We continue to make great progress at the El Hato School. On another sunny, warm day, we got off to an earlier start and arrived at the village home of Anna Maria, the community parent leader. We dropped off several bags of donated clothing and dental supplies, knowing that she will carefully distribute these to needy families. We then walked to the school, a 15-minute journey taking us past pastures with "living fences" of carefully cropped trees strung with barbed wire. We arrived at school to a slightly different atmosphere. It was a regional teacher workshop day, and not an official school day. Children had been encouraged to come, and many of them showed up wearing "regular" clothing and not their blue uniforms. Several older children were also there, curious to see what our visit was all about.
Several of us got to work on the next step in the library/learning center. Peter and Caroline carefully stenciled flowers and dragonflies on one of the newly-painted walls, and Molly painted a wonderful rainbow. Your scribe gingerly peeled away all of the making tape from the edges of the newly-pained areas, scoring the edges first with his trusty Swiss Army knife. In the meantime, Tracey Smith began a new project in an adjoining room, helping the children bind miniature books. The children were told that their own stories were just as important as the ones in the new library books, and that they could be authors. Back in the library, Mary Miner was carefully completing a catalogue of every book that we had covered the previous day.
Outside, another detachment of Hanover students broke out the bubble wands and bubble solution, and the playground was filled with bubbles of all shapes and sizes. Continuing the slightly carnival atmosphere, Marion, Mia and Andrea began a face painting station. Harris carried a large selection of coloring books into a classroom, and soon a group of children was eagerly coloring. Harris assured them that it was ok to go outside the lines, just the way he used to on occasion. Sam Strohbehn had brought a miniature soccer ball, and the conversion of this corner of the DR from baseball to soccer continued on the hot, dusty playground. One of the parents groups a treat for us: sugercane! The raw cane was delicious,and a nice mid-morning pickup.
Wilhelmina, Beth and Ruth led a group completing the beautiful wreath composed of dozens and dozens of colorful felt hands, arranged in a large circle. The wreath, celebrating our join efforts in this community, will be hung on the wall of the learning center tomorrow. Before we left for the day, all of the children and volunteers gathered together and the children, led by some of the older girls, sang several songs for us. Pleased with our full morning of work, we hopped onto the bus and headed back to Cotui.
After lunch, we took a short bus ride to the Colonia district, and stopped at the community center, home of a womans' collective that for the past decade, supported by the local Lions Club as well as Rita and the Norwich Church, has created steady income for a number of local families by fabricating sturdy, attractive shopping bags made out of recycled plastic bags. This description does not do them justice. The finished products are amazingly well-designed and well made. Your don't have to take our word for it. Many of you may be seeing these as gifts, or for sale in your local church.
From there it was a short walk to the local high school, complete with an outdoor basketball court. Naturally, Caroline Rodi is well suited to describe what happened:
"Since about half the crew plays basketball we were lucky enough to be
able to throw together a pickup game in the courtyard of the high
school. As expected though, it didn't go as originally planned, and actually almost
didn't happen. It started by running through town looking for the keys to the school. That was followed by the needs for us to hop the fence into the court. No injuries, though!
And then Sam Ives' favorite thing; waiting. Once in we realized we had no
idea how to get a ball. Local kids and the rest of our crew began to
gather for the game, hopping the fence one at a time, so we definitely
had a fan base, but all we needed was a ball. Sam Strohbehn led a dunk contest
with sneakers to pass the time. Eventually we found a ball, and the game
began. A local boy took it upon himself to set up even teams, equal
dominicanos y americanos, 6 v 6, on a 9 foot rim. Everyone had fun, and there were stars on both teams!"
