Ruth and Eric Stoltzfus are the leaders of the spring 2006 SST unit in the Dominican Republic.

We are excited and ready for the arrival of the students late tomorrow night. We have had language study, have learned to know the city, and have developed new relationships.

Last night, we met with the families. Our assistants, Patti Zwier and Williams Velez, were an integral part of the family meeting. It was fun to watch the excitement of the families as they were given the information about their student. It was also very touching to hear stories from families that have been hosting Goshen College students for a number of years telling about why they continue to work with the Goshen College program.

We are both graduates of Goshen College and had our own experience as SST'ers as college students. Ruth was in Belize and Eric was in Honduras. Ruth is the director of the Wellness & Health Center and Asst. Professor of Nursing. Eric has most recently been employed at Greencroft Retirement Center in Goshen.

Tomorrow night, we will pick the students up from the airport and take them to a hotel in the old part of the city (Zona Colonial). On Thursday, we begin our orientation to the SST program in Dominican Republic. But, we will all be excited as 4 pm comes and the families all begin to arrive to pick up their student.

The students and all of their luggage have arrived and are in their hotel in the Colonial Zone. We started our orientation on the side of the road on the way to the hotel from the airport. We ran out of gas and were waiting for the bus driver to return. We will continue our orientation tomorrow and then the families will arrive tomorrow afternoon to pick up their students. Everyone is tired, but well after their travels.

Today was spent learning to know each other and the SST program in Dominican Republic. After such a late arrival, everyone slept pretty well, although perhaps not long enough.

Marta, from CEIC (our language school), spent time talking with us about the DR culture. After Marta talked with us, we went for a short walk to a nearby park. This gave the students a first, up-close, look at the city that they will be living in for the next 6 weeks.

Patti joined us before lunch to talk with us about families and expectations and fears as we begin this journey. She also ate lunch with us and told each student about their family.

The afternoon was spent talking about more program things. We also had a birthday cake to celebrate 2 birthdays--Anna turned 21 today and Sara turned 21 on 12/30.

The pictures: #3 is the group on the steps in front of the tomb of three heros of the independence movement; #5 we had a map of the city with everyone's home marked--they enjoyed seeing where they were on the map; #6 Tyler and Tony during a break; #7 Ben G. brought his guitar and he and one of our Dominican friends kept us entertained as the families arrived throughout the afternoon; #9 Anna and Monica show off their (mock) distress at being picked up last. All students spent the night with their new host families.

Today was the first day of language class. The students were evaluated to determine what level of Spanish they should be in. Yesterday, they were given lunch money, so today they had an opportunity to find their own lunch.

In the afternoon, they went with their language teachers to learn the public transportation system. They found out how to ride publicos (small cars for hire) and gaugaus (buses). They were also shown how to get from the language institute to the University where we will have our afternoon lectures.

After 3 hours using the gaugaus and publicos, they arrived at Casa Goshen, hot and tired. A cool house and eager leaders awaited their arrival. There was freshly made fruit juice (orange plus grapefruit), water, or soda pop for them to drink as they sat and talked with their classmates about their adventures.

Pictures: #1 Ben F. and Lena were the 1st to arrive at CEIC (even before Eric and Ruth); #2 Jonathan, Andre, and Bethany are seen arriving at school, accompanied by family members; #7 Arriving at Casa Goshen after a hot day on the gaugaus;

The country celebrated Three King's Day on Monday, so there was no class. Tuesday was our first afternoon of lectures at the University. Puro Blanco has lectured for GC for a number of years. The students always enjoy Puro's sense of humor and the way he engages everyone during two hours of lecture.

Today, Wednesday, was the very first "Casa Goshen Day". Students arrived at Casa Goshen where a meal of lasagna, bread, and fresh fruit (pineapples and bananas) was provided by Eric and Ruth. The rest of the day was spent in individual meetings with Eric and Ruth, worship, learning dominoes Dominican style, and relaxing.

The students were divided into their exploration groups today. For exploration, they will go to four different areas in Santo Dominigo on Wednesday mornings while the 5th group is at Casa Goshen preparing a scrumptious meal.

Pictures: #1 & #2 at the University; #3 Puro Blanco and Eric; the rest--worship, dominoes, and lunch at Casa Goshen.

The students had language class this morning as they do most mornings. The first pictures are of the different classes: Anna's, Dania's, Dilcia's, and Marta's.

Between a taxi (15 passenger van) and the unit car, we all traveled to the Colonial Zone (Zona Colonial) where we had lunch (plato del dia--lunch of the day) and then took a walking tour with Eric as our guide. When we got up this morning, it looked like rain. But, we were blessed with another beautiful, sunny day with a nice cooling, breeze.

Pictures: #5 to #7 are at Fortaleza Ozama (the oldest military complex in the Americas); #8 group picture outside of Alcazar Palace(residence of Diego Columbus and family); and #9 group at the ruins of San Francisco (the oldest monastery in the New World, built in 1508).

Yesterday (Saturday, Jan. 14), we took our second field trip. First, we went to Tres Ojos (The Three Eyes) which are caves just outside the city with 3 small bodies of water that are fed by underground springs. The first 6 pictures are at the caves.

