The youth come out to work:
The parents and grandparents of the youth in Ojeda often worry about their sons who have no studies to pursue and no jobs to keep them occupied. They easily get into trouble with drugs and alcohol or ride a motorcycle into accidents. But today the youth will be important and a vital component to the family's ability to earn a living.
The "patana" rolls into Ojeda:
The rocks have all been loaded into strong plastic bags. When the long flat bed trailer arrives, the driver blows the horn a few times. People rouse the youths out of a siesta. They know what to do, as the drill has repeated itself more than a dozen times. First it was with the black stones, then with the stones that had a flat surface. Now the flat bed will take away the rounded stones.
Hard, punishing work:
No matter if it is Saturday afternoon and the sun still casts hot rays upon the beach, the youth move down to the bags and begin carrying them up to the flat bed "patana". Over and over they repeat the trip. Sometimes they dare to take two fifty pound bags on their shoulders. The children watch and cheer them on. Without the strong shoulders to transport the bags up to the truck, all the work of the children and mothers would be in vain.
Loading up an entire flat bed:
Slowly the back portion of the flat bed begins to settle under the weight of the stones. Then the group shifts to the front, in an effort to balance the load. It will take six hours before the last of the bags lands on the trailer deck and then finds its place on top of the last column. Almost all the tires at the back of the bed are bald and who knows how far the driver will get before he has to stop and deal with a blowout.
No time to celebrate:
As the driver pulls away on the long trip to Santo Domingo, the youth return home for a meal. Tonight they have little energy to party or hang out on the street. Nobody will give them thanks for a job well done, nor will the families chip in to give them a special treat. But you don't hear the youth complaining. A hidden communication in the eyes and in the way the youth walk back to their homes, comes down to a tired awareness that they have done their part to help the family.
Celebrations out of sync:
As a country seeks to create uniformity concerning days off and the why of celebrations, the little triumphs of communities such as Ojeda go unnoticed. It might not seem like a great achievement (loading a huge "patana" with heavy bags of rocks); yet few groups of youth have the chance to work together for the good of their families. Most of the time they only get acclaim for sports events or noteworthy achievements in school. The day that the adults in Ojeda discover the unique dynamic that links their strong sons to the good of their families; the day that they decide to celebrate that achievement... will be a new kind of "Day of the Lord" in Ojeda.