Next, it's Marion Miller's turn to describe what followed:
"After
a great game of basketball the group was sweating and ready to cool
down. Rita gave us a surprise ice cream trip into town led by the best
guide, Luis. We walked for ten minutes until we reached the center of
Cotui where the ice cream shop was located. Looking around the town
square there were people sitting on all around. Outside of one shop
there were hundreds of girls in line giggling. We looked to Luis for
direction to the ice cream place and followed his eyes and grin to the
mob of girls outside the shop and that's when we knew that the shop they
were standing in front of was the ice cream shop. But not to worry, our guide then took the lead saying 'I will fix this' and walked right
through the girls to the guard in front of the door.' When he came back
we learned that a famous boy band was having a signing at the moment in
the shop. We walked around looking for another ice cream place but at
the end of the day we ended up eating ice cream in the parlor with the
boy band, and getting a picture with them. Rob even bought their
calendar as a trophy. What an exciting end to a great day. "
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
We Have a Long Successful Day of Work at School
Tuesday was the day we dove into our work at the Escuela Basico El Hato. We left the hotel in Cotui on time, and then spent quite a while in town completing two necessary shopping trips. First we stopped at a hardware store for painting supplies, and then we went to a school supply store to fulfill the wish list completed by the teachers at the school at our request, buying globes, meter sticks, compasses, posters, and other important classroom materials. While the leaders did the shopping, several of us took a stroll around the block, marveling at the variety. We passed and an amazing mansion with pristine gardens and a tiled sidewalk in front, and right next door, a garbage-strewn vacant lot. We passed an urban elementary school and heard familiar classroom noise coming out of the louvered windows. We passed a few eating spots with cooking occurring on the sidewalk, a clothing store with NBA uniforms on mannequins out front, another school, a motorcycle repair shop, and the headquarters for the opposition party in the upcoming presidential election. Traffic, mostly the ubiquitous motorbikes, zoomed past constantly. It was an amazing contrast to the spot we were headed.
Shopping done, we followed the now-familiar route to Hernando Alonso, and pulled up to the school at 11:00. We quickly piled out of the bus and went right to the library room. We were delighted to see that the hundreds of donated library books had been delivered, which meant we could go to work in three groups. The first crew, led by Wilhelmina Miller, started immediately sanding and scraping one of the walls to prepare it for a new paint job. The second group, led by Beth Ryan, began sorting the books and preparing to cover them with sticky, clear shelf paper. A third detachment went next door led by Tracy Smith, ready to finish yesterday's art project and start a new one. She showed a group of students how to trace their hands on pieces of colored felt, and then cut them out. She'll use these, a pair from everyone in the school community, including us, to construct a giant colored wreath on a banner-sized piece of felt, making a wall hanging that will be a wonderful memento of our visit.
Back in the library, the book covering was well underway, and already a small group of curious students had edged into the room, eagerly looking at the books and showing them to each other. Their excitement at seeing so many new books to read was contagious. Meanwhile, the sanding and scraping soon gave way to priming the wall with a coat of white. We quickly went past the noon hour, and although the entire group was scheduled to return to the hotel for lunch, six volunteers elected to stay at the school and keep working. Wilhelmina was joined by her daughter Molly, Eliza and Caroline Rodi and Peter Huizenga on the painting project, and Beth, now joined by several volunteer mothers and older students, kept up with the book covering enterprise.
Our trip to and from the hotel for lunch, of course bringing food for the dedicated crew at El Hato, was quick by our standards, but we were delighted to see that the painting crew had completed the final coat, a nice lime green, and the book covering work was more than three quarters completed.
The rest of us dove in in all three work areas,and shortly afterwards, as the school day ended, Sam Ives and Sam Strohbehn were given the job of taking a group of students outside to the playground to keep them busy while their classmates finished their art works. Only a day after their arrival, Sam and Sam confidently took control of a large, boisterous group of kids and played the dodge ball game they had learned yesterday. Peter Huizenga joined the group, and the game inevitably turned to a form of soccer "keepy-up" and then a full-out futbol game.
Back inside, it was amazing to watch how the process of covering all of the books had turned into a true community effort. Parents and older children worked diligently to get the job done while Wilhelmina and Mary Miner took turns holding an infant, freeing up her mother to work. Slowly, the children left school, some pulled away despite their objections. The Americanos are quite a draw.
As we prepared to leave at 5:00, the hardest separation occurred as we attempted to halt the comprehensive hair-braiding party on the front walkway, where Isabelle Hall, Andrew and Mia Gilardi were all having their hair braided by a large, admiring number of girls.