After that, we made our first trip to the beach as a group. The beach that we went to (Guayacanes) is one that is used more by Dominicans than by foreigners. Since it is winter, most Dominicans feel it is too cold to go to the beach; so we pretty much had the beach to ourselves until later in the afternoon when the Dominicans began to arrive and we were leaving.

Since it really is not a tourist beach, some amenities were missing--such as nice bathrooms and changing rooms. So, people (the men especially) got creative in making up for the lack of amenities--see picture #7. There were a variety of activities going on at the beach--soccer, frisbee (in and out of the water), card games, gymnastics, reading, swimming, snorkeling, and, of course, sunbathing. Fortunately, no one seemed to get overly baked in the sun.

Wednesday (1-18-06) was the first of five exploration/Casa Goshen days. The students are divided into five groups. In the morning, four of these groups meet and explore a place of interest in the city. They rotate between the Faro de Colón (a light house/museum built to commemorate Columbus), the botanical gardens, the Market Modelo and museums at the Plaza de Cultura. All groups meet at Casa Goshen for lunch and afternoon worship.

The fifth group is responsible for planning the lunch and worship. The students are taken to an open air market where they buy the food they need to make the lunch. Today’s group of Ben G., Anna, Monica, and Jonathan had a meal of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and fresh fruit salad waiting for the other groups when they arrived. The afternoon was spent in worship and sharing stories from the mornings’ adventures.

Friday morning (1-20-06), we went to the Cristóbal Colón ingenio (sugar mill) near the city of San Pedro de Macoris. Historically, sugar has been, and continues to be, an important part of the Dominican economy.

We toured the plant in two groups. Our guides explained the process by which the juice is extracted from the sugar cane and then refined into the end product which ends up on our tables. It was fascinating to see the huge equipment used in the process. Unfortunately, the machinery was shut down because they were repairing one of the generators that provides their power, so we did not see machinery in action. The mill provides its own electricity by burning what is left of the cane after the juice is extracted.

After lunch in San Pedro, we visited a batey. A batey is a small village where the people who work in the sugar cane fields live. The contrast between these homes and where the students live in the city is striking. These workers are usually Haitians, often in the country without documentation even though some of the families have lived in DR for several generations. Because they have no documentation, they have often been exploited and abused by the system. While life in the bateys has improved some in recent years, it is still a poor and difficult place to live.

Some students played baseball with some men from the batey, while others made friends with the children. After the game (which we lost), we went to a local church where the residents sang several songs for us, and we reciprocated by singing several songs for them.

One of the students wrote this in his journal (used by permission of Ben F.): "The game (beisbol) was Goshen vs the Batey and even though we got beat pretty bad, it was still really fun. It was actually pretty exciting trying to dodge donkeys, horses, goats, and their dinners from the day before all while 'trying' to catch the flyball."

It was a tired group that rode the bus back to Santo Domingo that evening.

Today (Sunday, January 22, 2006), we had the traditional family picnic. The weather was beautiful--warm with a gentle breeze. Families and students enjoyed playing games together. There were several games of dominoes, some card games, as well as more active games with frisbees. All of the families were represented except one and they were absent due to illness.

As a part of the activities before eating, the students introduced themselves and their families to the entire group. The students also sang for the families before Williams Velez, one of the host fathers, lead the group in prayer.

Ruth and Eric provided baked chicken and a variety of sodas. Each family brought a dish to share. There was plenty of delicious food to be enjoyed by all.

Amanda--Esperanza Abreu Rodriguez

Andre--Johanna Almonte and Ramon Cruz

Anna--Luis and Ana Ingrid Cordero

Ben F.--Family of Ludovina Fermin de Mercedes

Ben G.--Bienvenido Carvajal and Lennis Feliz

Bethany--America Lorenzo Liranzo

Erica--Williams Velez and Lourdes Villiman

Jonathan--Ramon Marfe and Angela Villaman

Kelsey--Miguel Yeara and Marilyn Orosco

Lena--Alejandro and Rosy Colon

Mandy--Angela Gonzalez

Molly--Ramon and Nuris Jerez

Monica--Katia Urena and Porfirio Sanchez

Sam--Enrique Matos and Maria Rosendo

Sara--Juana Oleidy Calcano

Tony--Daniel Julian King and Elsa Adames

Tyler--Job Peralta and Rita de Los Santos (Rita is sick, so Tyler came with the Velez family and is pictured with the Velez family)

Whitney--Xiomara Perez

Today (Wednesday, Jan. 25) was another Casa Goshen day. After a delicious meal of haystacks and fruit salad prepared by Sara, Lena, Bethany, and Tyler, the cooking group lead the rest of us in worship and time of sharing.

We take our first overnight trip as a group on Friday and Saturday. This trip will be to the mountains.

