We have some sad news. The father of our long-time Dominican assistant Williams Velez passed away yesterday. Patti and I had the opportunity to visit with the Velez family during the visitation and mourning prior to the funeral. Please remember Williams and his family in your prayers.

I'm posting a couple of photos from the three week period between SST groups. During the break between groups we enjoyed a lovely visit with Tom's parents and spent a couple of days relaxing at the beach. Tom, with great joy, continued developing a Tilapia fish and worm composting project in El Cercado.

On Tuesday we'll have all the host families over to learn about their new students.

Vamo’ junto’

Our visit to MUDHA and our readings in Why the Cocks Fight helped prepare us for a visit to two bateys on Tuesday. To learn more about the impressive work of MUDHA, and their embattled director, Sonia Pierre, see this article from the Boston Globe.

Our visit to the batey communities of Palmarejo and No. 43 was both eye-opening and heart-wrenching. MUDHA Project Coordinator, Serana, guided us through the two communities. We learned that the members of the communities lack basic necessities such as running water, latrines, access to health care and education.

Bateys began as migrant worker camps for sugar cane cutters, who are almost exclusively Haitian immigrants. We learned cane cutters earn 93 Pesos (less than $3) for each ton of sugar cane cut; it takes two days to cut a ton of cane. Residents of bateys often live in ‘company housing’, lack access to educational opportunities, lack adequate health care, and often lack birth certificates or legal residency in either Haiti or the Dominican Republic. If you’d like to learn more about bateys, you may find this summary and links provided by Makarios International helpful.

MUDHA sponsors a school in Palamarejo where SSTers played with students. (See some of the fun photos.) The sugar cutting work at Palmarejo has ended, as part of the shift in the Dominican economy away from sugar production. Thus, the adults in the community travel to the capital to find odd jobs. In community No. 43 the residents pick oranges for two months out of the year. They earn 1 peso (3 cents) for every 100 lbs of oranges they pick. During the remaining ten months of the year the residents make baskets, see photos. The artisans can earn up to 5 pesos (15 cents) per basket.

This stark look at the realities of many Dominican residents helps prepare SSTers for our weekend trip to the Haitian border. On Thursday we will journey to El Cercado, a community about the size of Goshen on the western edge of the country. We’ll visit a border market on Friday and participate in some work projects on Saturday. While in El Cercado we’ll hear from pastors and organizers of both the Mennonite and Catholic churches who are engaged in some ecumenical community development efforts. Our next blog posting will be after we return early next week.

Thank you for continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

After a four hour bus trip from the capital through the mountains, we arrived in El Cercado, a small city of 30,000 people (about the size of Goshen). Joanne Peterson, a community organizer for the Catholic Church in El Cercado, met us in the Central Plaza with a group of youth who welcomed us with song. We sang a couple of hymns in response to their warm greeting. We were also greeted by Pastor Morales of the El Cercado Mennonite Church.

As dusk fell, the SSTers were dropped off at their host family homes, where they stayed for the next three nights. Students stayed in groups of 2-4 students with Mennonite host families in town and with Catholic families in the rural village of La Guama.

Early on Friday morning we traveled with Pastor Morales to the Haitian border. During the ride to the border Morales shared his personal faith story and talked about the history of the Mennonite church in the DR. At the border we met with Abraham, an organizer who works at assuring human rights along the border. After passing through the customs and border patrol offices, we made our way to the actual border—a small river that divides Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

About half of our group chose to forge the river and made our way into Haiti, accompanied by our guide, Abraham. After crossing through no-man’s land we stood on Haitian soil. In Haiti, we talked with a few vendors, looked at the currency, and sampled a local drink not sold in the DR.

After crossing back into the DR, the entire group traveled to the bi-national market, Elias Piña’s claim to fame. In small groups the SSTers and our new Peace Corps volunteer friend, Jake, wandered the market filled with used American clothes and local food. In a couple of the photos the students show off their purchases—machetes seemed especially popular.

In the evening the group participated in a Toca de Palo and bachata dance held at the social hall in the village of La Guama. The Toca de Palo is a traditional Afro-Caribbean dance with three drums which ‘talk’ with each other and to the dancers. In one of the picture you can see the drum skins being heated by the fire. SSTers quickly learned the dance moves and kept pace with our energetic hosts late into the night. After our second night in El Cercado, we awoke to a beautiful sunrise and full moon over the mountains.