Our bus finally filled and left, and we headed further down the road away from Cotui, and through a neighboring village, where tomorrow we'll visit the local middle school to drop off some donated books and clothing. We wound up and down the beautiful green hills, passed an after-school baseball game on a local diamond, and at the bottom of a long downhill slope saw that the road disappeared into the reservoir which we had seen several days earlier, at the other end. It was a reminder that several villages had been sacrificed to build the dam and the reservoir. Progress is painful sometimes. Walking back up the hill, we stopped at a small resort which had actually provided housing to a Norwich Church group on a previous visit. The popular music was blasting in the main dining area, which also contained a pool table. We sipped soft drinks and watched several of our group challenge some of the locals in eight ball. Others walked the grounds, which provided a beautiful view of the reservoir and the surrounding mountains. The breeze was warm, the grass was green, the flowers were beautiful, and the members of our traveling group enjoyed a chance to visit with some of their friends at the resort.
We aiming for an early start tomorrow, and are hoping to see the library cabinets installed. While that happens we will sort and catalogue the books, and continue our art projects. We have a few surprises for the students, too. It seems that some of us packed bubble wands and bubble solution! See you tomorrow!
Shopping done, we followed the now-familiar route to Hernando Alonso, and pulled up to the school at 11:00. We quickly piled out of the bus and went right to the library room. We were delighted to see that the hundreds of donated library books had been delivered, which meant we could go to work in three groups. The first crew, led by Wilhelmina Miller, started immediately sanding and scraping one of the walls to prepare it for a new paint job. The second group, led by Beth Ryan, began sorting the books and preparing to cover them with sticky, clear shelf paper. A third detachment went next door led by Tracy Smith, ready to finish yesterday's art project and start a new one. She showed a group of students how to trace their hands on pieces of colored felt, and then cut them out. She'll use these, a pair from everyone in the school community, including us, to construct a giant colored wreath on a banner-sized piece of felt, making a wall hanging that will be a wonderful memento of our visit.
Back in the library, the book covering was well underway, and already a small group of curious students had edged into the room, eagerly looking at the books and showing them to each other. Their excitement at seeing so many new books to read was contagious. Meanwhile, the sanding and scraping soon gave way to priming the wall with a coat of white. We quickly went past the noon hour, and although the entire group was scheduled to return to the hotel for lunch, six volunteers elected to stay at the school and keep working. Wilhelmina was joined by her daughter Molly, Eliza and Caroline Rodi and Peter Huizenga on the painting project, and Beth, now joined by several volunteer mothers and older students, kept up with the book covering enterprise.
Our trip to and from the hotel for lunch, of course bringing food for the dedicated crew at El Hato, was quick by our standards, but we were delighted to see that the painting crew had completed the final coat, a nice lime green, and the book covering work was more than three quarters completed.
The rest of us dove in in all three work areas,and shortly afterwards, as the school day ended, Sam Ives and Sam Strohbehn were given the job of taking a group of students outside to the playground to keep them busy while their classmates finished their art works. Only a day after their arrival, Sam and Sam confidently took control of a large, boisterous group of kids and played the dodge ball game they had learned yesterday. Peter Huizenga joined the group, and the game inevitably turned to a form of soccer "keepy-up" and then a full-out futbol game.
Back inside, it was amazing to watch how the process of covering all of the books had turned into a true community effort. Parents and older children worked diligently to get the job done while Wilhelmina and Mary Miner took turns holding an infant, freeing up her mother to work. Slowly, the children left school, some pulled away despite their objections. The Americanos are quite a draw.
As we prepared to leave at 5:00, the hardest separation occurred as we attempted to halt the comprehensive hair-braiding party on the front walkway, where Isabelle Hall, Andrew and Mia Gilardi were all having their hair braided by a large, admiring number of girls.
Our bus finally filled and left, and we headed further down the road away from Cotui, and through a neighboring village, where tomorrow we'll visit the local middle school to drop off some donated books and clothing. We wound up and down the beautiful green hills, passed an after-school baseball game on a local diamond, and at the bottom of a long downhill slope saw that the road disappeared into the reservoir which we had seen several days earlier, at the other end. It was a reminder that several villages had been sacrificed to build the dam and the reservoir. Progress is painful sometimes. Walking back up the hill, we stopped at a small resort which had actually provided housing to a Norwich Church group on a previous visit. The popular music was blasting in the main dining area, which also contained a pool table. We sipped soft drinks and watched several of our group challenge some of the locals in eight ball. Others walked the grounds, which provided a beautiful view of the reservoir and the surrounding mountains. The breeze was warm, the grass was green, the flowers were beautiful, and the members of our traveling group enjoyed a chance to visit with some of their friends at the resort.
