Maména

And a woman shall lead them...

Without Maména, we would not be developing the earth sack project in La Vibora. It´s that simple. In fact, among all the Haitian Dominican women in the countryside, she stands out for her striking abilities as a leader.

A new image of women:

As the men lift the heavy sacks, Maména is right there, doing a job that women usually hide from. She has seven children and can lift a 100 pound sack of dirt. When her husband goes off to work on a small farm in Maniél, she and her boys go to work on her plot of land that she weeds, digs up and plants with yautía. Maména speaks the best Spanish on the mountain and effortlessly translates into Creole. During a Sunday homily she will quickly capture the main idea and present it in Creole.

Her biggest gift:

But Maména´s principal gift is spirit. She radiates with a bright, can-do attitude that encourages other members of her community. People naturally tend to follow her example... especially the Haitian men -- who treat her with hard won respect.

The year of Saint Paul:

Soon the Church will celebrate a year devoted to Saint Paul. We will remember his extraordinary contribution to Christianity and marvel at the stamina he showed in pursuing the goal of establishing Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean basin. When I contemplate Maména animating her community and throwing herself into the hard work... she reminds me of Saint Paul and the quality of leadership that he offered each town and city along his path. May the Lord of new beginnings continue to bless the world with people who inspire others to serve!

Wall building in La Vibora

Before the sacks:

The chapel-school walls consisted of empty space and a few pieces of zinc roofing. The wooden support beams formed a fragile system unable to withstand winds above 20 mph. So on the day we started to move the sacks, the men first removed the zinc siding and then began to place the sacks.

Planned messiness:

One of our fundamental goals is to introduce a practice that the people can repeat on their own. But since it is a new practice, there is bound to be messiness in the way the men lay the sacks. In order to offset this drawback we use large sacks of between 100 and 125 pounds. Do we increase the messy factor by using larger sacks? Perhaps. We need more knowledge in order to do the calculations. At any rate, in the above pictures you can see people moving 342 heavy sacks in just one day. The major incentive for the demanding work was payment of 20 pesos for each sack filled and tied off. That comes out to $.60 cents for each sack.

Ease of operation:

Because we will continue to use the zinc roof, the community of La Vibora had no trouble catching on to the art of sack placement. They seem confident enough to continue filling more sacks and moving the project foreword. Our major limitation is a lack of sensitivity and familiarity with the inner workings of the Haitian culture. Are the people really fascinated by this construction method? Do they really believe it has value for their life situation? To what degree is the reception of this technique dependent upon factors we are not aware of? These are but a few of the questions that lead us to walk softly into this project.

La Vibora

The problem:

As oil prices rise, the Dominican Republic will devote less resources to the peripheral communities. That means deteriorating roads and agricultural production in the mountains above Paraíso. The Haitian Dominican residents already live with few resources. The future will offer them even less.

A partial solution:

In the above pictures you can observe the results of hard work, incentive and determination. The people in La Vibora filled 342 100 pound sacks with dirt in one day. These bags will be closed with cord and then carried to the community chapel/school and placed around the structure in order to form walls. A little piece of land now belongs to the Church and if the process moves foreword, the families will have the option of building homes with earth sacks and barbed wire (stretched between rows of sacks).

Why is this a good path for the people?

By using earth sacks in place of cement blocks, the community learns how to build within their means and in response to their environment. The heavy sacks can withstand the pressure of high winds much better than previous locally made shelters that utilize termite prone wooden poles and thatch materials. If the process catches on, the intelligent workers will adapt and perfect the method. Where there's a will ... there's a way! And the earth sacks depend upon the will of the local leaders. No matter what alternatives we offer, the deciding factor will be people -- humble people who advocate for change in the mountain villages. At this point we have offered them an example or a tool ... and time will tell if they accept it as valid for their life setting. May the Lord of all life-enhancing innovation be the source of new paths.

Amapolas de sombra and Easter

When Easter arrives early:

In the higher elevations we have a special treat: the amapola de sombra trees are still blooming. There is something magical about this tree. During most of the year it is covered in green foliage without a hint of what it can bring forth at the start of spring. But after the coffee harvest the big trees start to let go of their leaves. Then the flowering begins...

The vastness of His Life beyond death:

The "god" of those who put Jesus to torture and death manifested himself as confined to narrow boundaries. This was no magnificent ruler of vast inter-galactic spaces. Small gods give birth to diminished people, with interests confined to strict rules of conduct that sanctioned prejudice in favor of one culture. The tomb with Jesus within it became a symbol (for a short while) of triumph for this fierce tribal god: "Beware all of you who cross my path. Look upon him who rejected me and see his fate: he is gone forever; wiped off the face of this Earth where I alone rule!" But then came the immensity of the Easter...