We began the day by loading everyone on our big, blue flatbed truck and enjoyed a lovely ride through the countryside. As we rode through the mountain roads in the cool morning air, SSTer’s sang (see Lucy’s enthusiasm) and joined a new friend singing popular bachatas.

Our first stop was a demonstration sustainable agricultural project involving a fish pond, worm composting and a hoop greenhouse. Bartólo, an agronomist with the Catholic Diocese, and members of the community have been constructing this model site over the last few weeks. Bartólo taught our group about tree grafting and the importance of creating locally accessible development projects. We left the community as they were planting aquatic plants in the soon-to-be-filled and stocked pond.

Our second stop of the morning was to the Mennonite clinic and school. Morales, one of the Mennonite pastors, showed us the clinic and shared a bit about the church’s work.

A third of our group stayed with Morales to clean the newly constructed church in preparation for its inaugural service on Sunday. The other part of the group traveled to the community of Votao where we worked with the farmer’s cooperative to construct a hoop greenhouse and dig a fishpond, like the one we toured in the morning.

We weeded, dug out the pond with picks, hoes and shovels, and prepared materials for the greenhouse working alongside our Dominican companions.

After our sweaty labors, we enjoyed a typical lunch prepared onsite by some of the community members. We waited in town to reunite with the other members of our group to enjoy a well-deserved ice cream break!

In the late afternoon we traveled to the new Catholic retreat center where we listened to Joanne Peterson. Joanne described her 24 years of work in the region organizing Christian Base Communities to help marginalized people empower themselves. Her talk helped us better understand all the projects we visited, introduced us to liberation theology and gave an inspiring framework for ecumenical social development.

On Saturday evening, members of our group attended the Mennonite youth group service, where we were invited to sing for the congregation. This was good preparation for Sunday morning when we were again invited to sing for the entire congregation. Other members of our group attended Catholic mass on Sunday morning where we were introduced to much applause from the congregants.

On our way back to Santo Domingo, we stopped in San Juan de la Maguana, to eat lunch, and visit an ancient Taino site where the queen is said to have sat with her court as she watched games and oversaw council meetings. (See photo of our reenactment!)

We came ‘this’ close to meeting the President (see Zach ‘knocking’ on the door to the President’s office). After our tour, we enjoyed ice tea in Trujillo’s former bar. From the palace we crammed into Williams’ truck and our jeep and traveled to Williams and Lourdes’ home for a party. The Velez family hosted us all for a relaxed gathering complete with dominos, cards and watching the pirated version of Pirates of the Caribbean III . Thank you, Velez family, for your generous invitation and a lovely party.

This weekend SSTers traveled in groups of 3-4 to sites around the country to complete their Village Study. Lindsay, Tom and I randomly chose the sites for the village studies—early reports are that some towns on the map don’t exist. But DR SST students are intrepid and make their own adventures. Happily, everyone returned safe and well from their adventures this weekend. This afternoon we’ll gather to hear their stories. On Tuesday we’ll hear different perspectives on service and we’ll spend Wednesday getting ready for students to leave on their six-week service experiences.

We’ll keep you posted!

On Tuesday we met with the Sisters of Charity who live and work in a low-income neighborhood of Santo Domingo. The sisters run a preschool program and work on issues of community concern in their barrio. We toured the site of the formerly open-sewer that runs through their community. Working with community members and through the political process, these sisters have successfully made their neighborhood safer and cleaner.

After lunch, we met with three representatives of USAID and the US Embassy. We learned about US government development efforts in the Dominican Republic. The speakers also addressed the free trade agreement DR-CAFTA and globalization.

Finally, US Peace Corps volunteers spoke with us about their experiences and perspectives on service in the DR. Before their talk, they led us in an entertaining game of peso caliente. We are most grateful for the work of Sandy Santana, who has facilitated arranging service assignments for Goshen College students with Peace Corps volunteers for more than a decade. Thank you, Sandy! (Sandy is pictured in the final photo.)