On a rare, gray and overcast Friday (January 27) morning, we went north to Salcedo and the Mirabel Museum. The four Mirabel sisters were significant because of their role in resisting the rule of Trujillo in the 1950’s. Three of the sisters were killed by associates of Trujillo’s in 1961. The fourth sister, Doña Dedé Mirabel, still resides in their childhood home near the museum. The museum is the home where the sisters lived in the years before their deaths.

Doña Dedé had graciously agreed to meet with the students that morning in her home after the visit to the museum. Unfortunately, she was called to Santo Domingo early in the morning and was unable to meet with us. We appreciated seeing the museum and saw Doña Dedé’s home with a wall outside where murals have been painted commemorating the Mirabel sister’s sacrifice.

After the museum, we traveled to the Loma Quita Espuela reserve. The Loma Quita Espuela reserve is a protected area with one of the last remaining cloud and rain forests in the Dominican Republic. By the time we got there, it was raining steadily. We hiked through woods, fields, and streams to the place where some of the local women had prepared lunch for us. After lunch, most of the group braved the continuing rain and mud to hike part of the way up the mountain to a lookout point. Unfortunately, the view was obscured by rain and clouds which was to be expected in a rain and cloud forest. So, we slid our way back down the mountain to our waiting bus.

We stayed that night in San Francisco de Macorís where the students had time to clean up, (including having muddy shoes polished), eat, and explore the town before meeting at the Helados (ice cream) Bon for a treat.

Saturday morning (January 28) continued with occasional rain as we drove to Jarabacoa and the organic farm of Don José and Doña Nati. We were entertained by Don José as he showed us his farm where he grows fruits and vegetables using environmentally safe methods. Again, because of the rain, we were unable to see the entire farm.

We were served some of Don José’s own brand of organically grown and processed coffee. His coffee recently was declared the best at a coffee tasting contest. The students liked it so much that we bought most of the supply that he had on hand.

Don José and Doña Nati had too many guests to serve us lunch as we had once hoped so they sent us the small community of Los Calabazos. Among their guests were a writer and photographers from The Nature Conservancy. Los Calabazos is a small community on the bank of the Yaque River with only a long, steep foot trail as the main access.

The community of about 36 households has formed a micro-business to benefit the community. They have built 10 cabins to rent to eco-tourists and have a restaurant that serves typical Dominican food. All community members participate in the business and the profits are used to benefit the community. They installed a hydro-turbine that supplies the community with a steady supply of electric and built a suspension bridge across the river to have better access to those living on the other side. It was exciting to see what a group can do when working together for the improvement of all.

Our last planned stop was a waterfall at Baiguate. Some of the group swam in the cold water, while others just waded.

Our last stop (unplanned) was for a flat tire on the road back to Santo Domingo. The students took it in stride and José Miguel, with the help of some police and a passerby, got us going.

Andre's father (Ramon Cruz), on behalf of his congregation, invited us to sing at their church. So, today (Sunday, January 29), most of the students went to Andre and Amanda G.'s church, Iglesia Cristiana de la Comunidad. They have a very lively worship team which lead the congregation in many songs. The SST group and Eric and Ruth sang 2 songs for them which was a totally different style from their singing.

Class on Tuesday, January 31, was on Dominican music, folklore, and dance. We met in Xiomara Perez's dance studio for class. Xiomara has been a host mother for the program for a number of years. She has written books and contributes to a newspaper column. Currently, she is working in a related position in the government.

In addition to talking about the music and folklore of the country, Xiomara worked with us on a number of dance steps. Xiomara and two of daughters taught us merengue, bachata, and salsa. Even students that thought they had no rhythm were up on the dance floor discovering that it is just a matter of walking and then moving the hips.

Hard to believe that the students have been in the Dominican Republic for four weeks. The Casa Goshen group repeated the same procedure as the previous three groups--make the grocery list, head to the market, and come back to prepare lunch for the hungry students that begin to arrive around 11:30.

Today's menu consisted of spaghetti, garlic bread, fresh fruit salad, and freshly squeezed orange juice. For dessert, Ruth and Eric provided a chocolate birthday cake to celebrate Lena's birthday which is on Friday.

The group also lead us in a time of worship. Service is coming up in two weeks. We spent time sharing fears and excitements about service.

The group leaves early tomorrow (Thursday, February 2) for a four day trip to Pedernales which is in the southwest part of the country.

The students arrived by 7:30 am on Thursday, February 2, to begin our four day field trip to the Southwest part of the island--also known as "The Pedernales Trip". Jose Miguel, our bus driver called just then to say that he had a slight problem and would be a bit delayed. Stephany, "our" bus had been impounded. Jose Miguel would spend the next nine hours getting Stephany out of "bus jail".

The students began to amuse themselves: talking, playing dominoes, playing Uno, reading, and eventually napping. Pizza was ordered for everyone and when we found out that Jose Miguel and Stephany would be at Casa Goshen by around 4:30 pm, we all went for ice cream at the Helados Bon shop a few blocks from Casa Goshen.

We arrived in Barahona in time to check into the hotel, find something to eat, and then the tired leaders fell into bed while many of the students found more interesting things to do.

On day 2, we went from Barahona to climb some rocks to see some possible Taino indian drawings. The caves where the drawings are located are quite a distance up the side of the mountain along the road.