Easter immensity:

The apostles were unprepared for the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ to be real. It was too easy for them to unfavorably compare the solidity of the Temple to the fragility of one human life, handed over without a battle for self-preservation. But no matter, the super nova of Easter shattered their presumptions and opened up a new world where communion with the ever living One became their daily bread.

The amapola de sombra: sacramental of new life:

In the same week: a mighty US credit bank goes under while the light from a dying star half way across the Universe reaches our eyes after a journey of six billion years: a tiny "Temple" implodes, compared with the unfathomable vastness of Creation! How easy it was for us to be impressed by the work of our own hands: by yet another little temple dedicated to a lesser god... regardless of the messages of immensity which the Creator sends our way. Through it all, the amapola de sombra speaks of the Easter mystery: losing life (leaves) in order to flourish. Perhaps we are just slow learners, too entranced with what is close to hand... even as our spirit longs for the unfathomable breath of Easter joy.

Holy Week

Pascua Infantil:

On the first three mornings of Holy Week, the catechists in four communities celebrated "Pascua Infantil" ... remembering the major events in the final days of Our Lord Jesus Christ: his last supper, crucifixion and Resurrection. Pictured above are some of the children from Los Blancos, as they dramatized the memory of the torture inflicted upon Our Savior.

Slow agony:

With the breakdown of trade barriers and the swift movement of capital throughout the world, as with any economic or political system change, there are "winners" and "losers". It is next to impossible that the boys from Los Blancos will suffer the torture of being nailed to a cross. However they move towards adulthood in a blighted area, suffering from an increasing scarcity of adequate jobs.

The new nails:

The Dominican Republic abides people who nail their youth to the cross of unemployment. "Am I my brother´s keeper?" The crafty goats benefit from the corrupted system of justice and betray their own countrymen by weakening local agricultural production through excessive importations. How will these children deal with unemployment?

Thirty pieces of silver:

Dominican family members in New York send money back to the island and make decisions about how to spend some of that money: more often than not they chose the easy path... investment in a bar. Thus the young men grow up in an environment where the pain of unemployment is numbed by Presidente beer and Brugal rum. Others invest in lottery schemes to catch precious income from the low paying agricultural jobs.

Simon who helps to carry the cross:

Beside the chapel in Los Blancos there is a small industry: a furniture shop. The owner together with relatives in the states set up a business that makes beds, tables and chairs. Every week you can see a truck carrying the finished products towards the large market in Santo Domingo. Within the shop you can find young men learning a craft. Also you can observe Haitian women who instead of selling boot leg rum (cleren), prefer to bake home-made bread and sell it to the youth coming off the mountain farms.

It depends where you choose to look:

Just as that first Good Friday, it depends on where one looks... both those who nail and those who help carry the cross are present. May the children grow into people who know how to help others carry their crosses!

Catechist workshop

Aparecida:

Recently we celebrated the Eucharist on the beach in front of the chapel in Los Patos, with all the catechists of our parish. We met from 2 PM until 6 PM studying Aparecida, the document from the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean. We looked at how the bishops see the modern world and how they diagnose the problems confronting many cultures.

Andres:

The man in the background is Andres. He is the President of the Parish Council and a Confirmation catechist. Beside him is Carlos who is both a student for Confirmation and a teacher in one of our campos. Andres lives in Paraíso and is a public school teacher. His assignment requires him to travel back and forth across the River Riocito in order to reach the rural school. When the New Testament has Jesus speaking about Andrew as being a "true Israelite" and "not having any guile", the description aptly fits our "Andrew" (Andres).

Four teams of catechists:

In this group picture, the catechists from four communities come together. From South to North, the communities are: Los Blancos, Los Patos, Ojeda and Paraíso. Sister Yolanda has the gift of knowing how to share responsibility and challenge the catechist coordinator (one for each village) to animate and direct the members of her team. With people like this, the mission of caring for the parish moves along gracefully. How blessed is this environment, where the catechists encourage one another!

The outdoor Mass in Riocito

When the poor person believes in the poor person...

One of the songs we repeat in different liturgies has the theme of belief. But it centers upon the ability of poor people to believe in others who are also of modest means. This might seem to be unimportant, but for lack of this capacity, poor people too often throw their votes to the wind by trusting in wealthy candidates who have nothing in common with them. Local elections are only a few months away and people focus their attention on the presidential candidate, ignoring other levels of government such as the mayor and the deputy mayors in the countryside.

