Mission to Haitians in the Dominican Republic
Annual Report 2009
Five adults and two teenagers traveled to the Dominican Republic to meet with our Haitian brothers and sisters in San Pedro de Macoris.
Food and clothing distribution at the Bateys (the “villages” at the sugar cane plantations)
We distributed 4,250 pounds of rice; 809 pounds of beans; 1,280 pounds of corn meal; 1,040 1-pint bottles of cooking oil; 100’s of pieces of candy; about 1,000 peanut butter sandwiches and cups of cool-aid to children; about 200 or 300 articles of clothing, and about 150 pairs of sandals. This is about a 50% increase over last year. The rice, beans, corn meal, and oil went to about 1,180 different families – almost twice as many as last year. Last year we were not able to distribute all of the food that we had brought to some of the Bateys because the crowd got out of control. This year (thanks to your prayers and God’s intervention) that did not happen. In most cases we were able to leave about 30 extra sacks of food with the local church leaders for people who were unable to come.
In most of the Bateys, the pastor of the church in San Pedro de Macoris asked who were Christians and who were not. In every case people seemed pretty clear on which camp they were in. In two Bateys we were able to pray with children who expressed an interest in becoming Christians. All received food regardless of their faith.
Relationships with our brothers and sisters in San Pedro de Macoris
Our relationships with Pastor Berlus Sainril and his family and with those who worked along side of us (about 15 or 20 people, young and old) continue to develop. There were tears on both sides as we departed. Yolanda, the pastor’s wife, sent us an email after a few days, telling us how much she missed us already. We spent a lot of time with people there, working, playing and worshipping together. This year it seems to be especially important to them to know that we cared about them enough to come and help them even though we live so far away. Knowing that so many people from so far away were contributing and praying for them was very special to them.
We were able to make visits to three different church families in their homes. One was a young family with 5 children that is hoping to some day get a house of their own. They currently live in a rented home that barely would qualify as a shack to most of us. The father works as a security guard and makes a few dollars a day. We also visited an elderly couple who have no income and were suffering from malnutrition. We were able to fill some prescriptions for the wife and to give them extra food and a small amount of cash. Our third visit was with a woman and her children who were better off, and clearly able at least to feed themselves. The woman was very fervent and spoke with us about the spiritual battles that she faces daily. Our visits help us to connect with them in a more personal way and to pray with them. We hope to continue to visit new people each year.
There is a two-hour worship service almost every evening at the church, and we were blessed to participate most of the evenings that we were there. Their worship is inspiring, moving, and joyful, even though we understood very little. Near the end of our visit one of the young people noticed that we didn’t usually sing while we worked and asked why we didn’t sing more and if we ever danced in church. They seemed sad for us that we did not. On the last evening of our visit they started a “conga line” and got us to join them. We were also able to distribute food to the members of the San Pedro de Macoris church. Even though most are not as destitute as the people in the Bateys, many of them often go hungry. We also had a suitcase full of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and deodorant that we gave away to some very happy people.
Business opportunities in San Pedro de Macoris
Last year we purchased sewing machines and loaned start-up money to three women who now do business with a clothing manufacturer to sew t-shirts. They sub-contract the silk-screening and embroidering. They have been repaying the loans, and with the additional money we were able to loan, there is now enough money to loan to two or three more women to start their own businesses. These women will take the bus in to Santo Domingo, buy miscellaneous articles, and bring them back home to sell in their neighborhoods. Since people have no transportation, this is a valuable service to the neighborhood as well as a source of income for the women.
Last year we provided power tools to a carpenter who had been renting tools. Because of lack of capital and lack of a place to work he remains unable to do much work. He has now found someone who has a shop but needed tools, so he is sharing his tools with his friend. We loaned him some start-up money to buy wood and materials to get his business going.
In the future we will be looking for more different kinds of business opportunities for more people, including the possibility of establishing a small water purification plant. The government has recently enacted new, stricter regulations about water quality and within the next six months many of the current water purification units will have to go out of business. This will create a greater need for clean water as well as a tremendous opportunity for the church to build a small purification plant and provide clean water for many people. As water is purified, people will be able to transport tanks of clean water to their own neighborhoods and distribute it there for a small profit. The pastor has been in contact with an engineer. The estimated cost is about $18,000. We would like to see if we can start raising money for this purpose.