Today we began our service orientation. We started our conversation by discussing why GC would incorporate ‘service’ into the study abroad experience. Students were eager to learn about their service sites and excited to begin the next stage of this journey. Tomorrow we have a closing ceremony at the language school and will gather at Casa Goshen for a few hours of hanging out in the afternoon. On Friday morning, students will travel to their service assignments to initiate a six week exploration of servant- leadership.

After lunch, we met at Casa Goshen for final preparations for service. Silas enjoyed taking a picture of four students suited up in their motoconcho helmets. We shared a time of prayer and singing and then everyone was ready to go!

All students arrived safely to their service assignments and reports from the field are good. We had the opportunity for a quick visit to Ashley and Lindsay in their San Pedro de Marcoris location last weekend.

This evening, over supper, we will be celebrating the closing of the DR SST program with the host families and our collaborators. Tom Meyers is here to help recognize all the hard work and dedication of our staff and community here in the DR.

!Felicidades a Todos!

After 22 successful years of collaboration between Goshen College and our Dominican partners the SST program will end. Over seventy people gathered at the Palacio Bella Cristal on the evening of June 29 to pay tribute to the many, many people who have contributed to the program. Williams Velez served as master of ceremonies and special tributes were given by Margot Zahner and Tom Benevento, the current SST leaders; Tom Meyers, director of international education; Raquel Mercedes Fermin, a representative of host families; and Marta Garcia, the director of the language institute.

Although it was hard to put into words, there were attempts to summarize the remarkable collaboration between Goshen College and our Dominican partners and friends. The evening was full of warmth and many kind words of appreciation. Genara Encarnación (Pina), a representative of the families, presented Goshen College with a beautiful plaque that will serve as a perennial reminder of the strong ties between Goshen College students, faculty and the families that were willing to open their hearts and their homes.

Two individuals were given small tokens of appreciation from the college. Patricia Zwier has been a consultant to the program from the very beginning. Her gentle spirit and wise counsel was a vital part of the success of the program. Williams Velez has also been very active in many aspects of the program as he served as program assistant since 2002. His warmth, generosity and delightful spirit were so accessible to many faculty and students. The contribution of both of these individuals is hard to calculate and any attempt to properly thank them was certainly inadequate.

Along with wonderful food, good conversation and a spirit of celebration, the evening included a touch of sadness. Goshen College has surely been blessed by the opportunity to send students to the Dominican Republic. Families enjoyed reminiscing about their adopted sons and daughters and there were many expressions of gratitude to the remarkable team of people who made this an outstanding program. We will surely never be truly leaving the Dominican Republic, a small piece of Goshen College will remain in the memory of so many people who have crossed cultures, reached out to one another and embraced.

May that intersection of heart and spirit always be with all of us.

Over lunch in San Juan with Ian and Drew, Hannah and Tera shared stories of their work and lives in Las Matas.

Hannah and Tera live catty-corner from each other and enjoy their proximity. Both young women live in families with daughters about their ages with mothers who say they care for our students, "like my own daughters."

I really enjoyed visiting the care center and was quite impressed with both Tera and Hannah's work and dedication to the children there.

Over lunch, with Hannah and Tera, Drew and Ian shared stories from their arrival and work in San Juan. One of the highlights for both students has been getting to know their new host families. Ian’s host mother is a judge and a lawyer. After lunch we enjoyed some Helados Bon ice cream

The photos include pictures of the house they are constructing as well as a house across the lane sorely in need of repair.

Jodi spends mornings doing intake work at the Mennonite Clinic on the edge of town. On a few afternoons a week she also teaches conversational English at the local language institute. Jodi reports enjoying her host family of an ever-changing cast of characters.

While we were in El Cercado we enjoyed staying with our 'host family' Edy and Bartolo in the cute pink house. Tom worked with Bartolo on the greenhouse the students had begun when here on our work day earlier this semester.

We also enjoyed a visit with Pastor Morales and Grecia's family who have a new, beautiful baby girl. It was quite a difficult pregnancy and everyone is grateful for Paloma, the newest member of the El Cercado Mennonite Church.

In Elias Piña, Katie brought us to a perfect little comedor and then we all found the Helados Bon. In one of the photos Katie demonstrates the Dominican habit of carrying an umbrella to protect oneself from the sun. At her host family’s house we enjoyed espresso on the porch and traded hair-care secrets with Katie’s sister.

