ECW DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MISSION TRIP II

 

SEPTEMBER  2006

 

            On September 10, 2006 Cookie Davis and other members of the Diocese of Virginia Episcopal Church Women’s (ECW) Executive Board, flew to Santo Domingo. They were accompanied by Buck Blanchard, the new Missioner of the Diocese of Virginia. The Rev. Bob Snow and his wife Ellen, Episcopal missionaries who have lived and worked in the Dominion Republic (DR) for eleven years, met the group.  

            Since they first visited the DR in 2005 with Bishop Francis Gray and a five other women from the ECW, the ladies have been committed to helping the children of the DR.  The ECW/DR Partnership Committee has been formed and a school in the DR (Jesus Nazareno) has been selected for our focus in 2007. The current trip centered on visiting this school, meeting the teachers and students, taking pictures of those in need of scholarships, and getting to know the Priest in charge and his family (Father Hipolito, his wife Lilian and their three small children.)

            The ECW recognizes that education is an essential ingredient to improving the quality of life in a third world country.  In the DR education is compulsory through the 6th grade but only 59% of those finishing 8th grade continue their education.  The Dominican Episcopal Church has made the ministry of education a priority and in the last 10 years its programs have expanded to a total of 23 church schools.  These schools charge tuition but need financial assistance to continue providing education to all regardless of their ability to pay, and a scholarship program is in place to assist children without funds.

Last year our ECW in the Diocese of Virginia raised over $10,500 to help needy children in the DR.

            The first stop on our trip was a meeting with Bishop Holguin of the DR at the Diocesan Office where the Snows also have their office. Using Bob Snow as our interpreter, we presented the Bishop with a framed picture of himself and Bishop Gray taken on our earlier trip and explained our current mission.  Bishop Holguin was pleased to tell us much about Jesus Nazareno because he worked there earlier in his career.

            Ellen took us on a tour of the Colonial section of Santo Domingo that morning and we walked the streets to get the feel of the area.  We visited the lovely cathedral where Columbus was originally buried, and saw the new monument where his remains were later moved. We saw the city with all its traffic and we saw the serenity of the nearby blue sea. Then we went back to the Diocesan Office to meet the Bishop, Bob and all the priests of the DR as they concluded a morning meeting. Lunch was served and we were invited to stay and eat our first rice and chicken of the visit.  It was here that we met Father Hipolito and his father who was also a priest. Father Hipolito had come to town on the bus and was pleased to ride back to San Francisco that afternoon with us in the Jeep. It was a great time to get to know him as the three of us squashed into the back seat.

            Father Hipolito spoke English quite well.  He was young, well educated having been to the US several times in his youth.  He originally studied to be an architect and finished college and got a wonderful job.  He married and began his family but found he was not happy.  “There was no joy in the work,” he said.  It was then that he felt the call to go to seminary and become a priest.  

            Jesus Nazareno is located in San Francisco de Macoris more than two hours north west of Santo Domingo. Dominicans established the church in 1958. The Rev. Benjamin Issac Wilson was the priest who started the school in a nearby house.  He later became the first Episcopal bishop of the DR. In 1976 a UTO grant helped them build the first floor of the current school. Later the Diocese of New Jersey made a donation of $23,000 to add a second floor, and currently building is in process for a 3rd floor to be completed this year.  Construction is messy but classes continue in spite of the workmen. The church is close by and the priest lives upstairs in an apartment in the back.  Additional classes are housed downstairs and room in the back is made for a student missionary from South Carolina who is living there this year and helping in both the Children’s Shelter and the school. Everything is enclosed with gates and high fences.  Even the church and school are locked daily.  A gate keeper stands at the school and must approve all who enter.  Scooters driven by the teachers are locked within this same gate until dismissal time.  Older students sit on them and dream during their break.

            The second and third days of our trip were spent in San Francisco at Jesus Nazareno. Our first goal was to meet the children needing scholarships this year and to photograph each one.  These photos will be mailed to people supporting the scholarship program so that they can get to know the recipients. Thank you letters from the students are also encouraged. A flag with the school emblem on it was hung in the courtyard and children came in small groups to be photographed.  Cookie and Buck took the pictures while Bob and Constance talked to the children and kept records of their names, ages and grades as Constance updated their profile sheets.  These profile sheets are required of each student needing a scholarship. It was interesting to see how much they had grown and changed in the last year.

            At 12:30 we met with the teachers to learn how we could help them.  We asked them questions to get to know them better and then we asked them to share some of their frustrations as teachers.  The following comments were shared:

·        Many students have no parents living in the area.

·        They live with elderly relatives who are often uneducated and cannot help the children or provide discipline.

·        Teen pregnancy is often a problem.

