Drums in Platón

Rhythm and dance at twelve noon:

When the Dominico-Haitians gather in El Platón late Sunday morning, you might expect them to have no energy for lively music and dance. After all, most of the churchgoers have arrived on an empty stomach and will eat only one meal that day. On top of that, these are "oppressed" people who often suffer from policies dictated by both their own government back in Haiti and their newly adopted country. They ought to be sad and have long faces, right? Well if you could hear those men playing the drums...

A Eucharistic Celebration:

Catholics are accustomed to a strange use of words in a normal Sunday Liturgy. We refer to it as a "celebration" when nobody seems to be really celebrating; when people enter with long, sad faces and leave pretty much as they entered. Witness, by contrast, the enthusiasm with which these men play the "palos" or drums as we might call them. Even the most stolid, rigid person would have trouble not moving to the rhythm of those drum beats!

Life as celebration:

The psalms tell us that all of creation rejoices and praises God. We hear the psalmist asking the trees, mountains and water creatures to praise the Lord. The way these men play the drums when Manuel, the local catechist gives them the nod, comes as close as a people can get to finding the rhythm into praise. The beat conveys a liveliness and zest that other instruments and even whole choirs would find it hard to equal. Do we carry this sound deep in our genes? Why is it so appealing -- a global language of movement and praise!

Drums as a spirituality of resilience:

In the Mass, the priest invites the People of God to "lift up your hearts". He conveys this invitation by lifting up his hands. But when a Liturgy of Praise and Thanksgiving is enhanced by the "palos", that invitation to lift up hearts gets magnified and transformed into a rhythm. The music of these hand made, simple wooden instruments becomes sacred music. What a gift the Lord has given to people who do not have the luxury of attending Mass in impressive Cathedrals or master works of Church architecture! Others might conclude that when it comes to honoring God, the poor immigrants in El Platón have practically nothing to offer. But they know how to give the Lord lifted hearts that resound in music, rhythm and lively song. Is this a case of the "last" ending up being first?

Gathering rocks

What would you do?

...If you lived in Ojeda and had practically no income, since you don't own land and live too far away from the coffee plantations to make it worth your while to pick coffee, and even if you could get up there to pick the beans, the Haitian workers would out compete you! What would you do for income to put food on the table?

How about a rock party?

One day a home builder stops by your community and goes out to examine the rocks on the beach. He finds quite a few that are clean white; with relatively flat sides. Eduardo sees him examining the rocks and goes out to inquire. The man invites him to gather the clean white rocks into piles and then put them into bags. If Eduardo will do this, the man promises to pay fifteen pesos (fifty cents) per bag. They both agree to the measuring unit: empty five gallon paint buckets... and so a business got launched!

Teamwork:

Each afternoon, when the sun's rays don't blind people from distinguishing between really clean rocks and so-so rocks, Eduardo and his neighbors walk down from their homes to the beach, along with their grandchildren. Everyone joins in the task of gathering rocks; each according to his or her ability. As the darkness descends, the parents and grandparents begin to load the strong plastic bags and tie them off. Each bag weighs between forty to fifty pounds. They then carry the bags up to the side of the highway that runs along the coast, between Barahona and Pedernales.

Work is play/play is work:

Ordinarily, the adults would be ashamed to be seen doing this sort of lowest level menial labor. People have their dignity to uphold and when one stoops to picking up rocks, it is like broadcasting that the person is practically destitute. Who wants to reveal that kind of message to the community at large? How many people in the "developed" countries would rather jump out of a window than have their poverty known by their peers? But enter the children...and an embarrassing job becomes a fun exercise. Even teenagers are able to gather under the umbrella of fun making that the children deploy. Imagine how different this scene would be, without the laughing "little people"!

Who is really poor?

By choosing to work, rather than beg or sit around complaining, the adults in Ojeda who go down to the beach every afternoon have found a way to keep the worst of poverty at bay: poverty of spirit. When one observes the parents, grandparents and children all sharing in a common survival task, one senses a richness of spirit. These are not defeated people, even though life has not dealt them a royal flush or even two of a kind.

