Some of the finished products

Here are some shots from Altagracia showing the completed latrines.  We are very grateful to the members of COTN that were able to complete the "thrones" in our absence. 
We see the physical evidence of the work we did but we know that our educational work will more than likely be the most lasting and beneficial accomplishment of our group's adventure this summer in the DR.





We learned a lot ourselves the week we were in the DR.  The people of Altagracia taught us the importance of living in community and using everything at hand.  Be it wood chips or bottle caps or rebar sticking straight out of a concrete block.  

We feel fortunate and privileged to have been able to participate in this trip.  It not only gave us hands on experience working but it truly gave us a window into the very heart of a kind and generous group of people.

 

Pictures of our teaching moments

I am going to post some of our moments of teaching. We read a story about germs, created a drama about the story, learned many vocabulary words related to good hygiene. They wrote the words, names them sight and sang songs about good hand washing.

Our hearts are still in Altagracia

Since we have returned, every day is filled with thoughts of Altagracia, the children, the poverty, their happy faces. I feel a need to express what we have done there by posting one more time some of our moments there. Bill did a fabulous job posting the detailed building of the latrines, so I would like to share moments of teaching and people of Altagracia for you.

The first day we met approximately 60 children to teach. We met in the feeding area before the children ate their one big meal of the day. Children of the Nation provides a meal for the children four days a week. They receive a dish of rice, lentils, beans, and sometimes filled with small pasta. Each child then receives a daily vitamin.

The children line up to wash their hands with two buckets, a bar of soap and towel. An older students assists by pouring water on the child's hand before using the soap and then pours water over to rinse into the second bucket. There is no sink in the feeding area. The water that is piped in has been tested and is reported to have E coli. More pictures to come.

The Building Process

We had great plans picked out in advance for our VIPs-Ventilated ImProved latrines but things did not work out that way.  We encountered a number of problems.

The first was that someone else was going to make the cement foundation and they made it to their design specs, not ours.  This picture shows that the base was surrounded by concrete blocks with rebar sticking up in the corners and beside where the door is suppose to go.   This owner wanted blocks all around as water flowed over his location and he wanted to keep it out of the latrine if possible.  There was no vent hole-we would dig under the latrine later to add a ventilation pipe.  The sticker bushes kept the local animals out of the enclosure as well!

This is the same idea but with an opening for the doorway.   We had discussed how we were going to fasten the walls to the cement foundation before we got to the DR.  We had brought a hammer drill and some cement bolts to "fasten down the sill plate."  We were very perplexed when we found the concrete blocks.  We scratched our heads and wondered what to do and when Manuel and "Spider-man" (so called lovingly for his ability to scale the walls of our structure and hammer on the roof pieces) could stand it no longer, showed us their design idea....


The first thing to do is to take the two by four and cut our half of each side that will run together like the picture on the left.  This was done by pre-sawing the ends of the boards half way down to the depth desired and then running more cuts to the end of the board and finally chiseling out the excess wood.  We finally drilled a hole where the rebar would stick up and through the connected boards that were going to act as our sill plates.

We then fixed our upright two by four to the rebar by toe-nailing them to the sill plates and bending nails around the rebar as shown on the right.

We wanted to secure them as strongly as we possibly could and Manuel assured us that this was very common practice in the DR.  We longed for the chance to run to a hardware store and buy some "L" brackets but that was impossible.  We were in a place far from consistent electricity when it was even on and depended upon a generator away from the actual job site to power what tools we had.  The only power tool we were using on site was a craftsman 19.2 screw gun for which we had limited screws that we were reserving for our "finish work" such as the doors and handles.  

We added a lateral support to our uprights and knew it would pull double duty as a "nailer" for our sheets of corrugated tin that would surround our latrine in time.  We also wanted to add another support for the top so that we could not only nail the tin to it but also act as a line for the top of the structure that would allow air flow through the latrine.   The DR gets very hot and if we enclosed the whole structure from floor to ceiling in tin, we would have an easy bake oven that could only be used in the evening!  Our first owner insisted on this and we were all very concerned for venting of the following structures.

The front of the latrine had higher supports which gave the roof a slant.  I believe that there was a six inch differential from front to back.  Lateral supports and nailers were provided for the three pieces of tin that were to act as the roof. 

A serious problem for us was that we did not have a ladder-so difficult to pack in suitcases and the COTN group did not have a ladder either.  We had to make due first with Mischael -Spider Man climbing up and hammering away first for the lateral supports and finally for the tin roof.  In the end, one of the owners of a latrine produced a short stubby ladder that enabled the rest of us to test the heights and hammer for all we were worth.

We had to support the ladder and the person nailing the roof pieces!  It was tenuous at best.

The line of tin once started was difficult to keep on track and level as you can see here.  We were not screwing this down so adjustments were next to impossible.  Once a piece was nailed into place, it was there for the long-term.  You can see the ventilation space at the top of this latrine and a small space at the bottom for some cooler air to come up from the bottom.