Riocito:

After months of living with a blocked road, the community of Riocito finally had the chance to ride into town. We came out to celebrate the newly opened road together with the dancing children of Ojeda. José is pictured speaking to the families. He commutes every day to the Riocito school, which is one of the rural Catholic schools. When he speaks the people tend to listen a little better than they do to one another. He made the effort to caution the parents to keep their children away from known centers of corruption.

The dance:

When the children from Ojeda danced in the outdoor Mass, they caught the attention of the local children, with the effect of planting new ideas and interest in participating in the liturgy. The moment they moved to the music, poor people believed in others who share the same limited resources. We all experienced the grace of that event, as the visitors together with the locals forgot for a moment the political propaganda and focused upon children who enjoy dancing for the Lord.

Los Toros School

Sister Beania´s choice:

The last time Sister Beania organized the building of a school, she worked with an engineer. He slowed the entire process by not purchasing materials, not supervising and taking money even when he did not work. That was the school in El Pley. Not this time around! Faced with the difficult goal of building a school in El Toro, sister Beania went with a master builder and his team from Ojeda. Since she is from Ojeda, and knew the family, this choice had strong elements to it. Now we see the results!

Speed:

As soon as the Spanish municipality handed over the initial funds for the school (8 thousand euros), Sister Beania went to work organizing the logistics of purchasing and then sending all of the materials up the mountains. It takes an hour and a half of careful, slow driving in a 4x4 to reach El Toro. When the materials for each phase were ready, the building team went up the mountain and stayed with the project overnight. They returned to town on the weekends. This way they advanced at a speed that is incredible for this area.

Crisis:

Every major intervention in a small community usually produces a crisis. This time the local farmers say the lack of support from the Haitian families in the school area has been the major setback. We have no one on hand who has interviewed the Haitian families to get their side of the story, so one can only guess as to what has happened: when the work dries up, the Haitian families have to move to another zone. They own no property and have no cash flow. They rarely own animals since that would require permission to grow them on someone else´s land. If the area around El Toro has little work for sustenance, then the Haitian families will be on the move. Another factor is the lack of birth certificates for higher education. The immigrant children can only attend a few grades without a birth certificate. But that document is very hard for them to obtain since proof of birth in the Dominican Republic and of legal residence continues to be a thorny problem.

School shelter:

This school will provide shelter in the face of strong storms and hurricanes. Other structures in the area offer little protection. The children in the pictures will learn to run for the school when a huge storm approaches. They will huddle inside its strong walls as the wind howls and the rains pound upon the cement roof. How beautiful is the gift of shelter.

Catechism in El Maniel

The mission:

As our youth prepare for confirmation, they are challenged to become members of the catechism team. They are then assigned to a specific community. For example, each Sunday we have four groups of catechists traveling out to different campos. Sister Yolanda stays with one group and the other group goes with the pickup truck driver (often the writer).

What´s beautiful about this mission:

Our catechists are mostly Dominican youth and the children receiving classes in the mountains are a majority of Haitian immigrants. Thus the children participate in a multi-cultural encounter where the center of interest is Jesus Christ.

The program coverage:

At present we can only visit a limited number of campos due to the lack of mature catechists who can coordinated the efforts of the younger people. Also we face logistical hurtles on Sunday afternoons, since we have different courses and meetings during that time frame. But the joy of witnessing young people extend their journey with the Church beyond the celebration of Confirmation gives us the energy to seek new ways of helping the program to grow. May the Lord of the harvest bless this work, begun in His name.

Youth retreat

They brought materials and people together.

They planned, organized and invited.

When everything was ready,

they prayed.

As they drove to Bahia de las Aguilas,

on another part of the island,

a man sat down to drink beer.

When they put up their tents on the beach,

the man got up from the bar

and mounted his motorcycle

in a drunken stupor.

One cell phone.

The retreat conference began beautifully.

The youths entered into the rhythm of the themes.

Between one event and another,

two girls go off alone

with the cell phone.

A frantic mother interrupts her daughter´s retreat:

your uncle has just died after being in an accident with a truck.

The girls return crying and shouting.

The retreat begins to spin off in an unanticipated direction.

That night Luis brings all of the youth together.

They pray for the family who has just lost the chief benefactor,

the one with the highest paying job.

The one who was to pay the girl´s university tuition.