The final two photos are of a Flamboyan tree en route to see Katie and of Jodi and Katie in front of a ruin of one of Trujillo’s mansions which is practically in Katie’s backyard.

I am living in Salcedo and working at an English school. My mother here owns and runs the school with the help of her daughter and two other teachers. My mom, her mom, two of her daughters, and her eight year old grandson live in our house. Both of her daughters are also judges in Salcedo.

My job at the school consists of teaching 3-4 different classes of 7-15 people, with all different levels of English. The student’s have been lots of fun and I am learning a lot there.

I am also enjoying time with my family. My grandma here who is 87 years old is full of energy. Yesterday she balled up a page of newspaper and after telling me to not say anything she threw it at my eight year old brother and ducked out of the room before he saw her.

I am working at a summer day camp in La Vega for kids from low-income families. It is one of the activities that the organization does throughout the year to provide structure, a chance to learn, and a place where authority is present.

About 300 kids come to the center from 8 to 12 to do crafts, sports, dance and hang out. I work directly with a group of ten, 12 year olds. The majority of the time it seems that I am either hugging kids or breaking up fights. The kids are rough around the edges but have good hearts.

The pictures are from a 3 day overnight camp for the kids entering the program for the first time. My host family consists of a mother, father, and two sisters.

Life in San Victor is kinda boring for me, but that means I’m getting a lot better at dominoes! My family is a lot of fun, they like to joke, laugh, and dance. There are always new people coming over to visit as well. Generally I’m pretty bad with names in English, so trying to remember names in Spanish is even worse.

I live in a house with a mom, grandma, grandpa, uncle, brother, and sometimes other people just randomly spend the night as well.

My work is basically helping out a Peace Corps volunteer with whatever she needs help with. I’m trying to do some videos as well, but it’s challenging with a small handheld camera, no microphone, horrible lighting, and no editing program yet. We should be getting some programs for editing and making websites soon, so that’ll be good to have something to do.

I’m running a lot, sitting a lot, and drinking different juices everyday. It’s pretty nice and relaxed.

I drink coffee. Yea, that about covers it.

I use the river for both my refreshing fun and my bathing. I enjoy my refreshing mountain breezes a great deal, and definitely enjoy my kilometer or so long hike to and from Los Dajaos to work with Don Jose on his organic coffee farm.

I have been doing a couple of days of work up the mountain with him, and lately things have been picking up with the ecotourism location here, Sonido del Yaque. Recently, we purchased supplies to begin making the signs for the roadway to provide direction to Sonido del Yaque.

Other than my time spent serving here, I spend much of my time with my family, whether it be dancing, hanging out talking, or relaxing at the river. The days aren’t too hot, and the nights are refreshing and cool.

My family is quite large, and that’s quite the experience in its own. I’m pretty sure I know who all is in my family now, at least I know who I live with, that part was easy. The community is great, and they’ve welcomed me warmly.

Zach and I are living in a tiny pueblo of about 300 people called El Yayal. We are working with a Peace Corps worker on building outdoor wood cook stoves. Soon we will be experts with cement mixing, clay making, and dirt digging. So far we’ve completed 6 stoves and plan on finishing five more before we leave.

Other than work, my life has been full of playing and bathing in the river, eating lots of rice and platanos, drinking lots of juice, getting my hair braided every night by countless little girls, reading book after book, listening to the same Dominican music over and over again, slowly but surely building my Spanish skills, hanging out up at the town square/center place, and thoroughly enjoying the warmth and hospitality of my family and the friendly residents of El Yayal.

Postcard from Zach

Kelly and I live in El Yayal and it is awesome! It’s a town of about 300 and our families are great! My mom is really nice and caring and is definitely keeping me well fed with the Plata del Dia, Platanoes, Eggs, and Salami (some sardines too).

For our service, we are building ceramic/concrete stoves for the community members. As you can see in the pictures, the beard that I started on the first day of my arrival in the D.R. is coming along very nicely. Also, I am enjoying the work outdoors and the tan, like the beard, is developing as well.

Many of the weekends, we’ve done day trips to the beach. Some of those are Playa de los Gringos (although there are no Americans there) and Playa Grande. I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks that I have left here in the great town of El Yayal.