Coffee everywhere

Street coffee?

As the coffee harvest comes in, every available open space that has a solid floor is used to help dry the beans. This is the second step in the process that brings coffee to your local supermarket. The first step is to remove the pulp from each coffee fruit. Since Paraiso has cloudy, rainy weather in the month of October, it behoves the coffee owners to take advantage of even the few hours between light rains.

Big setback:

The worst economic setback that Paraiso ever suffered came in the breakup of the coffee co-operative. Huge equipment dried the beans in a modern process that left no room for this inefficient system of opening coffee sacks and spreading out the beans on the road, then coming along every few minutes to turn them over. The project went under due to corrupt management and funds that never were recovered. The large manufacturing plant sits down near the ocean, close to the high school. The frame gathers rust and the roof has giant gashes in it.

Association aversion:

When Father Antonio came along to Paraiso, he encountered the aftermath of the coffee debacle. Wherever he went, the small land owners refused to go back into forming associations. Most had lost considerable funds with the collapse of the large co-operative, and they saw no good reasons for coming together once again.

Prime motivation:

Regardless, Father Antonio kept visiting groups and calling the men back into associations. His motivation had little to do with increasing the purchasing power of the individual plantation owners. Rather, he experienced growing alarm over the ravaging of the River Nizao and other critical watersheds in the area. He knew that slash and burn techniques on these steep mountain sides would quickly lead to degradation of the soils and capacity for long term growth in the region.

Little victories:

Deforestation still remains the biggest threat to the long term economic well being of Paraiso and the surrounding towns. But the associations which Father Antonio re-activated had played a part in raising awareness of the dangers to the rivers. They banded together to stop a powerful family from exploiting a natural resource that would have contaminated the drinking water for Paraiso.

Dangerous dependency:

Outside experts who tour the area coincide with observing that Paraiso depends far too much on a good price for its coffee. They recommend that the region diversify into other products such as avocados and citrus fruit. But the coffee truly has an excellent taste and a fresh cup grown, toasted and brewed in the highlands would convert any Starbucks fanatic. Honest, it is amazing how there is no coffee tasting tourist industry coming here. If people will travel to New Hampshire to see the maple leaves, why not travel to Paraiso to taste the freshly picked and roasted coffee? The especially good coffee is called "La escoba". It is not a romantic name, since it means "the broom". This refers to the ungainly shape of the bush. But God blessed the fruit of this ugly bush with fantastic aroma and savory taste!