Education in San Pedro de Macoris
We delivered about 300 notebooks and seemingly countless numbers of pencils and other school supplies for the school. Notebooks especially are very expensive there. We also helped provide materials, small prizes, peanut butter sandwiches, and ice cream for a children’s program in the school (complete with clowns). The young people on our trip were able to participate in this program.
We met briefly with the principal of the school. She was exited to receive the materials we had brought. When we asked how else we could help, she explained that they have two major needs. One is for subsidies for textbooks. They use government mandated textbooks (really more like workbooks), that the children have to purchase. Since only a few are able to purchase their textbooks, teachers have to try to manage a class in which only a few of the students can actually follow along and do the assigned work. She asked us to consider providing subsidies to reduce the cost of the text books (average about $15). She also explained that the school is in need of computers. The government forced them to stop offering eighth grade because they lack a computer lab. In order to starting teaching 8th grade again, they need to have 20 computers. We were able to donate one laptop computer, which they can make good use of, but they need more. We are currently trying to obtain good quality, used computers that we can ship to them. Anyone who has a used computer in good, working order (80 gig hard drive and 1 gig memory minimum) or a new computer can contribute it by speaking with one of the team members listed below.
One opportunity we were not able to do anything about was scholarships for university education. Several of the high school graduates want to go on to the local university, but they cannot afford the tuition of about $500 per semester. Some day we would like to establish a scholarship program for these young people. The church in San Pedro de Macoris has already helped out a few of their students. So far all of the students that have graduated from college have remained in the community to serve. For example, the current principal of the school is the first from the church to have graduated from college.
Thanks again for all your prayers, support, and donations. All of your efforts were appreciated in ways you may not be able to imagine. For pictures of the trip, click on
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=nwk6qow.5xkb6mro&x=1&y=-sljtk8&localeid=en_US
We would like to start networking with others in the Boston area who are already involved in ministries to Haitians in the Dominican Republic. If anyone is interested in being involved in any aspect of this ministry, please talk with any member of the team.
Annual Report 2009
Five adults and two teenagers traveled to the Dominican Republic to meet with our Haitian brothers and sisters in San Pedro de Macoris.
Food and clothing distribution at the Bateys (the “villages” at the sugar cane plantations)
We distributed 4,250 pounds of rice; 809 pounds of beans; 1,280 pounds of corn meal; 1,040 1-pint bottles of cooking oil; 100’s of pieces of candy; about 1,000 peanut butter sandwiches and cups of cool-aid to children; about 200 or 300 articles of clothing, and about 150 pairs of sandals. This is about a 50% increase over last year. The rice, beans, corn meal, and oil went to about 1,180 different families – almost twice as many as last year. Last year we were not able to distribute all of the food that we had brought to some of the Bateys because the crowd got out of control. This year (thanks to your prayers and God’s intervention) that did not happen. In most cases we were able to leave about 30 extra sacks of food with the local church leaders for people who were unable to come.
In most of the Bateys, the pastor of the church in San Pedro de Macoris asked who were Christians and who were not. In every case people seemed pretty clear on which camp they were in. In two Bateys we were able to pray with children who expressed an interest in becoming Christians. All received food regardless of their faith.
Relationships with our brothers and sisters in San Pedro de Macoris
Our relationships with Pastor Berlus Sainril and his family and with those who worked along side of us (about 15 or 20 people, young and old) continue to develop. There were tears on both sides as we departed. Yolanda, the pastor’s wife, sent us an email after a few days, telling us how much she missed us already. We spent a lot of time with people there, working, playing and worshipping together. This year it seems to be especially important to them to know that we cared about them enough to come and help them even though we live so far away. Knowing that so many people from so far away were contributing and praying for them was very special to them.
We were able to make visits to three different church families in their homes. One was a young family with 5 children that is hoping to some day get a house of their own. They currently live in a rented home that barely would qualify as a shack to most of us. The father works as a security guard and makes a few dollars a day. We also visited an elderly couple who have no income and were suffering from malnutrition. We were able to fill some prescriptions for the wife and to give them extra food and a small amount of cash. Our third visit was with a woman and her children who were better off, and clearly able at least to feed themselves. The woman was very fervent and spoke with us about the spiritual battles that she faces daily. Our visits help us to connect with them in a more personal way and to pray with them. We hope to continue to visit new people each year.