We aiming for an early start tomorrow, and are hoping to see the library cabinets installed. While that happens we will sort and catalogue the books, and continue our art projects. We have a few surprises for the students, too. It seems that some of us packed bubble wands and bubble solution! See you tomorrow!
Monday, April 11, 2016
Our First Day at School is a Success
Our long-awaited visit to the Escuela El Hato was a big success. All the months of planning came to fruition on another warm, sunny morning, with no sign of the rain that the long-range forecasts had been predicting. We made one or two stops in Cotui to arrange for the installation of the storage cabinet for the library books, and the drove out of town and through the rice fields to the little village of Hernando Alanso. The final few kilometers took us through hilly pasture land, and we pulled into the village at about 10:00 a.m. We could hear the children through the open windows as we got off the bus, no doubt as excited as were we. We gathered on the rough dirt playground and had a formal welcome from the school's Vice Principal, Maria Luisa, and several community members. Several of them made their way around our circle, greeting us warmly. We then broke into tour groups, each with a translator, and stopped into all of the classrooms to greet the children and see the room set aside for the library corner.
From here, fellow blogger Caroline Rodi takes over:
Now it's Rob back reporting, with one or two more observations. For me, a highlight of the day was recess. We watched a number of the older children (grades 4-6) playing a version of dodgeball. Soon, you guessed it, several of our students were playing. Andrew and Mia Gilardi were joined by Harris LaRock, Sam Strohbehn, Sam Ives, Peter Huizenga and Eliza Rodi in dodging the semi-inflated playground ball on the hot, dusty playground. There were smiles all around. Andrea Gilardi and Isabelle Hall joined a group of children inside one of the classrooms, and learned one of the favorite El Hato card games.
Caroline's comments about the unity of the two groups as they completed the art project together was spot on, but it doesn't not give enough credit to the students in our group. Thrown into a challenging situation, the Hanover High crew did superbly as teachers, patiently helping each child complete the task, with language, culture, race and nationality no barrier. Their maturity, patience and ability to take risks was inspiring. We're eager to head back and see our new friends tomorrow!
From here, fellow blogger Caroline Rodi takes over:
"Today was our first full day working at the school. After about an hour of stops along the way, we arrived. And the welcome was worth the hour. Little heads poked out of the doors, and we could hear giggles as we walked up to be received. We spent the rest of the morning touring the school, meeting the kids, trying fresh cacao right from the tree, and practicing our Spanish. We introduced ourselves and learned the names of all 55 kids in the school. We'll be lucky if we remember more than five of their names by tomorrow. By the time the kids are older they will have enough people to staff a hospital, school, and police station, along with great baseball games for entertainment.
We went back to the hotel for a quick lunch, and a tutorial on the craft we would teach the kids.
When we got back to the school around 3:00, we brought the kids into their future library, and taught them how to make star books. The two hours went by quickly, and there wasn't a minute of rest until all the books were finished. The language barrier was there, for some more than others, but we all still connected like we would if we had grown up in the same country together. It was not a group of Americans and Dominicans, it was a group of friends. We then walked on a path some kids take to school, and visited with the family whose house a ground built a few years ago. They opened their home to us, offered us delicious fresh fruit, taught us about fruits growing on their property, and live music. In the evening we shared a good dinner, reflections back on the day, and a scavenger hunt."
Now it's Rob back reporting, with one or two more observations. For me, a highlight of the day was recess. We watched a number of the older children (grades 4-6) playing a version of dodgeball. Soon, you guessed it, several of our students were playing. Andrew and Mia Gilardi were joined by Harris LaRock, Sam Strohbehn, Sam Ives, Peter Huizenga and Eliza Rodi in dodging the semi-inflated playground ball on the hot, dusty playground. There were smiles all around. Andrea Gilardi and Isabelle Hall joined a group of children inside one of the classrooms, and learned one of the favorite El Hato card games.
Caroline's comments about the unity of the two groups as they completed the art project together was spot on, but it doesn't not give enough credit to the students in our group. Thrown into a challenging situation, the Hanover High crew did superbly as teachers, patiently helping each child complete the task, with language, culture, race and nationality no barrier. Their maturity, patience and ability to take risks was inspiring. We're eager to head back and see our new friends tomorrow!