After the Taino drawings, we went to Lago (Lake) Enriquillo which is home to flamingos, American alligators, and rhinocerus iguanas. We saw a lot of very interesting, large iguanas, but no flamingos. There was one "unconfirmed" sighting of an alligator--talk to Tyler for the details!

Lunch was at a Comedor (a small "restaurant") along a stream in the town of La Descubierta. It was a peaceful place to eat a lunch of fried chicken, chiva (goat), rice and beans, and tostones (green plantains that are fried, then mashed, then fried again).

After lunch, it was on to Pedernales which is right at the border with Haiti. Just outside of Pedernales, we stopped at the beach (Cabo Rojo) to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, we arrived about 5 minutes after the sun disappeared over the horizon. However, there was still a nice pink sky that we admired.

Stephany wasn't ready to leave the beach when the group was. She decided to play in the sand a bit. She was fairly stubborn about leaving her spot in the sand. Eric convinced Jose Miguel of our experience with strong-willed vehicles in northern Indiana winters, and a plan was developed to finally encourage Stephany to leave, with the promise to return the next day for another day at the beach. It took teamwork--men outside pushing; women inside the bus adding weight to one side of the bus. Reluctantly, she left her spot in the sand.

When we arrived in Pedernales after dark, there was no power at the place we were staying. In the Dominican Republic, they say se fue la luz--the lights are out. The power returned exactly at 9 pm as predicted by the night watchman. At 9:30 pm, we headed off for a delicious supper of fried chicken, mashed potatoes (that's right, mashed potatotes), moro with guandules (rice with pidgeon peas), and tostones.

Pictures: #7 Jose Miguel, Stephany (the bus), and the students; #14 some students pushing on the outside of the bus to get Stephany out of the sand; and #15 all of the women inside Stephany adding weight to key locations in the bus.

On Saturday, February 4, we asked for, and received special permission to enter Haiti, "unofficially". We visited the Haitian boarder town of Anse-a-Pitres, a town of over 11,000 inhabitants. The students noted the contrast between the Haitian side and the Dominican side.

After leaving Haiti, we headed to the port "town" of Las Cuevas (the caves) to load in to two boats that would take us to the beautiful, remote beach of Bahia de las Aguilas. Because the beach is accessible only by boat or 4-wheel drive vehicles, there are very few people that go this spot. The sand is soft and white and the sea is relatively calm and the bluest blue one can imagine. We spent the day at this beach. We left the beach by boat in time to go back to the same beach that we were at on Friday night. This time we got there in time to watch the sun set.

For supper, we returned to the same comodor for a meal of chicken, fish, potato salad, avacado salad, and rice and beans.

The students were able to sleep a bit later on the last day of our southwest field trip, Sunday, February 5. After eating a meager breakfast of bread, peanut butter & jelly, and orange juice, we headed off to Santo Domingo. However, we stopped off at San Rafael River and hiked about 50 minutes up-river. The hike is very challenging and requires team work as everyone climbs up and over rocks and through pools of clear, cold water. Everyone was soaked when they finished.

After the hike, we sat down to a delicious meal on the beach while the waves pounded the sand behind us. The speciality at this place is a delicious fish (head and all). About half of the group dug into the fish while the others enjoyed their fried chicken. And, of course, in the Dominican Republic where baseball is such an important part of life, Ben F. and Tyler had to take batting practice at the beach after lunch.

After the hike and a delicious meal in a beautiful location, many slept as we drove the 3 1/2 hours back to Santo Domingo.

This week's Casa Goshen group decided that they wanted to have a more American flavor to their food this week. They decided on a meal of hamburgers, chips, dirt pudding, and the always present, fruit salad. None of them had much previous cooking experience, but they still created a very tasty meal.

Mandy M. has a birthday on Friday, so we had a delicious chocolate birthday cake for her. Unfortunately, Mandy will not be in the city on Friday to celebrate her birthday with her family as the students are doing their village studies on Friday and Saturday. (More on that later.)

Ana (Angelica) Moreno, from Helados Bon (our favorite ice cream company) came to talk to us about Dominican businesses and the environment. Bon has been a pioneer in encouraging environmentally friendly agricultural and business practices. It was interesting to hear the history of the company and some future goals for recycling that they are working on. As a special treat for us, she brought ice cream which we all really enjoyed.

The students have only a couple of days left for language classes at CEIC (Centro de Ensenanza de Idiomas y Cultura). The last pictures are of the different classes and their professors: Dilcia, Dania, Anna, and Marta Garcia (the owner of the institute).

On Thursday, February 9, we had the honor of being allowed to visit the National Palace. The president, Leonel Fernandez, does not reside in the palace, but it is where official state business is done. The palace was constructed by the dictator Trujillo in the 1940's. It is a very elegant building.

After a tour of the palace, our guides took us to the green room where they had a very nice selection of hors d'oevres. The green room is the only room in the palace that the architects were allowed freedom to do what they wished. The room mostly consists of green marble from Italy which gives it a definite greenish glow.

