San Pedro de Macoris

Jenna and Kristi make their home in San Pedro de Macoris. San Pedro is only 45 miles East of Santo Domingo and is more know for being the hometown of Major League Baseball player Sammy Sosa, and many others.

The crowded city owes its uneven development to the boom-and-bust fortunes of the sugar cane industry. The town has 200,000 residents and at times it seems like each of them has a motorcycle! Pictured at left - looking down a San Pedro street.

Jenna and Kristi work at the "Centro Buen Pastor" (pictured at right), an outreach by Episcopalian nuns in the poor barrio of Las Flores. Their work is either at the "Centro" in a day care setting for often malnourished children, or at the clinic. The "Centro" also is an educational center where community women learn to sew and are involved in other community development projects. Development of a school is in progress. Goshen students have been working at the Centro for over ten years, and it is probably the service location which has had the most placements of any.

During the first two weeks of service, they were working more at the Centro, feeding and taking care of a couple of babies. More recently, they have been working more frequently at the clinic. Sorting pills, arranging storage space and supplies among other things. Another new project is a re-sale "store" (pictured at left). Supplies are donated to the center such as clothes, shoes and sewing supplies. Jenna and Kristi (Kristi pictured at left) have been sorting these items and preparing them for re-sale. They have also gone to local stores in the down-town area to price items in order to then set a price for their items usually at a big discount. Snapshot of Jenna in the 'resale' store.

Both Jenna and Kristi enjoy their families very much.

Kristi's dad ran for office with the PLD party (pictured at right) so he is well known in San Pedro. Kristi's mother also works at the clinic, but she was not at the house when we visited (view family photo).

Jenna's mother (pictured at left) sews and works out of the house, so her house is always full of people, with her mother's friends always stopping by. Both Jenna and Kristi know the names of the workers at all four "Helados Bon" (ice cream shop) in town.