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Sunday: Church and Then Beach
This will be a shorter post, because it was a log, positive day, and we start work at the village school tomorrow. Since it was Sunday, we (of course) went to church. We attended the 7:00 mass at the local Catholic church. They knew we were coming, and had roped off the first three pews for us. Good thing, because the service was crowded! It was a dynamic service that clearly resonated with the congregation. The music was energetic and had everyone standing and clapping. At the end, the priest invited me to the pulpit to say a few words, with Penelope Prendegast translating. No pressure, though. When in doubt, remind everyone that it's Eastertide: "He is risen! Allelujah!"
We made the short trip back to the hotel to change into casual clothing and had breakfast, then filled our water bottles, lathered on sunscreen, and began our trip to the beach. It took nearly two hours heading north to the Atlantic coast, but the journey was worth it. We arrived at Playa Grande, a large public beach. I'm glad I'll be attaching photos, because the beauty of this place is beyond my words.
The ocean was 12 different shades of blue, with large rolling waves crashing onto a pristine sand beach under a cloudless (blue shade #13) sky. Rita and her helper had arranged for a long table in the shade overlooking the beach, with chairs for everyone. Many of us immediately changed and headed to the surf. The water was warm but not summer warm, and it felt wonderful. Soon all of the students and a few others were wading and swimming out to meet the waves and try bodysurfing.
After an exhilarating first session, we all gather back in the shade and were served an amazing meal of fish, rice, yams, vegetables and fruit. There two types of fish. One variety stared back at us, a delicious grilled local fish that was best eaten with fingers. The second was a different variety, poached in a sauce flavored with coconut. We all ate well, and many of us rested in the shade, while the more adventurous headed back for another swim. Eventually, almost everyone enjoyed with swimming or wading, and the afternoon quickly sped by. We enjoyed a final snack of pineapple and melon, and headed back to the bus.
Before he returned to Cotui, we went to the town nearest the beach and were introduce to the amazing GriGri Lagoon. It's an amazing body of water in the center of town, fed by a crystal-clear spring gushing into one end of the lagoon with considerable force. It's a very popular town swimming hole, and most of the students (and Rita) took advantage of the opportunity to take a dip and wash off the salt from our beach trip. We then piled once more into the bus and headed back to Cotui. Some of us may have gotten a tad too much sun (despite ample nagging from chaperones about sunscreen), but it was a hugely successful day, and gave us a final chance to bond and relax before the work of the trip starts tomorrow. We'll head to the village school tomorrow, eager to meet the children and start work on installing their library/learning center.
We made the short trip back to the hotel to change into casual clothing and had breakfast, then filled our water bottles, lathered on sunscreen, and began our trip to the beach. It took nearly two hours heading north to the Atlantic coast, but the journey was worth it. We arrived at Playa Grande, a large public beach. I'm glad I'll be attaching photos, because the beauty of this place is beyond my words.
The ocean was 12 different shades of blue, with large rolling waves crashing onto a pristine sand beach under a cloudless (blue shade #13) sky. Rita and her helper had arranged for a long table in the shade overlooking the beach, with chairs for everyone. Many of us immediately changed and headed to the surf. The water was warm but not summer warm, and it felt wonderful. Soon all of the students and a few others were wading and swimming out to meet the waves and try bodysurfing.
After an exhilarating first session, we all gather back in the shade and were served an amazing meal of fish, rice, yams, vegetables and fruit. There two types of fish. One variety stared back at us, a delicious grilled local fish that was best eaten with fingers. The second was a different variety, poached in a sauce flavored with coconut. We all ate well, and many of us rested in the shade, while the more adventurous headed back for another swim. Eventually, almost everyone enjoyed with swimming or wading, and the afternoon quickly sped by. We enjoyed a final snack of pineapple and melon, and headed back to the bus.
Before he returned to Cotui, we went to the town nearest the beach and were introduce to the amazing GriGri Lagoon. It's an amazing body of water in the center of town, fed by a crystal-clear spring gushing into one end of the lagoon with considerable force. It's a very popular town swimming hole, and most of the students (and Rita) took advantage of the opportunity to take a dip and wash off the salt from our beach trip. We then piled once more into the bus and headed back to Cotui. Some of us may have gotten a tad too much sun (despite ample nagging from chaperones about sunscreen), but it was a hugely successful day, and gave us a final chance to bond and relax before the work of the trip starts tomorrow. We'll head to the village school tomorrow, eager to meet the children and start work on installing their library/learning center.
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