The Velez family kept up their tradition of inviting us all to their home after the tour for an evening of relaxation and food. Williams Velez, our amazing assistant, his wife, Lourdes Villaman, and their daughters Elise, Pamela, and Paloma were very gracious hosts. Jonathan's mother, Margarita, also helped to make the meal.

After supper, a large number of students piled into the unit SUV and were delivered to their homes, or relatively close to their homes. It was important to get them home before too late because they all leave early in the morning for their Village Studies.

Friday and Saturday (Feb. 10 and 11), the students went in group of 3 to small towns/pueblos for their Village Studies. They spent one night in their village and were asked to find out a variety of information about their villages. They all returned with very interesting stories about their villages, but we have no pictures to post for these experiences.

Our final field trip was to San Cristobal, the dictator Trujillo's home town. We saw his "palace" from outside the fence. Trujillo spent millions on building the "home", but legend has it that he never spent a night in the place because a European political leader told him it was an ugly place. Indeed, it looks more like an office building than a "home". We were not allowed to visit because it was in the final stages of renovation for the dedication (that day) for its new purpose. It is to be the countries' first reform school.

The next place we visited was the church that Trujillo built. There were amazing frescos covering the ceiling. We were allowed to go to the crypt where Trujillo was buried for 6 months before the DR demanded that his remains be removed from the country--they were taken to France and then on to Spain where they remain to this day. His original casket remains in the crypt and we were allowed to see the remains of the casket.

Our last place to visit on this trip was to bathing pools that were built by Trujillo. The water was pretty cold, but the students enjoyed the water slides.

The last group to be responsible for the activities and food for Casa Goshen Day planned a very colorful meal. As with the other groups, they first went to the outdoor market where they found most of the things that they needed for their meal. The remaining ingregients were purchased in a local super market.

The group encountered a couple of challenges as they prepared the meal. They discovered that it really takes a long time to get water to boil when it is in a large pot. And the types of cheese that they were told would melt well, did not melt but formed a solid ball of cheese in the middle of the pasta.

The entire group has learned the number one lesson for SST--flexibility! Usually, we eat first and have worship later, but due to the challenges the cooking group encountered, we had worship first and ate later. The students in the Exploration groups were very forgiving about the delay, especially when they saw the meal. Everyone enjoyed a meal of macaronni and chees, veggie tray (carrots, cucumbers, and peppers), bread, fruit salad (pineapple and bananas), and juice (strawberry and pineapple or chinola--passion fruit).

After worship and eating, the afternoon was spent in a variety of activities as students began to say good-bye to each other. There were final games of Dominoes, Chess, and even a hair cutting session. Molly decided she wanted to loose a couple of inches of hair before leaving for service and Amanda willingly agreed to accommodate Molly's request.

Everyone returns to Casa Goshen tomorrow (Thursday, Feb. 16) for tests, evaluations, service instructions, and service send-off. They have 2 more nights with their families before leaving for their service assignments.

Today, Thursday, February 15, is the last day in the capital before leaving for service assignments. It has been a very busy day.

This morning was the last time to be at the language institute, CEIC (Centro de Ensenanza de Idiomas y Cultura). The students each received graduation certificates and then the professors provided a lunch for all of us.

After the graduation ceremony and lunch, a number of students piled into the SUV for a ride to Casa Goshen. Some students had last minute errands to run, so they found their own way back to Ruth and Eric's home (Casa Goshen).

There was some academic business to take care of before the more fun stuff could begin. First of all, the students took their lecture and map final test. And, there were evaluations to complete.

Maura, Ruth and Eric's maid, made a special yucca dish for the students called "bolitas" (little balls). They were snatched up as quickly as she had them made. Ben G. is creating a recipe book for his SST project, so he was shown by the best cook in the DR how to make the yucca bolitas.

Ben G. also has a birthday during the service portion of SST. So, we had a birthday cake to celebrate his birthday, even though it is about 2 1/2 weeks away.

Everyone heard where the others are going for their service assignments and what they will be doing during this time. Essential supplies were handed out to those that needed them: everyone got mosquito nets; some got helmets for motochonchos (mini-motorcycles); some got life preservers; and some got calling cards. In order to make sure that everything fit properly, there was a lot of modeling of equipment.

The students seemed hesitant to leave. But, after a prayer of sending, hugs were given, good-byes were said, and tears were shed. Eric and Ruth experienced an empty nest after their daughters left home for college and then marriage. Now, they will experience the empty nest all over again as the students depart to various parts of the country.

The students have all arrived at their service assignments. Most of them left on Friday, February 17 for their assignments, but a few left on Saturday. We (Eric and Ruth) will visit every student at their locations beginning in about 2 weeks. As we visit each location, we will give more detail about what each student is doing.

Sam - Apolinar Perdomo, Provincia Bahorruco (in the mountains north of Neyba) - tutoring and working for a youth program with a Peace Corp couple.