Sometimes we were out of materials.  The bracing and roof supports were made out of one by fours and in this case, we "sistered" in a board to extend the length of our roof support.  We had seen it in practically every structure we encountered in the DR and were not happy to be doing it but necessity proved to win the day.

I am pretty sure that I would not hire me to build anything back in the states but our customers seemed very happy and glad to have a motley crew build them these latrines!

And I have to say, that we were very glad to have been able to make them!

Just thinking out loud....

A million jumbled ideas are in my head.  I know each one of us is trying to process what we just experienced as a team and as individuals.  What many of us encountered again in the DR was abject poverty and a sense of the overwhelming problem it represents.

On the way back to Santa Domingo, we discussed how the "problem" of poverty could be fixed.   We all wanted to do something that would help those lovely people we had just spent a week with come up out of generational poverty.  It is only natural for such a response. 

We see the people in Altagracia as human beings who have the same desires and needs as we do.  We see them stuck in a place that is perhaps not of their choosing but stuck all the same.  We want to apply the models that we would use to help them move onto the next stage in their lives, get education, good jobs, buy a house and have some kids who will repeat that cycle, all the time moving farther and farther away from place where they currently find themselves.

In a sense, we see them as "just camping out in that Batey for a while."  We cannot comprehend that they have been there for a long time and have very little hope of taking any steps towards a better future. We are not stuck having to accept strange people coming to build us a place to go to the bathroom. 

To that end, I am very grateful that there are organizations made up of kind and loving people who have taken an active role in the lives of the people living in the batey of Altagracia.  If it were not for COTN, where would the people we have come to know go to for support?  How would we have heard of their needs and taken these small steps in hope for them?

We wear the symbol of the starfish on this trip.  It reminds us of the boy walking down the beach at high tide and picking up starfish stranded by the tide, dying in the sun and throwing them back into the sea.  When asked if he thought he could possibly make a difference to the thousands of starfish that were stranded, he looked down at the one in his hand and said, "I am making a difference to this one."   

Five latrines, education for kids for a few days....can you see the starfish sailing through the air?

Recuperation Day!

I am sitting here reflecting with Marty about our trip while drinking a wonderful cup of Dominican coffee. Aw! There is no sweat running down my brow, no clothes sticking to my body. In fact, I now have on long pants and long sleeves with a blanket on my lap and legs. Hmm, it's raining here, but it certainly is not warm. Transitioning back to our daily routines will be interesting. I know that a part of my heart is still in the the bateys with the children and the with the COTN staff as they attempt to provide learning to the children and give hope to their lives.

The hot shower I had this morning, the emptying of my dishwasher, the cleaning of our clothes brings new meaning to me now. I know that God is working on me as my life has been transformed once again. It will take some time for me to clarify what God has in store for my future work with these people. What will be my next involvement with these new friends, who have now been added to my heart as an extension of new branch to my family? For I have a love for them and a desire to continue to help give them hope for their futures. This transition will be challenging and perhaps unsettling at times, but I need to keep the fire burning in my heart and mind and not to allow my every day routine and jobs in life distract me or mute my desire to help, as I feel it now. For I know that it would be easy to let this experience fade into a memory and to not continue actively participating in our mission.

I pray that God will help our team to continue building on the foundation we created on this trip. And that our relationships will continue to develop between the people of Altagracia and Southminster.

I will post a few more pictures.

Cool to be back, pun intended

Amazing to get off the plane this morning to 60 degree weather (2:00 a.m.) Haven't experienced anything below about 72 degrees in the last 10 days. So, yes, the pun in the subject line was intended!

Paula and I woke up around 9:00 a.m. and have had our own little "debrief" of the trip. What an amazing experience we had! Some of my most heart-warming reflections:

--God used our team to make a genuine impact on the lives of children and adults in Altagracia. They now have a stronger model of hygiene and the beginnings of a better infrastructure. Those five latrines are the best buildings in the village! And I wish all those at Southminster could have seen the enthusiastic response of the children to the teaching about hygiene. We built loving relationships with the people of Altagracia.

--Leadership of young men in Altagracia is an encouraging sign. Manuel, a teen we met three years ago, is now at the university and providing leadership in his batey. He's not going away. He's a young man of faith and conviction. Wilson is referred to as the "principal of the village." Not just principal of the school, but the entire village. That's how important COTN's school is to them. There's hope for the children there.

--COTN provides hope through resources, education and spiritual leadership --hope that otherwise would be missing, I suspect.

--Southminster has a new "sister church" in Altagracia. We can learn from each other. Exciting times are ahead.

--As always seems to be the case on mission trips, the camaraderie of the team is profound. Deepening relationships among wonderful people was a great outcome of this experience. What a fun and gracious group of folks SPC sent to the DR!

