Rio Limpio

Becca and Erin make their home in Rio Limpio (morning view in Rio Limpoi pictured at right). Rio Limpio is a small remote town of 2,000 residents located 210 miles from Santo Domingo in the Northwest part of the country. It takes one hour to drive the last 15 miles through the beautiful landscape of mountains in the background intermixed with pastures. As the crows fly, it is only 10 miles or so from the Haiti bolder, but it would take 2 hours to get there by vehicle and 5 hours or so by foot. Haitian influence abounds in many ways, but not overly so. The generator in town has now been fixed, so the residents usually have electricity in the evenings. There is running water sometimes, but Becca and Erin prefer to bathe in the cool water of a nearby river. More snapshots of Rio Limpio: 1 | 2

In spite of the remote location, Becca and Erin were in very good spirits, and almost as happy for the olives we took them as for the many letters they received from family and friends. More snapshots of Becca and/or Erin: 1 | 2 | 3

Becca and Erin are keeping busy doing a assorted number of things: helping Becca's brother Rivera in his wood shop (click on picture of family at right - Riviera is on the far right), braiding the hair of Erin's niece and other neighborhood girls (below), massaging the arm and hand of Fermina (Becca's Mom) who suffered a stroke in January, helping Peña, a family friend with his English homework, teaching Marilanda (Becca's sister) English, dancing with Jonael (age 12) and Javi (age 10), daily trips to the river to bathe/wash clothes, sorting beans, observing chicken butchering, reading, singing, etc.


The major project so far has been to lead a group of 6 girls and one boy in rehearsals and a "kind of performance" of a kid's story "El Gatito Tripi-Trapo" (The Little Cat Tripi-Trapo). To sum up the plot, the gatito eats every animal it encounters until it meets up with the devilish chivo (goat) which makes the gatito explode and all the other animals come back to life...


Becca has also applied herself at her brother Rivera's wood shop and so far has made a pretty nice spoon which she would not sell for any amount of pesos. Rivera, started making wooden spoons at age 11 when he copied an utilitarian Swiss who needed one to use to eat. Since then, he has expanded to also do other forms including animals. He uses many of the local woods, including guayacan and tabaco which are very hard and take a very good polish.