·        Teachers lack equipment and materials to properly teach.

·        There is no musical group or band at the school.

·        Teachers often need to bring their own DVD or supplies to meet the needs.

·        The rooms are not with few working ceiling fans.

·        Some days there is no electricity.

·        The classrooms are crowded with student desks and no room in some for a teacher desk.

·        The chalkboards are old, dark and hard to see.

Afterwards we sponsored a teacher luncheon that Father Hipolito ordered from a nearby restaurant.  It consisted of beans & rice, potato salad, macaroni, barbecue, lozanna, Coke and a Dominican candy. We were able to chat informally with some teachers who spoke English.  Bob interpreted with others.  Maegan Mallon, a college student from the Diocese of South Carolina, joined Father Hipolito’s wife, Lilian, and helped serve.  She will work with them for 10 months teaching English in the school and helping care for the babies in the Children’s Shelter that Lilian coordinates. 

We spent time with Lilian and Maegan after lunch while Bob found a tire to replace the one on his Jeep that had gone flat upon our arrival at 9 am. (The roads are very rough with lots of potholes & debris.)  Things move slowly in the islands and we were lucky to have it repaired in time to return to our hotel to change clothes and get ready for the parent meeting at 6pm.  (The temperature had been in the 90s all day and there had been no air conditioning and few fans.)

It was quiet when we arrived at the church for the parent meeting.  The gates were unlocked and slowly parents and grandparents started to wander in.  We greeted them and took pictures of them with their children.  Later Constance spoke to the group telling them through Bob that we wanted to help but that nothing replaces parental support.  He further explained that this was a pilot partnership to see how two groups of people could work together to help with the education of children.  Father Hipolito led us all in prayer at the conclusion.  Hugs and much hand shaking and words of thanks as well as more picture taking followed this.

On Wednesday Cookie and Constance were dropped off at the school to continue their visit at Jesus Nazareno.  Cookie visited in classrooms and took more pictures of the children and teachers at work. Constance met with Father Hipolito and continued working on the profiles matching the requests with the names of students whose pictures we had already taken.  Cookie found the classrooms hot, crowded and lacking in teaching materials. There were indoor toilets but no sinks for washing up.  Even in the preschool and early elementary rooms there was only one pan of water and a towel to be seen. However, the children were friendly and eager to smile for a picture. All children had outdoor recreation time but there were no organized activities.  A shed at the far corner of the area sold cold cups of punch, fried cakes and school supplies.  Children were well behaved but just roamed around eating and talking.  When one age group went in another came out.  Three different buildings housed the children in the school and another building across town housed the Children’s Shelter. There was a small one room building on the edge of the recreation area that was designated as the library. It looked more like a storage shed/office with a table and a line of shelves.  There were very few books and a few old newspapers in a stack. A broken copier and some auxiliary batteries were stored there.  Windows on one side gave it only a breath of fresh air.  It was here that most of the work on the profiles was done on the second day. Before we left, the principal presented us with a wish list of needs that he had prepared at our request.  It included approximate cost in the DR:

·        School desks    

·        Teacher desks           

·        Chairs                            

·        Marker boards               

·        DVD                            

·        Ceiling fans        

·        Screens                         

·        Musical instruments    

·        Computers

·        Art supplies

·        Money to address building needs

When the morning session of school was over Father Hipolito called a taxi to take him, his three children, & Constance and Cookie to the Children’s Shelter for lunch with his wife.  Bob and Buck met us there and we enjoyed more rice, macaroni, and fried chicken prepared by Lilian and the cooks at the shelter.  We ate in the room that leaked a year ago when we visited and we were pleasantly surprised at the improvements to this building.  There were murals on the walls and everything was freshly painted.  The Diocese of Florida is helping this center now and they have been able to expand the building and learn new teaching techniques from the leaders who have come bringing many books and teaching materials.  There was even a computer on Lilian’s desk and it worked!  (We had not seen a working computer in the high school or elementary.)

After our tour of the Children’s Shelter, we were asked to stand in the courtyard as all the children in the shelter lined up to sing to us and present us with paint prints of their hands.  It was a very touching display of love.  We said out goodbyes sadly and began the long drive back to Santo Domingo and home.

It was a wonderfully successful trip.  All our prayers were answered.  We thank those of you, who gave us gifts so that we could take the 4 suitcases of school supplies, and pay for the film, taxis, etc. We thank those of you who have given us money for scholarships and we are proud that we have nearly 30 paid for already this year.  We hope more hearts will be touched and money will come in for the other 35 scholarships that are needed.  Perhaps you can contribute to the fund for other needs of the school.  Open your heart and share your love with others.

Elementary Scholarships     $250 for one year 

High School Scholarships    $300 for one year