Father Doctor John

Unique journey:
Father Dr. John grew up on Long Island and after eighth grade joined the De Montford order. As a seminarian he had charge of the apothecary shop and gave medicines to students. After ordination as a priest he taught Biology, and Chemistry to seminarians. Then, in preparation for an assignment in Borneo Indonesia, he decided to study pharmacology at Fordham University. Within a short time he graduated as a pharmacologist and went on the missions with the ability to treat illnesses such as typhus and tuberculosis. In Borneo he ran into a patient who suffered from an abscessed tooth and in a short while began a side career as a dentist. (He's been doing dentistry for forty years.)
Years in Haiti:
After a long stay in Borneo, Father John was sent to Haiti. He operated a large, fifty bed hospital that specialized in care for tuberculosis patients. While there he made the mistake of being friends with personnel from the American Embassy. Since our Embassy was associated with "Baby Doc" and seen as against democratic change, Father John got branded as a CIA operative. The people who wanted vengeance against our American Embassy went after Father John and closed down his hospital.
What to do at fifty five?
At 55, Father John was out of a job. Since he loved medicine and care for the sick, he applied to study medicine at a university in San Pedro de Macoris. After three and a half years he graduated as an M.D. and began a new career. He heard about the PAP hospital here in Paraiso and came over to lend a hand. When he observed that the hospital had little impact upon the people in the mountains, he worked to set up a rural clinic in Leonardo, about an hour's drive from town.
What a way to retire!
Every day Father Dr. John gets up to receive patients in his clinic. They come from all of the mountains and even as far away as Barahona. People rave about his having blessed hands when he removes decayed teeth. They also can't forget how he charges only eighty pesos (less than three dollars) for each medical visit; and this includes all the medicine that the patient needs. The stories abound on how he saved folks over a hundred dollars in medications.
His spirit:
America is running out of priests like Father Dr. John. The seminaries are half empty, and the younger priests don't have the same drive to serve the poor as this remarkable man. However in groups like "Doctors without boarders", one can find laypeople who discover the same zest for service to the poor. In many ways, Father Dr. John is a happy, alive senior citizen. He could easily be resting in a priest's retirement home or doing part-time clergy work on the occasional weekend in the States. Instead, he lives right out in the middle of poor, rural people and provides excellent service day after day. In terms of humanitarian service, he is a marathon runner in the forward trenches.
Liturgy:
On Saturdays and Sunday mornings, you can find Fr. John celebrating Mass in our chapels. The Dominicans say he does not speak clear Spanish and that his sermons hammer at the cultural flaws in our area, such as the lack of marriages and children who grow up without a father in the home. But he has gained the deep respect which comes to a person whose deeds speak far more eloquently than his words.
His big cross:
Father Dr. John has painted the rims on the solar panels of his rural clinic, as well as his laptop, electronic keyboard and other household items a bright red and black in order to discourage the robbers. He contends with youthful robbers who have broken into the clinic four times. Besides painting the expensive items, he has an attitude: although the young person who is his next patient might be the one who robbed him last month or last night, he is a patient... and the doctor is in.

Coffee plantation owner

How to become a land owner:
Heriberto Cuevas came into this world as one of twelve children to his Dad who owned two hundred tareas of land. With so many possible inheritors, the Dad decided not to divide the land but waited for someone to come along and purchase it. Heriberto had no money but he did have a good mind and a sense for political connections. He joined the Partido Revolutionario and helped Joaquin Balaguer win an election. The President in turn gave him a new apartment in a building complex in Enriquillo. Heriberto then sold the apartment and gave the money to his Dad, thus becoming a land owner.
How to transform your land into a coffee plantation:
With the land came new choices. Either Heriberto would deforest it in order to plant beans, corn and peas; or else he would aim to condition it into being a productive coffee plantation. Because the land is near the Nizao river and because he learned about the dangers of deforestation, Heriberto decided to go for a coffee plantation. He went to a bank and obtained a significant loan to buy coffee plants and pay for workers to condition the land.
How to weather storms:
Because coffee comes into harvest precisely during the hurricane season, and because Paraiso is on the coast and easily subject to hurricane winds, coffee growers in the area develop their holdings at significant risk. Often Heriberto was short of cash and needed to sell his coffee at flowering time (when it is worth half the price as at harvest). He had to have cash in order to pay workers to clear vines and cut back the weeds so that the coffee bushes could develop their fruit. Besides hurricanes, he also confronted dry spells, when the coffee developed without much taste and could hardly be sold on the market.
Educating his children:
Unlike most of the other families in Villa Nizao, Heriberto managed to send four of his children to the national university in Santo Domingo. Along the way, he became the President of the local Association of farmers and learned how to develop petitions for different projects that would enhance the community.
An extraordinary leader:
Without Heriberto Cuevas, the playground and community center (in the background) would not be in existence. He has used his intelligence and leadership position to advocate for his community in countless ways. Among all the coffee plantation owners in the area, he is one of the very few who lives near his holdings and employs people from the surrounding homes. What a blessing, if his children follow in his footsteps!