Andre and Jonathan - Los Hildagos (north of Bayaguana) - working with a Peace Corp volunteer in the environmental sector

Ben F. and Tyler - Jaquimeyes - Habitat Para Humanidad (Habitat for Humanity) - Construction

Whitney - Los Dajaos (in the mountains west of Jarabacoa) - Working on an organic farm with Don Jose and Dona Nati

Lena - Jarabacoa - working with an educational program for the shoe shine boys of Jarabacoa

Tony - Llanos del Higo (in the mountains northwest of Jarabacoa)- working with a program for youth involving athletics, agriculture and teaching

Bethany - Los Calabasos, Sonido del Yaque (in the mountains west of Jarabacoa) - working with a village and their ecotourism venture

Ben G. - Montecito (in the mountains northeast of San Juan) - educational and agricultural work

Molly - Simon Bolivar neighborhood in Santo Domingo - working with Justicia Global in community development

Amanda G. - Puerto Plata - Centro Maternal - day care

Mandy M. - Monte Llano (near Puerto Plata) - Colegio Nino Jesus - day care

Sara - San Juan de la Maguana - Clinica Cristiana de Salud Integral - observing and assisting

Kelsey - San Juan de la Maguana - Centro Cristiano de Educacion - school

Anna - San Pedro - Centro Buen Pastor - assisting in day care and a clinic

Erica - San Pedro -Centro Buen Pastor - assisting in a day care and a clinic

Monica - Villa Mella (north of Santo Dominigo) - Melassa - education and community development

Service visits have begun. The first visit was with Monica in Villa Mella. Villa Mella is a community north of Santo Domingo. The main road going out of Santo Domingo to Villa Mella is slow going due to a huge construction project. It currently takes about 2 1/2 hours to travel by public transport from Villa Mella to Santo Domingo (used to only take about 45 minutes). So, people in that area feel rather isolated from Santo Domingo.

Monica is working with a community reform group called MELASSA. She is assisting with teaching in a public school called Los Matos. She teaches from 8 am to 5 pm; in the morning she works with 5th to 8th graders and in the afternoon she works with preschool to 4th grade. There are well over 1000 students in the morning and afternoons split up into about 9 classrooms. Her afternoon class has around 70 students in it.

She is staying with the Martinez Villa family and is really enjoying them. They have 3 young adult daughters that keep Monica busy. Her mother cooks great meals for her and does the other things that moms are supposed to do--like worry about her when she doesn't need to.

Time is flying by for Monica and she knows that before long, it will be time for her to say good bye to another family and community that has become important to her.

Molly is living and working in the Simon Bolivar neighborhood of Santo Domingo. She is working at a private school named Centro Educativo Chiquitines. The morning class consists of children 2 to 10 years of age (about 25 students) and the afternoon has students 3 to 14 years of age (about 55 - 60).

In Molly's "spare time", she is involved in various activities with Justicia Global. Justicia Global is an international social organizaion seeking to work at improving human rights, justice and peace.

Molly is living with Carolina Valdera and her family. She feels very well cared for by Carolina, Carolina's husband and her parents (who also live with them). Carolina and her husband have two young daughters. At recess, the children in Molly's school enjoy playing games with Molly. They line up to play with her.

Erica and Anna are living and working in San Pedro in a school that is run by the Episcopal church. They are both teaching English at San Esteban Colegio. Just before they arrived, the language teacher at the school left, so Erica and Anna are responsible for teaching English to the students. Erica works with 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders; Anna works with the 1st, 2nd, and 6th graders. Together, they teach the kindergarten class and the high school classes (the junior and seniors).

Erica lives about 2 blocks from the school and 4 blocks from the Carribean Sea. She lives with Elise Nova and Carlos Estefen and has 2 sisters and one brother (13, 17, and 18).

Anna also lives about 2 blocks from the school and 4 blocks from the Carribean Sea. She lives with Paulina Molina Escobar and has 2 sisters (17 and 19).

Neither Erica nor Anna were expecting to be responsible to teach English on their own. However, they are finding ways to be creative and teach the students that want to learn English. They are kept busy by their families and work responsibilities. They have been continuing to form new relationships as they live in this lovely town on the sea.

For those of you baseball fans, San Pedro is known for being the parent of some great baseball stars from US teams.

Andre and Jonathan are working with a Peace Corp volunteer, Emily Hoffman, in the mountain community of Los Hildalgo. Emily lives in a neighboring town, but oversees the project that they are working on. Andre and Jonathan are working with about 14 different families to create raised garden beds for growing vegetables and creating areas for composting. There is hard physical work involved, but there is also plenty of opportunity for building relationships. They work with a Dominican farmer, Tintin, to make this a successful project.

Another opportunity that they have had is to work in a "dulce" factory (a place where they make candies). They haven't had as much opportunity to work at this, but that remains something for them to do if they run out of work with the gardening project.

Jonathan is living with Dona Carmen and "el Profesor". They have 2 children still at home: Yaury (13 years) and Esther (16 years). Andre lives with Teresa and Fausto. He has one brother at home: Robel.

The guys are finding ways of keeping entertained without the use of electricity. There is no electricity and, therefore, no running water in their village. They have discovered the cycle of the moon (and how bright it is), that there really are a lot of stars to be seen without the presence of light polution, and figuring out what time to get up (and go to bed) without the benefit of a clock.