Luis asks: Do we continue with the retreat, or do we end it now?

Why the question?

Why give the youth the power to cancel the mobilization of so many resources?

They vote to end the retreat.

The next morning they fold up the tents

and return to be with a family still in shock.

Lord, where do you live?

Where were you in the vote?

Did you give the apostles a vote when you went to Jerusalem?

Are the dead still required to bury the dead?

Medio Mundo and water

In the dry season, a different kind of work:

The well project in La Canoa needs to be revised because the land owners do not want a well on their property. The alternatives are: to dig above this property or below it and hope to find water; to improve Medio Mundo; and finally: to add rain catchment materials to the school. The first choice has a relatively high risk of failure because the water tends to sink between the rocks and go down to levels beyond the reach of ordinary hand dug wells. Medio Mundo lies about six kilometers from homes in La Canoa and is extremely isolated. Any improvements in Medio Mundo could easily be damaged or the pipes removed and no one would have a clue as to who did it. That leaves the school.

Rainwater from the school:

The big advantage of catching rainwater is the closeness to children who need the water. The chief drawback is the uncertainty of land ownership. Some of the Catholic schools have titles for the land while others have agreements that could be terminated at the owner´s whim. La Canoa appears to be in the latter category.

Why did they not buy the land?

When the Catholic schools started in the mountains, no one knew for sure how long the immigrant population would remain in the area. Father Antonio began during a severe drought and the immigrant population was in movement out of the area in search of agricultural work with more reliability. In addition, the community faced increasing hostility from the military. So the schools began as simple structures with land agreements that seemed to cover the needs at the time.

The children with blue shirts:

The boys in the above picture attend morning classes in La Canoa. Their parents will encourage them to keep going with school, requiring long trips down the mountain to Los Patos. We observe a pattern of Haitian families moving closer to the towns in order to better serve their children´s educational needs. Thus we encounter mobility in our student population... another reason to use materials that can be moved from one school to another. We will go ahead with the idea of fixing the roof for rain catchment and purchase a large polyvinyl holding tank to store the water. This option seems to meet the most needs. How blessed we are with the funds from Elko to be able to choose a response to the water needs, especially of the school children!

Miguel Angel

Miguel Angel on the DT:

Here is a "happy camper" with his main means of transportation. Miguel Angel worked for many years in the Education project, receiving a salary that is more a gratuity for volunteer work than a real salary. He earns R.D. $4,000.00 pesos per month, just like the other teachers in the rural Catholic schools. You can take that number and divide it by 33 to have an idea of the dollar amount.

All expenses paid by the teacher:

To get an idea of the demands that are placed upon the teacher who earns this small amount, one may consider the fact that the salary does not include health benefits or retirement nor transportation costs. For Miguel Angel that last item has more impact than for the other teachers, as the El Toro school requires more gasoline than any of the others.

Lack of jobs in the area:

If the Paraíso area had more sources of employment, then the Church could never find people willing to drive up difficult mountain roads and teach for the small benefit that the program offers. The Church does not deliberately have such low salaries. They are the result of a strategic decision some seven years ago when the schools began: to finance the schools by a godfather system where the godparent sponsors an individual child, rather than a school. As the sponsored children moved away from the school or the sponsors retired from the program, the schools were left with many more children without godparent "sponsors" in the USA than children with sponsors. Thus the salaries had to reflect that stark economic reality.

A blessing:

The DT and interest free loan that comes with it are a huge blessing for Miguel Angel. The used motorcycle cost 76,000 pesos... a sum that he could never repay under normal loan conditons. The campesinos, teachers and agriculture extention workers all prefer the Yamaha DT 125 to the Honda 125 because of the two stroke motor. They say it has more power than the Honda. The Elko fund enables the Church to respond to the needs of the teachers and offer alternative forms of compensation that were unavailable only a few months ago. Thank you to all who shared with this parish and brought forward this tremendous blessing.

Yesterday:

Miguel Angel brought a youngster down from the mountains yesterday. He had a fight with another student and was losing blood from a knife wound. So the motorcycle serves as ambulance as well as his home vehicle to carry his wife and children. Given the huge rise in the price of gasoline and diesel fuel (it now costs more to fill the tank than go to the mechanic and have serious work done on a vehicle!) the motorcycle will remain the prefered choice for transportation among the "middle class" in the Dominican Republic.

the night of the 20th

Going home:

There is this mother who has untold numbers of children. They go off to live in a strange land with much insecurity and doubt following them around. As the children struggle to make a living they never forget the mother. One day out of the year they come down from the mountains and pile onto big trucks to take them home to mother.