Things have been going real well here in La Peonia so far with lots of things to do. Justin and I have completed six latrines so far and plan on doing at least two a week till we leave.

I live with a family of seven, three kids, two sisters, and a mom and dad. They feed me a lot and there are many days were I will have two lunches. There is a river near by where we go bathing and relax and several beaches near by as well. Overall, it has been a relaxing three an half weeks and I am looking forward to these next couple weeks.

A postcard from Justin

Andrew and I live in the little town or village of La Peonia with about 60 families. The town has four little corner stores, a cafeteria with great juices, and a discoteca down by the river which is a popular hangout on the weekends. I am really enjoying my time getting to know the people and hanging out with some of the kids my age. My family is really nice as well. My host parents are in their sixties and are a nice couple. They are extremely friendly and I especially love all of the fresh fruit and juices that they give me.

The latrine project is going well and got off to a fast start, but now it has slowed down a little bit. There was a lot of excitement around the project the first week or so, but that has died off and now it is difficult finding workers to help dig and lay the floor and seats. We plan to get about two latrines done a week, which would give us around 10-12 complete by the time we are done. I feel like we could do more if we had the tools and labor, but I am quickly learning that things can take time in the Dominican Republic.

I am looking forward to my next couple of weeks of service and getting to know the people in my community better.

I’m living in a small town called Matancitas, which is on the North coast and practically on the beach.

I’m working with an after-school type program, which is fun but challenging. I’ve been trying to fill up 2 hours every day with educational activities, but usually we just end up playing Uno (I’m never ever playing Uno again when I get home). I’ve been having a lot of fun getting to know the kids and their families outside the school as well.

I’m also working on fundraising for the school (selling a floor cleaner with the kids), and I help a Peace Corps volunteer with a campaign to get birth certificates for those who don’t have them, and with a youth group in town.

In my spare time, I go on walks around the town with a stray dog that’s adopted me, and talk with my host parents, who are like my grandparents now. I’m having a really great time!

Life out here in the campo is pretty much a vacation. I pass my time planting trees, swimming in the river, and walking around the countryside and mountain. It is hot, but everyone here wants to help; whether it is delicious food or ice-cold, fresh chinola juice.

Everyone working with the foundation is great and a lot of fun. Being a part of their work is both fun and meaningful. There are a lot of laughs and plenty of singing. I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Postcard from Hannah

I am very busy being thoroughly humbled by the generosity and grace with which the Dominicans here share themselves. If I let them, everyone on my walk home would feed me un monton of rice, sate my thirst with fresh chinola juice, give me their chair.

Simple living is the way of life here. In the context of my current environment, I find myself fairly high maintenance – although, I must admit, I spend most of my time very very grubby (and revel in it). Fortunately, the river running through the villages here is cold and always accessible.

For the most part, I’m thriving on life here (and the mosquitoes are thriving on my life here), loving my mountain summer - gardening, hiking, eating, swimming, sitting. I’ve been inspired to adopt a few chickens and a goat when I return stateside – family and friends, you have been forewarned. Expect to see a tan, rustic woman with dirt under her fingernails and a rice belly upon my return.

Sending cool green love from the mountainside…

And, finally, greetings from David

Well, what is there to say about Loma Quita Espuela? On the days we aren’t taken on walks through the reserve our work in the nursery keeps us warm, walking, and ant-ridden. The feeding here is on a scale undreamed of. Our families persist in giving us multiple mountains of food, three times a day, and our rice bellies have begun their development.

Despite copious amounts of carbs and insects, we enjoy almost daily swims/baths in the river, visiting and avoiding food at each other’s houses (Hannah lives in a small village some 2 km from Brian and I), and a weekly trip to the city to participate in the Reunion Equipo Tecnico with the Loma Quita Espuela .

A couple nights, we’ve even been treated a couple times with fresh water eels and jaiba (freshwater crabs) that our dad caught from a nearby creek.

Today has been a crazy and unexpected day at the office.

While Tom and I were talking in the front office waiting to have a meeting with the director of MUDHA (A Human Rights Organization Started by Dominican and Haitian Women), Sonia Pierre, the MUDHA jeep was stolen. Needless to say, chaos has ensued in the office. Although this is an extreme case, in general, my time here has had its times of confusion and chaos as well.

