March Update .... Pictures!

It's April already... wow time flies!  This post will be less writing and more pictures. Here goes, March in review. Lots of love to you all!

Two teachers from school who went with us. Adrys and Monica

The beginning of March our foundation was invited to be on a local News Program.... Lo Buena is Noticia. The Good is News. Basically the host was sick of hearing so much bad news and started a news program to share the good things that are being done in the city. Awesome idea, huh.

Shhh... don't tell. While we were waiting I decided to practice for my future cooking show!

Take #777, I gave up on trying to get a good group shot.

 Our kids enjoyed 2 field trips this month... one to the Monument. Well, ok the official name is the The Monumento a los Héroes a la Restauración, but that is way too long so folks just call it The Monument. There is actually a lot of neat history about the Monument as it was originally built in 1944 by the dictator Trujillo. After his death rather than tear down the monument, as he really was a dictator whose rule is still felt in certain aspects of Dominican culture (read more here), the decision was made to rename the monument. 








Inside is a history museum that provided a good lesson for our little ones.  You will also note the Carnaval costumes in the background as our visit was right after Carnaval ended.  While there we also took advantage of kite flying season y subimos chichewas aka cometas aka kites!

Now, here are pictures of our other field trip... a walking trip to the local fire station and the water plant.   Francisco tried on the fireman's gear .... maybe it's a tad too big! The fireman did a little demo with the pole that the kids really enjoyed!

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Pre-Primario (kindergarten) lining up for the walk to the fire station and water plant. They were so eager to go that they made a straight line in no time at all. Major accomplishment for us!  This picture is minus 3-4 who missed out on the fun :(.  It's hard but they have to learn consequences right??. I still remember the first day when I thought I would never learn all 20 names. Wow, now I can tell who is still talking even with my eyes closed, I can tell you who is crying when I'm a couple of classrooms away and most times I can tell when they are being truthful and when they are not.  Don't let their cuteness fool you....  but I heart these little ones!




We take for granted clean drinking water. Drinking water comes in the large blue bottles for about 35 pesos each. This place, Proyecto Bernabe, was started by a mission group from Indiana. They provide clean, filtered water for 15 pesos each! We are glad to support their work to provide clean water to the Cienfuegos community. (read more here)






I really like doing this overview. It's amazing all the things that happen in a month that you forget about. I was scrolling through and ran across this picture of me and the pregnancy class. Unfortunately do to a schedule conflict I missed most of their classes... BUT I did make it to the last one and we played Newborn Jeopardy (thank you J. Oh and the Centering curriculum at LCHC). The ladies had a good time and I did too! Maternal child health has always been a love of mine.... I think I forgot how much!

There were lots of joyful fun in March, but there were some hard times too. Our community, Villa Rosa II, suffered a large house fire. The kids ran to greet us that morning, out of breath they began to tell the story. Fire.... big fire... bomberos came (firemen).... died.... hospital....crying.... sad.... The words tumbled out of their mouths.

After hearing the version from several little ones it began to make sense. An infant died in the fire and another child was in critical condition. The funeral was to be held the next day and of course the family was devastated. In a community like Villa Rosa most of the kids gathered with their families outside the house as it smoldered. You see, folks, don't have much to give, but what they do have is time. So, they gather and spend time with the family, lingering around, talking, sharing, reminiscing, crying. In some societies we try and shelter kids from this hurt, but I've learned over the last months that pain is a sad reality of their lives. They often will tell me of someone being shot, or 'tigeres' (gangsters/bad guys/i don't know the translation) who beat someone up, shot or cut someone, motorcycle accidents, death, sadness and pain is something they accept as normal. So, I try to let them process it, talk about it, hear them out as they try to make sense of life. And I pray for them, that God would heal their community, their land, their hearts. That God would shine his light over their lives and protect them from the dangers that are so prevalent and surround them with loving arms to embrace and reassure them along their journey.

Lastly, I will wrap up with a few pictures from Holy Week aka Semana Santa. I enjoyed a sunrise service outside the city with a lovely group of folks from Santiago. We sang hymns and shared in communion to celebrate that Christ has risen! Cristo ha resucitado!  Amen!

Gazing at the beautiful sunrise!