Haitian health promoters

Philippe:
Just six years ago, the young man pictured above made a big decision that to this day has positive consequences. He left a teacher preparation program in Haiti and immigrated to El Maniel in the high country above Paraiso. He arrived knowing Creole much better than the majority of folks and soon became involved in community leadership positions. His ability to read quickly and his interest in the Church led him to become the local catechist.
Doctor Alfredo Nombela:
When Doctor Alfredo met Philippe, the young man knew next to nothing about medicine. That was soon to change. Alfredo decided to coach both Philippe and Yela (the young woman pictured above who lives on Chene mountain) towards becoming very competent health promoters. Every Saturday he would arrive on motorcycle and drive up to the communities where these young people live. He taught them how to take vital signs, how to give injections, how to detect infectious diseases and how to run many diagnostic field tests.
Sustained coaching:
Lots of people in the third world become public health promoters. Extremely few receive the kind of on-site education and consistent shepherding that Philippe and Yela received. They attended workshops and performed numerous patient interventions in the presence of Doctor Alfredo. They became like his children in the field.
Profound blessing:
Often enough, rural people who receive a special education take advantage of this input to move out of the mountains and down into cities or the capital. They remove vital expertize from the communities where they served. This represents a serious "brain drain" for the rural communities and often results in a setback to previous levels of infections and diseases. Both Philippe and Yela have nurtured the communities where they live, setting down roots which add stability to the services which Doctor Alfredo provided.
Crisis:
The program which allowed Doctor Alfredo to coach two rural Haitian health promoters has run out of funding. It will terminate at the end of this month. Among all the interventions which seek to be of concrete service to the "poorest of the poor" in our area, this project ranks among the most beneficial. It combines quality on-site education and follow-up of intelligent, capable young people. They speak and read the required languages; are motivated to serve others; and have a proven track record of responsible service. We hope to find ways to keep their program alive!

Flower challenge

A challenge to the reader:
The flowers to the left in this picture are extremely prolific at above 2,000 feet in our area. Can you identify them? And even better, can you find a good use for them, such as in soap or shampoo or any other product?
Use what you've got:
One theory of modern globalization affirms that each country and sub region needs to find out what it is good at; and then capitalize on that strength. The global market, we are told, requires this kind of specialization. Thus we hear that Paraiso needs to develop echo-tourism, since the ocean and verdant mountains offer breathtaking scenery, unequaled in many other parts of the Caribbean.
Flower wonders:
No one needs to plant this flower. It grows almost anywhere in the highlands and there are varieties of it that form thick clumps on the road to Cachote. How great it would be to find a good use for it. The same is true for the "campana" bush, pictured beside the flower:

Campana delights:

People say they plant it for shade, although they all know jokes about folks who ate the honey from bees that fed on the "campana". It's a psychedelic honey. But is there some kind of positive use that this flower can offer? With so many of them growing in the higher elevations, it is a shame that the local population has no way to develop a benefit from the bush. What about a mildly euphoric toothpaste?

Diethylene glyco or toothpaste:

Today the NYT ran an article on toothpaste, poisoned with diethylene glycol. Governments throughout the world have denounced the Chinese manufacturers for deliberately placing people at risk of poisoning. Tonight you can go to Chene and purchase all the tubes of this toothpaste that you want. They are on sale in the large grocery store at the top of the mountain road, within sight of "campana" bushes. One wonders if unscrupulous importers have taken advantage of the first world expulsion of this product and gathered up a stockpile... in order to sell it to poor Haitian immigrants or Dominican campesinos in the mountains. The packaging is in English and the second ingredient is precisely the one that has caused numerous deaths when it is included in children's cough syrup.

Devious assumptions:

The manufacturer probably thinks that as long as the ingredients and instructions are in English, people will presume that they are safe. Also, they think that the proclamation of "Diethylene Glycol" (as if it were a positive attribute worthy of advertising) right on the outside of the cardboard packaging, will fool everyone since the campesinos will believe that it is a powerful, "modern" ingredient meant to enhance the toothpaste. Now that we've found the contaminated product in one store, we will check the toothpaste on sale here in Paraiso.

Poison watch?

How weird: people are solemnly warned by public health officials and teachers concerning the dangers of drinking "campana" tea... even as a poisonous product is openly driven into the community and distributed under the charade of being "good for your health"!