| DOMINICAN REPUBLIC JOURNAL
Dominican Republic Mission Trip Dorian McGlannan Jack Hibbard Background St. John’s has had a relationship with two medical missionaries, Michael and Anita Dohn and the people of San Esteban Church for 10 years. Every two years, we send a group to the DR to work with the church Vacation Bible School and usually do some sort of painting project. Interspersed are walks through the local barrio (a poor area), a trip to Santo Domingo, a tour of some fabulous local caves and, of course, a trip to the beach! For a variety of reasons, our group did not get to Santa Domingo. The small size of our group prohibited us from doing a work project. Saturday, June 25, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011 We arrived at the Kellogg Center at 2:00 AM! Nonetheless, Michael, Rosie the clinic office manager and Angela, a young woman who is doing an internship with the Dohns, are all there to meet us at the airport! What a greeting party! The heat hits us as we leave the airport. We are in the tropics! Even though it is dark, my eyes feast on everything as we drive from the airport to the Kellogg Center in San Pedro where we will stay. It all feels so familiar just because I have spent a fair amount of time in third world countries. The Kellogg Center is quite nice. I don’t know what I was expecting but I was not expecting a place that was immaculately clean and had a bathroom in each room. Somehow I missed that piece. The beds are very comfortable. Shirley and I room together as do the boys. The Kellogg is full with another large group from Delaware.
At the end of the service we are brought to the front to introduce ourselves. Candy, the Christian Formation Director for San Esteban reminds people of the VBS which will start the next day. Curiosity, anticipation and a bit of nervousness run through our small team. What will this look like? This time because of the very small team, we will be supporting the Dominicans who will lead the VBS. Our primary role is that of doing crafts. I think to myself: I don’t speak much Spanish and I will be doing a task that I have never been good at - crafts! I am truly out of my element but am as ready as I can be. Prayer has helped me to prepare. After lunch, Michael takes the boys and me on a tour of some of the poorer areas of San Pedro. The area around the church is quite nice. There are a number of comfortable and attractive homes, all individually gated which we soon discover is the norm for homes that are anything beyond a shack. In Michael’s ailing jeep, we venture out to the other side of life. Within minutes we are slowly driving over narrow dirt roads with deep potholes. The homes are made of tin or very worn wood. People are milling around in front of their houses looking at us with great curiosity. There is no electricity or running water in this area. Eventually we come behind a water truck driven by a mule. People arrive with buckets to get water for cleaning, perhaps for drinking although anyone who has any kind of income has a water cooler holding those large blue plastic containers of water such as we have in the States. Mack quickly tells us that he has never seen anything like this in his life. He is quiet and thoughtful for the rest of the trip. The face of poverty comes in many forms: little children wandering around without shoes, torn clothing, worn older faces, legs scared from multiple bug bites. This is a sobering time. I am reminded of my time in Guatemala and Nicaragua many years ago. My mind is flooded with memories of the raw poverty I encountered on those trips. After returning to the Kellogg, we feel as though we have been jettisoned back to the States. There is a very animated group of 16 teenagers from a church in Delaware. The noise level and energy are high. Our small group finds a space to pray and reflect following dinner. The sharing is heartfelt. The boys are wonderfully open with their feelings and observations. Mack asks why there is so much poverty. How do I answer a question like that? Monday, June 27, 2011
Our first day of VBS! Sweat pours over my entire body the whole time. Why on earth did I bother bringing foundation for my face? Within minutes it is all on the t-shirt I am wearing as that is all I have to wipe the sweat from my face. My simple stash of make-up gets thrown into the suitcase later in the day. The children are very sweet. The Dominican team of VBS volunteers is engaged with the children and curious about the plan for crafts for the day. We are, if nothing else, a great source of entertainment for the kids as well as the teenage and adult volunteers. There is so much that can be communicated through body
We return to the Kellogg Center for dinner after which the power in the whole neighborhood goes out. Michael explains the next day that the power in certain neighborhoods goes out on a regular basis when people don’t pay their electricity bills. Our little team decides to venture out for ice cream despite the power outage. We walk carefully on the sidewalks when they aren’t blocked by piles of dirt waiting to be used in some sort of work project and look closely to avoid stepping into some of the deep holes that we discover along the way. Going to the ice cream shop is a true adventure as the power there is out as well, at least the power in the store. They must have some sort of generator keeping the ice cream cold but otherwise the place is dark. We can’t see the flavors at all and can barely see the shadowy figures of the people who run the store. We manage to order and then sit in the darkness at a table listening to the crushing blast of music that has managed to escape the power outage. By the time we return to the Kellogg Center, the power is back on just in time to provide air-conditioning for the night of sleep that is on the horizon. We pray and reflect on the day and sleep in the cool air. Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Michael takes Shirley and me to a village where workers for a sugar plantation once worked. That plantation no longer
Though the number of kids for VBS has expanded, things are a lot better because the Middle School group gets to be in a conference room. The kind of space one has makes all the difference in the world. Wednesday, June 29, 2011 We spend the morning with several Dominican volunteers preparing the craft projects for VBS. Lots of hole punching and cutting. What might have seemed like a waste of time turned out to be a lot of fun simply because of having the Dominicans there.
Jack and Mack spend a great deal of time each day playing with Viviena the daughter of the cook who was so badly abused by her father that she has suffered severe brain damage. She is so sweet and helps her mother with chores around the Kellogg Center.
The last two days are greatly improved because of the number of additional Dominican volunteers who show up as well as having more translators. My group and I somehow figure out a rhythm and end on a very positive note. Saturday, July 2, 2011 Today we took the San Esteban VBS volunteers to a local beach. It was great fun to splash in the ocean with everyone with whom we had worked all week. Sunday, July 3, 2011 We attended another church in Santa Fe with the Dohns. The priest had recently lost his adult son in a river accident. What a tragedy! He worked at the clinic with the Dohns. At the end of the service the children line up and come forward for a blessing. I was so touched when the priest asked me to do this sacred act. It was beautiful. There are so many more stories to tell but the spiritual impact of these trips will only be truly revealed to those who come and walk into their own stories. When we allow the power of God to fold us into His community of hope and spirit, near and far, amazing things can happen. |
We are definitely an odd group - two older women with two teenage boys. How is this going to work? I wonder. But they seem excited about going and don’t seem to mind being with us. This is Jack’s second time in the Dominican Republic, Shirley’s sixth, Mack’s first to any kind of developing country and my first to the DR though I have been to several developing countries. We are laden with supplies for Vacation Bible School. Though I
Morning arrives all too soon after going to sleep at 2:00 AM but we were not about to miss church! We had a lovely breakfast and walked around the corner to church. Finally I get to see the walls that the 2009 
group painted as well as the window from which my son hung as he painted
some of the higher parts of the wall. San Esteban is a lovely church and the Dominicans are all dressed well though we will learn later that looking good does not necessarily mean they come from homes of any kind of means. The music group is lively and the parishioners are very warm and welcoming. 
We begin the day with a tour of the clinic. When the Dohns came here ten years ago, the clinic consisted of a simple rehab room. It has been greatly expanded owing to the significant amount of grant money they have been able to obtain. There are at least six examining rooms, a one room lab that has acquired increasingly sophisticated equipment over the years, as well as three different waiting areas in an attempt to provide more privacy and dignity for the patients. They also have units treating a couple of specialties such as HIV and cardiac.
VBS is wild! Too many kids and not enough volunteers. At times I felt as though I was participating in a drama that was a blend of Lord of the Flies and Pirates of the Caribbean! Actually it really was an okay day until we ran out of activities and projects for the Middle Schoolers. At the post VBS debrief the San 