In mother´s house:

These children know that their mother welcomes them into her home no matter how they arrive. They want to be with her and she wants to be with them. So they say a few words to her and then they place mats or sheets on the floor of her home and stretch out for a sleep. They like to sleep in her home. It brings them a sense of security which is sorely lacking in their lives.

Lighting candles:

The children come home to mother with many worries and needs. They light candles because in a picture of her they see St. Joseph in the background holding a candle and protecting it from the wind. This picture gives them the idea that she likes candles. So they light them for her as they make their requests or give thanks for help that they received during the year.

Dancing for mother:

The children enjoy dancing and they figure their mother also loves to dance. So they give her a show of their dancing and drum playing. It is one more gift to her, as with the candles. In the end, the children leave a big mess in mother´s home... so many children who come from so far and so unexpectedly. But the friends of mother know how to clean up her home and put the furniture back into its places. The children go back to their fields and mountains with a sense of contentment. They have seen mother as well as introduced their children to her.

La fiesta de Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia

Preparations:

In the pictures you can note two very different ways that people prepared for the feast of Our Lady of Altagracia. The Haitian children come from a tradition that remembers the importance of special clothes for a special event. The garments are the result of a promise made to Our Lady in a time of crisis. i.e. "If you help me now with . . . I promise to take my daughters to ..." The children sense that the feast is unique and they enter into it with as much understanding as they can. They watch as their grandmother stands before the image of Our Lady and speaks out loud to her, as if the person of Our Lady were right in front of her. These children do not know how to pray like that, but they see the example.

Andreina´s dance group:

In the second picture, Brachi holds a banner and dances to a modern song from Oregon Catholic Press. The beat lends itself to movement and dance. Brachi´s older sister, Andraina, has coached the girls in her group to dance pretty much the way they dance to popular music. For some, this display of talent is questionable. The bishop of Barahona, when he contemplated the dance, praised the girls for the work of upholding a cultural value: dance.

Aparecida:

When the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean met in Aparecida Brazil last year, they thought through the faith of the Church in the context of present reality. As they developed their thinking as well as their awareness, they hit upon the following: when the "New World" first met the Europeans it was an unequal cultural encounter. The one culture had weapons and immunity to different illnesses, while the other culture had no way to compete with the European culture in terms of language and writing etc. Now, the bishops observe, there is another unequal encounter between cultures: the modern individualistic culture of materialism and secular life is impacting upon traditional agrarian and religious cultures.

Upholding the best values of a culture:

Aparecida calls the Church to uphold the cultural values which give life to the people. The Altagracia feast counts as a strong cultural value for many Dominicans as well as Haitians. In fact, this ability of the same image of Mary to gather these two peoples together is highly unusual. But the cultural value is under siege. A major drug dealer in the area paid for the costly entertainment during the nine days of Altagracia´s feast. Just down the street from the Church you could observe a totally different scene, where the prominence is given to Bohemia, Presidente, Brugal and other alcoholic products. The musicians who came to town sang nothing of meaning relating to the culture of Altagracia.

The abuela:

The elderly lady observes all of this and more. She gathers material together and prepares the unique dresses for her two grand daughters. As she works, she pours her spirit into the garments. May they protect her children from the ravages of a sacred-less secularism. As she dresses them for the holy day, she prays for their holiness: "My dear ones, may your spirit be surrounded by the mystery of the Lady of Heaven."

The main Altagracia feast

Higuey on January 21:

The Altagracia feast began in Higuey, a sugar cane city to the east of Santo Domingo. Every year the country celebrates Altagracia as if she were the patron of the country. In Paraíso, the celebrations start nine days before the actual feast. In te above picture, different bands and dancing teams march down the main street of Paraíso as the local mayor ushers in the annual event.

March for life:

The Dominican Republic has laws which prohibit Abortion. However these laws are usually under threat by powerful interest groups which seek to expand the business of medical interventions during pregnancy. Recently the country almost saw the abortion laws overturned by a majority in the Senate. Virtudes holds the sign expressing the intention of our little group that marched for life before the Mass which started the Altagracia novena. Brachi is the little girl to the left of Virtudes.

Participation:

As with many causes and movements, the march for life attracted few youth or adults. Back in the 1980´s the Dominican Republic had many protest marches for all kinds of issues. That was the time when students readily took to the streets to demand changes. Will such a spirit return to the youth of another time? The present wave of young people have yet to show signs that they believe in something worth marching for. Self-sacrifice does not earn the respect that it had in other times in the country´s history.

