San Francisco de Macoris, El Buen Samaritano Day Care & AIM School
of English and Music
San Francisco de Macoris
Sallie,
Rachel,
Alison,
Erica and
Lisa Rose all make
their home in
San Francisco de Macoris. San Francisco is located
in the north central part of the country in the fertile
Cibao valley.
Population is estimated at 200,000, but the town is very quiet and very
relaxed. More so than any other town in the D.R., San Francisco has many
residents with U.S. connections. Either they have lived in New York themselves
(as the U.S. is usually referred to) or they have relatives living there.
It is also a very prosperous town with a very large middle class. (
Pictured
left to right: Lisa Rose,
Erica,
Allison)
El
Buen Samaritano Day Care
Sallie
and
Rachel work at "
El Buen Samaritano"
(
The Good Samaritan) day care in the poor barrio of
San Martin
with approximately 70 children. The day care is a ministry of the Episcopalian
church and it serves the low income residents of the barrio. Many of the
children are orphans, living with relatives. The day care feeds the children
breakfast and lunch, and the mornings are organized in a school setting
with the children in different grades. In the afternoon, there is nap
and play time.
Sallie
and
Rachel walk to work each day which takes them about one hour
each way. They enjoy the exercise. The children at the day care also keep
them very busy. They are very needy and starved for affection. Sallie
and Rachel also both enjoy their families very much. Rachel is addicted
to the "
novela" (
soap opera - or should
I say evening TV drama?) "
Juego de la vida" (
the
game of life). In the evenings, Sallie enjoys watching movies which
have either been dubbed to Spanish or have Spanish sub-titles. She reports
that she has learned many new Spanish words this way. View more snapshots:
Rachel's family |
Sallie's
Mother
AIM
- School of English and Music
Alison,
Erica and
Lisa Rose work at AIM, a school of English and
Music run by
Episcopalian Missionary Tim Holt and his spouse Carmen.
Erica works with two AIM students (
pictured at right) and
Alison teaches class (
pictured at left). During the school
year, English and Music classes at AIM, supplement normal morning or afternoon
school. But in the summer, it is a sort of academy with intensive English
classes. All three GC students have their own classes, each with 15-20
students. Most students have a high level of English knowledge and many
in fact have lived a portion of their lives in the U.S.
Alison,
Erica and
Lisa Rose start work each morning at 8:30 with
an assembly until 9:00 and then classes until noon. Pictured at left is
Alison in front of her classroom. At the assemblies, one activity
is to do "
Jazz Chants". "
Tall Trees, Tall Trees,
Big Tall Trees! ..." Or "
Wake Up! Wake Up! I don't want
to get up! ...". Since they repeat many words and work on themes,
they are good learning tools ... I guess. After a long lunch, they come
back in the afternoon to plan the next day's class and work at other tasks
around the school.
Alison is organizing the library,
Erica
is working on computer stuff including a web page, and
Lisa Rose
is working on a music curriculum.
More snapshots: Alison's
family |
Erica's family |
Lisa Rose's family
Sallie,
Rachel, Alison, Erica and Lisa Rose all make
their home in San Francisco de Macoris. San Francisco is located
in the north central part of the country in the fertile Cibao valley.
Population is estimated at 200,000, but the town is very quiet and very
relaxed. More so than any other town in the D.R., San Francisco has many
residents with U.S. connections. Either they have lived in New York themselves
(as the U.S. is usually referred to) or they have relatives living there.
It is also a very prosperous town with a very large middle class. (Pictured
left to right: Lisa Rose, Erica, Allison)
Sallie
and Rachel work at "El Buen Samaritano"
(The Good Samaritan) day care in the poor barrio of San Martin
with approximately 70 children. The day care is a ministry of the Episcopalian
church and it serves the low income residents of the barrio. Many of the
children are orphans, living with relatives. The day care feeds the children
breakfast and lunch, and the mornings are organized in a school setting
with the children in different grades. In the afternoon, there is nap
and play time.
Sallie
and Rachel walk to work each day which takes them about one hour
each way. They enjoy the exercise. The children at the day care also keep
them very busy. They are very needy and starved for affection. Sallie
and Rachel also both enjoy their families very much. Rachel is addicted
to the "novela" (soap opera - or should
I say evening TV drama?) "Juego de la vida" (the
game of life). In the evenings, Sallie enjoys watching movies which
have either been dubbed to Spanish or have Spanish sub-titles. She reports
that she has learned many new Spanish words this way. View more snapshots:
Rachel's family | Sallie's
Mother
Alison,
Erica and Lisa Rose work at AIM, a school of English and
Music run by Episcopalian Missionary Tim Holt and his spouse Carmen.
Erica works with two AIM students (pictured at right) and
Alison teaches class (pictured at left). During the school
year, English and Music classes at AIM, supplement normal morning or afternoon
school. But in the summer, it is a sort of academy with intensive English
classes. All three GC students have their own classes, each with 15-20
students. Most students have a high level of English knowledge and many
in fact have lived a portion of their lives in the U.S. 
Alison,
Erica and Lisa Rose start work each morning at 8:30 with
an assembly until 9:00 and then classes until noon. Pictured at left is
Alison in front of her classroom. At the assemblies, one activity
is to do "Jazz Chants". "Tall Trees, Tall Trees,
Big Tall Trees! ..." Or "Wake Up! Wake Up! I don't want
to get up! ...". Since they repeat many words and work on themes,
they are good learning tools ... I guess. After a long lunch, they come
back in the afternoon to plan the next day's class and work at other tasks
around the school. Alison is organizing the library, Erica
is working on computer stuff including a web page, and Lisa Rose
is working on a music curriculum. More snapshots: Alison's
family | Erica's family |
Lisa Rose's family