My primary job here is designing a new website for MUDHA. The first couple weeks were difficult, largely because of language barriers and little communication between the staff and me about what they wanted on the website. (It can be difficult talking about web design in Spanish). About a week ago, however, I made a deal with another American intern in the office, who could speak better Spanish, that he would gather the information needed for the page and I would put it on the internet.

The other part of my job here is accompanying the legal team to Bateys that MUDHA works with. Bateys are communities of workers, originally brought to the DR to cut sugar-cane, who are left largely without jobs or support from the government most of the time. Many of these people have no citizenship in the DR or in Haiti since the government many times refuses to accept children of Haitians as citizens. The MUDHA legal team goes to the Bateys and speaks to the people about documenation and the importance of trying to get their official papers.

The pictures shown are of me with some of my co-workers and a trip to a Batey.

I have enjoyed living in San Pedro de Marcoris and getting to know my way around the city. This has given me a lot more confidence about my Spanish and sense of direction!

I enjoy walking to work and am working with Ashley at a program for "barrio" kids. I have enjoyed getting to know the kids and my co-workers. Our director even took us to her house.

They have a different way of teaching, so it has been interesting to see how it is done here.

Ashley and I have enjoyed our opportunities to walk by the ocean and around town. San Pedro is a big contributor to professional Dominican baseball players in the US. Even though it is off-season, there are always people of all ages playing!

My family is very busy, but I enjoy the time I spend with them. As I finish up these last two weeks, I am looking forward to learning more.

From Ashley

I am enjoying my time here in San Pedro de Marcoris. I am helping to tutor young children who are learning to read and write. I find the work challenging but also rewarding. The children are sweet and are excited about learning. Sometimes it is hard to find two hours worth of beneficial work for the children, but I do the best I can.

I have a very nice family here who is very busy. My mom runs a beauty salon from our house and she works most of the day. I keep busy playing Jenga and building blocks with my cousins who are here everyday. I also enjoy chatting with two sisters and brother. I like sitting on the balcony of my house with my grandfather in the evenings when it starts to get cool.

San Pedro de Marcoris is a nice town and I feel lucky to live within walking distance of the ocean here.

Tomorrow students will take their Spanish final exams in the morning. In the afternoon, they'll make their final project presentations at Casa Goshen. We are looking forward to hearing about their independent investigations.

One of the pictures here features poster children for 'SST service hair growth', most of it facial. Zach was a role-model for many of the assembled.

The Benevento Zahner family will move out of Casa Goshen early on Saturday morning so the house can be emptied and cleaned. We, Williams, Patti and Maura have all been working diligently on the preparations for the move from Casa Goshen. This has been a good home for SSTers and leaders for many years.

Adios Calle Plaza #8!

Some of the highlights included: an analysis of the social role and economic future of colmados, demonstrations of fiber art/papermaking; poetry and children's story book reading; comparisons and a demonstration of different water filtration systems; descriptions of latrine construction; a theological analysis of the role of rich Christians in a country with great poverty; presentations of web-pages made for NGO's and a rural community; a comparison of immigrant experiences in the DR and the USA and an analysis of Dominican author Julia Alvarez's work.

We also took the opportunity to share some service stories and celebrate Brian and Jodi's birthdays.

The students will spend the weekend with their host families. On Monday we'll gather again for our final retreat in Guayacanes.

At a hotel near the airport we enjoyed time together to share highlights of our service experiences; we processed some of the many new thoughts and feelings our semester sojourn has evoked; we committed to concrete ways of bringing our experience back home, and we all enjoyed playing on the beach and eating together.

We are appreciative to the faithful readers of this blog for your prayers and accompaniment this semester. We are grateful to our inquisitive and adventurous students who are now off to their homes around the country. We wish you well in your journeys and can’t wait to hear how your story unfolds.

The students' departure brought an end to GC's 23-year presence in the DR. We would like to again acknowledge our deep gratitude for Patti and Williams, our compassionate and capable in-country support team. It has been our pleasure to lead the final two DR SST units.

Benediciones y Paz

!E’ Pa’ ‘delante Siempre!