The banners in the wind:

As Brachi and her friends moved down the street, they sang: "Que viva la Virgen de la Altagracia" (long live the Lady of Altagracia). For a moment the town stopped to contemplate the novelty of children marching for a cause. But then the observations of Jesus himself came back into focus... "We sang you a tune but you would not dance; we played you a sad song, but you would not cry." How beautiful to watch the children dancing for life!

Palo de Viento

Here is the wind tree:

This tree might not look like very much from the pictures. But then again, a fabulous diamond pictured from an unflattering angle would look pretty dull too. The wind tree grows at altitudes above 1500 feet and is a close cousin to the "burning bush" that Moses saw. (At least in my book.)

Enchantment:

Imagine yourself walking down a path in a forest and hearing the wind rustling in the trees. You look up and notice the deep blue sky and the leaves tossing and dancing with each other. But then you observe that only the wind tree is moving with the breeze: how mysterious for God to make a tree that responds to the slightest breeze, while the others remain unresponsive.

Palo de Viento:

In the mountains above Sabaneta there lies an entire paraje or section of land with the name "Palo de viento"... but only the name remains from a past when the mountainsides were covered with a thick stand of wind trees. When you discover how precious the tree is; how it attracts honey bees and other insects, then you begin to appreciate the loss that engulfs the land that once belonged to the "Palo de viento".

Gadgets:

Yesterday a grandmother complained about her grandson and how he devotes hours to Nintendo, Power Rangers, and other video games. She laments his fall into the world of "gadgets" or digital pleasures. Like a seesaw... as the attraction for artificial enhancements grows, the ability to perceive wonder in the natural world diminishes. Will future human beings be so removed from the simple pleasures of forest and wind that they could walk through a majestic stand of unique tree species, and be aware only of the latest song on their ipod or suffering through the break from the "new" XBox entertainment?

God in the mystery of life:

As our future generations gain perspective of the whole Earth and study it from the cold blackness of space, as they compare Mars, Venus and the moons of Saturn to their home planet, I believe they will become sentinels of the miraculous life emerging forth from mother Earth. God will open our eyes once again to rediscover how precious are the living beings on our planet. For the time being, the wind tree calls us into a world of mystery far more luminous than the most profound digital mix of sound and light. The wind tree stands to be admired as it points to a Creator far beyond the bounds of our preconceptions and time worn religious concepts.

El Toro school on the finca Torral

The most difficult school:

Since our teachers agree that the Catholic School in El Torro is the hardest one to reach, and since the teachers depend upon motorcycles for transportation, part of the Elko fund will go to purchasing a motorcycle which Miguel Angel, the El Torro teacher, will use as he works to repay the loan for the vehicle. He and his family live in his parents´home, so he also needs to work towards buying a piece of land on which to build a home. For that reason, the sisters in our parish (who administer the godparents fund for some of the school children) will charge him one thousand pesos a month as a way to pay for the motorcycle loan. This amounts to one fifth of his monthly salary (which used to be four thousand pesos - and with Elko´s help for the salaries of the 10 teachers - and now will be five thousand pesos).

La finca Torral:

The Torral family has extensive holdings in the Paraíso area. They provide work for over thirty Haitian families. The school on their property lies about two thousand feet above the valley floor; above the orange tree plantation and in the middle of the coffee trees. The lower picture was taken from the school evelation. Because they live so far away from town, the children have very little chance of going beyond the level of education that the school can offer. None of their parents can afford a motorcycle.

Another motorcycle:

With the Elko fund we also purchased a used motorcycle for Manuel Feliz, the Haitian catechist. He lives in El Platón and has a proven record of free service to four communities in the area: El Torro, Lanza Arriba, Lanza Abajo and his home community of El Platón. He leads the Celebrations of the Word and the catechetical program as if he were a Deacon, but his level of education is way below the requierments for a Deacon even in the Diocese of Barahona.

Manuel´s Suzuki:

For the longest time, Manuel has had his heart set on obtaining a motorcycle. When he first asked me about it, there were no funds. He and Marino (a Haitian health promotor and adult education teacher in Platón) found one that only costs 16,500 pesos. Since we changed dolars into pesos at 33.1 the last time around, this motorcycle is around 500 dolars. It is a Suzuki A100 and went into service in 2003. This transportation will allow Manuel to attend meetings and give more attention to the surrounding communities. He teaches beautiful Haitian hymns.