Ben and Tyler are working with Habitat Para Humanidad (Habitat for Humanity) in a small town close to Barahona by the name of Jaquimeyes. Due to some transitions in the Barahona office of Habitat, they spent the first week building relationships rather than building houses as they had expected. One of the things both of them wanted was an opportunity to play basketball and baseball. They have had plenty of opportunities for that.

Habitat hopes to finish 30 homes in their village in the next 3 weeks. It seems like a rather ambitious goal, but with the right people present, the homes go up pretty quickly. The homes are made of cinder block and are very nicely constructed. Ben and Tyler are getting plenty of blisters and callouses on their palms due to all of the shoveling and brick carrying. One of the first projects that they worked on was building a cistern for their second host family (see the photo). (A cistern is a holding tank for the water that is pumped by the government before it is pumped to another tank on the roof.)

Again, due to transitions in the Habitat office, Ben and Tyler have been in the same home. Young and old alike seem to have difficulty saying "Tyler". So, "Tyler" has become known as "Charlie". He just hopes he remembers his given name when he leaves Jaquimeyes.

Ben and Tyler are living with Hiradi and Daniel Novas. They have 4 children (Darwin--19; Daniella--17; Loan--16; and Denzel--12). Their home is in a great location; it overlooks the baseball field. So, they don't have very far to go when it's time for a game. Even though they are living together and working together, they don't seem to be sick of each other yet. They are often able to go their separate ways to do different activities, which works really well, especially when one bunch of guys wants them to play basketball and another group wants them to play baseball.

Pictures: #9 Ben and Tyler have a nice shower in their home, but no bathtub, so this is where they (and the community) go for a bath; #10 view of the baseball field from their upstairs balconey; #11 the cistern that they dug for their family; #12 they don't get to use a phone much, so while Ruth and Eric read their journals in the park in Barahona where they went for lunch, Ben and Tyler made phone calls to the U.S.

Sam is working with Peace Corp volunteers, Cassie and Nathaniel Milam, in the mountain community of Apolinar Perdomo. Sam is assisting Cassie in an after-school program. They are teaching 2 hours a day Monday through Friday. Sam may also help Nathaniel with a playground project that he has going on in a near-by community.

Sam is in a very mountainous area as can be seen in the background of some of the pictures. In addition to his work with Cassie, he has had opportunity to do a lot of strenous mountain trekking. He is on the cross country team at Goshen College and had hoped to keep up his running. There is not much opportunity for flat running, but he has run up (and down) many mountains in his area.

Sam is staying with Melagro and Santiago. He has 5 siblings living at home (Jairo--14; Jansen; Checo; Yeri--9; and Josue--7). An older sister is married, has a young child, and lives right next door.

There is no electricity and no running water in Sam's community. So, among other things, there is no refrigeration. He has had no ice cream since he left Santo Domingo 3 weeks ago. Also, he has not left the mountain since he arrived 3 weeks ago until he went to Neyba for lunch (and ice cream). Neyba is the closest town that had a few comodors (small eating establishments). There was no Bon store for ice cream, so we had to go to a Nestle's store instead. Usually when the students are treated to ice cream, it is just one scoop. But, since he has been ice cream deprived, he chose to get a 1/2 litre container and ate the whole thing without hesitation.

Visiting Ben, in the area of Montecito, where he is living right now, is quite a task. To visit Ben at his service location, one first drives about 3 1/2 hours from Santo Domingo to San Juan (the nearest city to Ben); then, if you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, you can begin the 2 hour drive up into the mountains. The last 6 miles to Ben's house takes one hour to drive. There are some pictures of the road to Ben's house (pictures without Ben in them).

Ben lives with Sandra Abreu and her husband Fello. He has 5 siblings, but they are all out of the home. Some siblings live in Santo Domingo, one in San Juan, and one sister lives right next door with her son and husband. Sandra is a member of the Evangelical Mennonite church in the community. She keeps busy running her colmodo (a small convenience store) and cooking for Ben. The family has their own coffee farm and we enjoyed some of the coffee from their farm that they roasted and ground themselves.

For service, Ben is teaching English several days a week and teaching guitar to some of his friends. It is very evident in walking through the community that Ben is well-known and well-liked by adults and children alike.

Sara and Kelsey are living and working in San Juan de la Maguana. Sara is working at Clinica Cristiana de Salud Integral. The clinic often has teams from North America coming to provide services to the community. This week there is a group from North Carolina performing many surgeries--tonsillectomies, hysterectomies, hernia repairs, etc. Sara often gets to observe the surgeries in process.

Because the clinic receives many donations and because it is such a busy place, often there is no time to sort and organize all of the supplies. Sara has been busy organizing the supplies and helping out where she can.

Sara is living with Ysela Valdez and has 2 sisters at home--Elizabeth (22) and Hellivana (30).

Pictures: #6 Sara's brother (married) has a woodworking shops where he creates usable pieces of furniture as well as decorative pieces of carved wood.