There is a two-hour worship service almost every evening at the church, and we were blessed to participate most of the evenings that we were there. Their worship is inspiring, moving, and joyful, even though we understood very little. Near the end of our visit one of the young people noticed that we didn’t usually sing while we worked and asked why we didn’t sing more and if we ever danced in church. They seemed sad for us that we did not. On the last evening of our visit they started a “conga line” and got us to join them. We were also able to distribute food to the members of the San Pedro de Macoris church. Even though most are not as destitute as the people in the Bateys, many of them often go hungry. We also had a suitcase full of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and deodorant that we gave away to some very happy people.
Business opportunities in San Pedro de Macoris
Last year we purchased sewing machines and loaned start-up money to three women who now do business with a clothing manufacturer to sew t-shirts. They sub-contract the silk-screening and embroidering. They have been repaying the loans, and with the additional money we were able to loan, there is now enough money to loan to two or three more women to start their own businesses. These women will take the bus in to Santo Domingo, buy miscellaneous articles, and bring them back home to sell in their neighborhoods. Since people have no transportation, this is a valuable service to the neighborhood as well as a source of income for the women.
Last year we provided power tools to a carpenter who had been renting tools. Because of lack of capital and lack of a place to work he remains unable to do much work. He has now found someone who has a shop but needed tools, so he is sharing his tools with his friend. We loaned him some start-up money to buy wood and materials to get his business going.
In the future we will be looking for more different kinds of business opportunities for more people, including the possibility of establishing a small water purification plant. The government has recently enacted new, stricter regulations about water quality and within the next six months many of the current water purification units will have to go out of business. This will create a greater need for clean water as well as a tremendous opportunity for the church to build a small purification plant and provide clean water for many people. As water is purified, people will be able to transport tanks of clean water to their own neighborhoods and distribute it there for a small profit. The pastor has been in contact with an engineer. The estimated cost is about $18,000. We would like to see if we can start raising money for this purpose.
Education in San Pedro de Macoris
We delivered about 300 notebooks and seemingly countless numbers of pencils and other school supplies for the school. Notebooks especially are very expensive there. We also helped provide materials, small prizes, peanut butter sandwiches, and ice cream for a children’s program in the school (complete with clowns). The young people on our trip were able to participate in this program.
We met briefly with the principal of the school. She was exited to receive the materials we had brought. When we asked how else we could help, she explained that they have two major needs. One is for subsidies for textbooks. They use government mandated textbooks (really more like workbooks), that the children have to purchase. Since only a few are able to purchase their textbooks, teachers have to try to manage a class in which only a few of the students can actually follow along and do the assigned work. She asked us to consider providing subsidies to reduce the cost of the text books (average about $15). She also explained that the school is in need of computers. The government forced them to stop offering eighth grade because they lack a computer lab. In order to starting teaching 8th grade again, they need to have 20 computers. We were able to donate one laptop computer, which they can make good use of, but they need more. We are currently trying to obtain good quality, used computers that we can ship to them. Anyone who has a used computer in good, working order (80 gig hard drive and 1 gig memory minimum) or a new computer can contribute it by speaking with one of the team members listed below.
One opportunity we were not able to do anything about was scholarships for university education. Several of the high school graduates want to go on to the local university, but they cannot afford the tuition of about $500 per semester. Some day we would like to establish a scholarship program for these young people. The church in San Pedro de Macoris has already helped out a few of their students. So far all of the students that have graduated from college have remained in the community to serve. For example, the current principal of the school is the first from the church to have graduated from college.
Thanks again for all your prayers, support, and donations. All of your efforts were appreciated in ways you may not be able to imagine. For pictures of the trip, click on
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=nwk6qow.5xkb6mro&x=1&y=-sljtk8&localeid=en_US
We would like to start networking with others in the Boston area who are already involved in ministries to Haitians in the Dominican Republic. If anyone is interested in being involved in any aspect of this ministry, please talk with any member of the team.
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