The Torrales again:

With the tropical storm Noel, the Torral family lost buildings, infrastructure and a good portion of the orange tree harvest. The roads needed major improvements. The family has big political connections and is able to keep making a profit from their other investments. The finca provides work for lots of immigrant families because of its size. Each Haitian worker has his family on the plantation, and has access to a piece of land where he can grow his own subsistence crops. The arrangement holds steady for the time being.

Who is to judge?

Some people would look at this business and quickly judge that the Torrales are exploiting the haitian families... but the reality is more complex than a simple black and white assessment. By owning a major piece of property with over 65 thousand orange trees, the Torrales can weather bad years better than a small land owner. Their other businesses keep them going when the agriculture investment is in the red. All of this adds up to stability for the Haitian immigrants and their families. Perhaps it comes close to being capitalism with a strong dose of common sense and a touch of humanity. Also, large land owners understand better than most people the importance of protecting their investment from erosion. Thus they contribute to future generations by conserving what they can pass on.

Cachote retreat

Teacher confirmation:

There are many things lacking in our Catholic church here in Paraíso, but one of them that is not on the list is student catechists. We are blessed with the approach that Sister Yolanda has taken in the start-up of this ministry. Whereas in El Factor de Nagua we had no young catechists, here in the different communities of the parish (Ojeda, Los Patos, Los Blancos) we find that all the catechists are young people. This experience of teaching children gives the students a different outlook on the Church and the sacrament of Confirmation. They approach it with a deeper appreciation for the mystery and hidden presence of the Lord.

The retreat center:

Going to the Cachote echo-tourism center requires some rough driving. After Noel, the main road no longer works, since it is very difficult to cross the river. One has to drive on the north side of the river, passing through Villa Nizao and on to Platón. There you bare left and head up to El Toro. Beyond this little community you eventually run into the road to Cachote coming from La Cienega. The center is located in a high semi tropical forest, with many unusual trees and plants growing around the property and on the dirt road. One of the most remarkable trees is the "Palo Viento" or the wind tree. Its leaves rustle with the slightest breeze and can give one the effect of mysterious presence... as the other trees are silent and the wind only seems to catch this tree. Is this not a simbol for a retreat? To be still in order to catch the slightest inspiration that comes from the Spirit of God...

Cold:

People from Elko and the northern parts of the USA would find the climate to be delightful, with cool evenings and mornings. Our catechist confirmandi rarely encounter temperatures down into the low 60´s and high 50´s, so they were shocked by the change. They also had a taste of Sister Yolanda´s strong words when the youth lapsed into a stream of endless chatter, instead of keeping silence during the times outside of the conferences.

Bishop Raphael Felipe,

The local bishop does not enjoy good health. Last year he spent months in the hospital and then in a slow process of recovery. But he radiates serenity and joy. He celebrated confirmation with the students pictured above on January 20th, the day before the major feast of Altagracia.

Daughters of the Sacred Hearts

The cost of being a missionary:

The sister to the far left in this picture, with the white religious habit, has weathered many tears in the past few days. Her family phoned to say that her beloved nephew, Nelson, had been in a motorcycle accident and was in a coma. Later they phoned to report that he died. All this time, Sister Carmen Rosa continued giving classes in Santo Domingo, unable to fly off to be close to her family. She called her best friend, Sister Yolanda (to the right) and could not stop crying. These sisters come from Colombian families that are very devoted to one another.

Disparity in religious life:

If you assume that the rules and privileges between one religious order of consecrated people and the next are pretty much the same, you would be wrong. The Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary who work in the Dominican Republic have the chance to go home only once every three years. This is the biggest hardship that they face. It far outweighs the lack of items such as air conditioning, cable television and high speed Internet. Meanwhile other congregations such as our Redemptorist group have the privilege of going home every year. The main reason for the different levels of access to family is economic. The order that the sisters belong to started in Colombia among the children of lepers. They do not enjoy the economic strength of congregations that grew up in the States.

Endangered species:

Even in Colombia, which has a vibrant, solid tradition of Catholic life, the numbers of people consecrated to religious life are in a steep decline. This loss of membership can effect the younger sisters, leading them to suspect that they might be the last ones to embrace the particular charism that brought their order to life in the first place.

A little balance:

Thanks to the people of Elko, soon Sister Yolanda will have the best laptop in the parish. She will use it in catechist training, in our rural schools and in the big primary grade school where she teaches religious education for free. (The Dominican Government has employed her for over two years without giving her one check, due to fowl-ups in the department of immigration). This little resource will enhance her ministry and allow her to develop the skills to use it wisely. Her birthday is February 3rd and that is when our Redemptorist community will entrust her with this resource. Perhaps it will be the first time that a sister has a more modern piece of equipment than the priests and seminarians. May God be praised!