Kelsey is teaching English at Centro Cristiano de Educacion. Both the clinic and the school are run by the Solid Rock Foundation which has supporters/sponsors all over North America in Canada and the United States. It is a very well-run school.

Kelsey lives with Yosalyn de Rodriguez and her husband Jose Ramon. They have 2 children: Laura (12) and Jose Ariel (16). Jose Ramon is the director of the school where Kelsey works and Yosalyn also works at the school.

Even though Kelsey and Sara live in the same town, they do not see much of each other during the week. They both keep very busy with their jobs and family.

Bethany is living and working in the small campo (country) community called Los Calabasos which is in the valley of the mountains close to Jarabocoa. The community is located along the Yaque River. In order to get to the community, one has to climb down over 200 stair steps (see picture #11).

Several years ago, Bethany's mother, Esperanza organized the women of the community and they formed a co-operative called Sonida del Yaque. They now have an ecotourism business of renting cabins (they have 10) and preparing delicious meals for their guests. Her mother is no longer the head of the co-operative, but the women continue to have regular meetings and it is the women who decide on what projects they will take on.

Bethany lives with Esperanza Martes and Solano Urena. They have 6 grown daughters; 2 live in Los Calabasos. Bethany's days are spent playing with the children and teaching English. She is also planning to re-paint the decorative sign that is at the top of the steps that tells visitors "Bienvenidos a Los Calabasos" (Welcome to Los Calabasos). Bethany is in training to take on SST domino expert, Jonathan, at the final retreat. She spends many evenings sitting in the local colmado (convenience store--see pictures #1 and #6--wooden building in background)playing dominoes with people in the community.

Pictures: #2 Bethany in front of her school; #3 her bedroom with her mosquito net; #12 Bethany and Whitney live fairly close, but have only seen each other once, this picture is taken in the central park in Jarabacoa.

Whitney is living and working in the mountainous community of Los Dajaos near Jarabacoa. She lives with Ramancito and Milady Ramirez. They have 2 children: Gleny (12) and Gregori (10). Whitney's dad is a farmer and supplements his income with working in a sawmill. He has tayota (a type of vegetable) and strawberries on his farm.

Whitney's mom is a ceramics artist. Whitney has been learning the interesting process of ceramic artistry beginning with the process of collecting the clay from the river bed to washing and cleaning the clay until it is ready to be molded into a variety of artistic and useful items. Her mother has her own kiln where she bakes the items after creating beautiful pieces from the yellow clay.

Whitney is kept very busy with a variety of things. Her SST "service" work involves teaching English to a variety of adults. However, she is kept busy helping her mother, assisting in health promotion programing, playing with the children, and building relationships which is also resulting in improvement in self-confidence with Spanish. The days are passing very quickly for her.

Pictures: #2 and #3 are at her school; #4 Whitney and her brother (Gregori); #5 Whitney and Bethany in front of the library; #6 Whitney and her good friend the doctor; #7 on the path to her house; #12 one of 4 different shower options (also has one inside the house, too)

The beautiful mountain city of Jarabacoa is Lena's home and workplace. Lena is working with her church's shoe shine ministry. Her church has a very well-organized school for some of the shoe shine boys of Jarabacoa. The school accepts 5 new students every year and currently has around 15 students. The name of the school is Colegio Timoteo. Student to teacher ratio is about 3 to 1.

Lena lives with Sandra and her mother, Maria. Sandra stays busy working and going to the University. Maria used to live in one of the small communities close to Jarabacoa, but moved in with Sandra recently to help Sandra.

Lena lives very close to the central park. She enjoys her walk to and from work every day. On Saturdays, the church has a club for all of the shoe shine boys in Jarabacoa. Lena joins the church and the boys as they go to a small camp outside of Jarabacoa. The boys play games and are fed a good meal before they return to Jarabacoa.

Pictures: #5 & #6 in front of Lena's church; #9 the view from Lena's front veranda.

The only way to get to Tony's home and work location of Los Higos is by motoconcho (motor cycle) or by 4-wheel drive vehicles. Los Higos is only about 40 minutes by 4-wheel drive from Jarabacoa and the view along the way and once you arrive in Los Higos is amazing.

Tony lives with Mari and Ramon Ortiz. They have 2 grown children and a number of grandchildren. Mari and Ramon's 18 year old grandson, Anton, lives with Mari and Ramon. Ramon is a farmer and he also works in a large greenhouse that grows vegetables for sale in Jarabacoa and Santo Domingo.

Tony is working with a program organized by Students International. Students International have a school for about 15 to 20 children from the small community. They teach a regular school curriculum, but also have time for praise songs and devotions. They have an agricultural program as well as a sports program. Tony works with two very dedicated Dominicans, Andre and Julio.

The small community of Los Higos is going to miss Tony when he leaves. They have had a number of North Americans in their community, but none of them have ever lived in their community as Tony does.

Pictures: #4 a very small part of the green house is visible in the background in the upper right corner; #5 Tony is explaining the agricultural program to Eric; #9 even the pigs know Tony, every time we walked past, they squealed in delight thinking that tony was bringing their food.