic, so as
often is the case, "service" is a matter of making the best possible
use of their time to get to know the community and plug in wherever
possible.
- Rustin in front of his house.
- View of the mountains
from the edge of Rio Limpio.
San Pedro
San
Pedro de Macoris, pop. 125,000, is the home to Lauresta and Barbara.
(Lauresta is at left with her family.) San Pedro is on the Southern
coast of the D.R., about 50 miles East of Santo Domingo and is famous
for its major league baseball players. Twenty years ago, a young Sammy
Sosa was helping his family by earning some extra pesos as a shoe shine
boy on the city streets.
Barbara
and Lauresta work at the Centro Buen Pastor, a day-care center
run by Episcopal nuns in one of the poorest barrios of the town.
Mornings are spent in more of a "play" environment with "school" in
the afternoons.
- Barbara at the Centro.
- Barbara in front of her house with her grandmother and two of her friends.