Anna of Ojeda

Welcome to Anna's world:

In her world, people do not focus upon their limitations. They live each day with a smile that rarely leaves their spirit. No matter how long and hard your struggle to learn how to walk, no matter how many people tried to take pity on you, the real joy is now... so why complain?

Being born into now:

Anna's Dad comes from Greece. Her Mom is Dominican. For a while Anna lived in Greece, but when the doctors said there was a low probability that she would ever learn to walk, her Mom decided that the best place for her to live was back in Ojeda, the tiny village just down the coast from Paraiso. Some babies emerge from the womb with a natural gift for walking and dancing, while others are blessed with an even more amazing gift: a healthy spirit that knows how to enjoy life. Anna received that blessing.

Liturgical dance:

Andreina started a liturgical dance group with a little help from the local priest. When Anna heard about it, she wanted to join. The other girls in the Ojeda group made their first Holy Communion with Anna and enjoy her company. As they dance before the Eucharistic Prayer, Anna is usually out of step and barely able to keep upright. She moves awkwardly around the Church or, in the above picture, around the courtyard of the Church in Pedernales.

Beauty:

Turn on the television and you can observe only a narrow view of "perfection". The dancers or performers will be uniform in their abilities. But if you are privileged enough to follow the liturgical dancers of Ojeda, you will encounter a far more beautiful pattern which manifests the communion of different talents. For example, Brachi dances superbly. Her coordination is astounding for someone so small. But if she were dancing alone, the blessing diminishes. When her talent is meshed with Anna's smile and different pace, the wonder of communion becomes visible.

Engineering life?

Those who would cull out all of the "defective" genes that travel with humanity from one generation to another, and offer a future where the powerful and wealthy can design a child's characteristics... they need to visit with Anna and follow her around the streets of Ojeda. Some talents are impossible to engineer. They come forth from the deepest mystery of human existence. Behind Anna's ready smile with her "I can do anything you can do" attitude... there lies an unfathomable depth of spirit: the life of the One who makes us in His Image.

Marciel DeOliz in 2008

A new year for Marciel:

Some of you might remember the story of the man who fell off a truck in Haiti and continues to have an arm that was wrongly set. I got his name wrong the first time, but not now. He is Marciel and as this note goes out to the Internet, he rests on a hospital bed in Darío Contreras hospital in Santo Domingo. His corrective surgery seems like an "impossible dream" about to come true.

Anita and the people of Elko:

Marciel made it to the hospital thanks to the collaboration between the parishioners of St. Joseph´s Church in Elko and a Haitian woman named Anita Felix Urbaez, who lives in Lanza Arriba. Even before the Elko fund gets to us here in Paraíso, we are spending part of it to help Marciel. But Anita plays a key part in the aid: she is the one who sacrificed being with her family even during New Years so that she could take Marciel to Santo Domingo and bring him to the major hospital.

Anita the hidden angel:

Sometimes one hears that the Haitians only think of themselves and that they have no social conscience. This does not hold true for Anita. When she guided Marciel from Paraíso to Santo Domingo she did not count on his not having any money whatsoever to help pay his way. But such was the case. Anita used the funds that come from Elko to pay all the hospital bills for tests and laboratory work. She ended up going hungry and spending days barely eating a meal here or there.

The contrast to other experiences:

Without someone like Anita, the path to dealing with Marciel´s wounds would take much longer and involve lots of "top down" aid. We hear stories of priests or sisters leaving parishes unattended because they felt conscience bound to respond to a patient like Marciel. It is rare that a parish has somebody like Anita who is willing and able to leave all behind and travel every step of the way with a person who has nothing to do with her immediate family.

Animadores de la Palabra:

Anita is a real "Animador of the Word of God" she animates from the Word and gives the Word to others ... not only by leading the liturgical celebrations every Saturday afternoon in Lanza Arriba, but also by the willing spirit to respond to people in desperate need. The Church will grow because people like her are living signs of God´s power: alive in the liturgy.

Taking time to see her family:

Anita stopped by this afternoon and will spend tomorrow and Sunday with her family. On Monday she returns to Santo Domingo and the pursuit of corrective surgery for Marciel. We pray that these efforts will bless him into a time in 2008 when his arm becomes much stronger.