Paula and I both feel so blessed to have been part of this ministry and we thank all our friends at SPC and especially God for the opportunity.

We are in Atlanta!

Heading home

We are heading home today.  It is very early here in the DR and we have a long drive back to Santa Domingo and then the long process back to Seattle.  We hope to get to a coffee factory for some "urgently needed supplies" and perhaps a few other items as well.

It has been an amazing time here in the DR  We have all enjoyed our time here and have much to tell in the days to come as we process all that we have done and encountered.  The latrines have been completed and the lessons have been taught but so much more has happened that it is difficult to put words to it as we sit here and wait for the van to take us away.  

God has been very good to us throughout this entire process.  We have been blessed more than we could have imagined all those months ago.  Despite political protests, vast differences in cultures, many miles that seperate us geographically, weather that will melt a Seattlite's tender skin, we have all managed to be God's people here in the DR doing his work and accomplishing his purposes.  

Glory to God! 

Strike!

There was a general strike in the DR today, meaning all workers stayed away from work to protest. We've not really learned what they are protesting (will have to look that up!) We did hear this morning that a police officer in our local area of Barahona was shot and killed. Perhaps that's why our local hosts would not let us out of the compound all day! Yes, we were held captive in Casa Betesda during the strike.

Not bad duty, actually. Still got three wonderful meals and access to the swimming pool. But our planned day working in Altagracia was lost and we fear that might mean we don't finish the five latrines and definitely had to cancel one day of hygiene education that cannot be made up. We made the best of it by doing some chores around the Casa that our wonderful hosts had suggested. An additional project was to organize the tool shed, alternately called "The Bunker" or "The Man Cave." This space contained tools, supplies and assorted items that needed sorting through and organizing. I was especially hopeful we could inventory the tools so future teams would know what was here and not be told to bring all carpentry tools (like we were told.) We located a fair supply of tools on site that we could have used but didn't even know about. Some of us are leaving our own tools here to supplement their supply. Hopefully, future teams will be more productive because of it.

Our team is still in synch and lovingly supporting each other. God is at work! And best of all, we've enjoyed wonderful times with our Dominican hosts (and the American couple who host us at the Casa.) A special highlight was the worship service at Altagracia yesterday, where children of all ages and adults each hugged us after the service. We hope to develop an ongoing relationship with this fledgling church.

Our hearts are full and especially appreciative of our Southminster family who made this mission possible.

Inspirational

Tonight, Monday, we had our debrief and prayer. When we were finished, I shared my thoughts relative to the flowing and cooperative spirit of our team. To a person, our team has been such a great example of the phrase, "There is no "I" in team." In addition, I have been struck by the sweetness of the Dominican and Haitian people. We have a lot to learn from these people. WE have received a great deal of support from COTN. Their translators have been most helpful. This clearly has been a worthwhile trip.

Michael

Sunday Kick Back and...

We all attended church this morning at Altagracia. What a wonderful experience to worship with some of the people we had worked with and some of the children. Pastor Julio gave the message. There was much singing and enthusiasm. 9:15am to 11:30am. (It is a 15 minute drive to the Casa).

Raced back to the Casa to wait for our lunch at 12:45pm.

Back in the van at 2pm to go to Altagracia to work on the latrines until 4pm. Raced back to the Casa to pick up some of the team members and off to sight see and the beach. 4pm to 6pm

Raced (literally, you should see how they drive here!) back and dinner was ready. A delicious meal of lasagna, salad, and fruit was served along with Coca Cola and Grape Soda.

That's how you kick back on a Sunday in the DR!

Seriously, we are excited with the progress the team is making in the building of the latrines as well as the building of the relationships with the villagers. As I write this, we can here the sounds of the protestors ramping up for tomorrows' one day protest against the government. We will not be leaving the COTN compound tomorrow so I get to do some fix-it work around here.

Doug

Another Great Day with the Children

Today we were greeted with a huge down pour of rain. But is was a warm rain. However, we all managed to somehow get over to the dining area without a problem for breakfast.

Today the carpentry was moved to the same area as the teaching because of the rain, we taught through the sounds of electric saws. It didn't seem to matter to the children, although we teachers were exhausted by the end of the day. Despite the noise level we felt today was a day when there was more learning and great interest in our activities with puppets, songs demonstrations with flour replicating germs on their hands and a spray bottle of water for the sneezing and coughing.

After discussing and demonstrating of how germs and bacteria are passed on by sneezing and coughing and improper hand washing, we asked the children to line up and each one of them showed us how they should wash their hands by singing together a song together that lasted for 20 seconds (20 seconds is the rule for washing away germs. They did a great job.

I will add a few more pictures.

But it is raining outside....

Today we woke up to pouring down rain.  Thunder and lightning that started about five seconds away and then started moving down wind of us.  The local translator said that "It was too bad about all this rain and how it will prevent us from going out to do any work."  We looked at him and just shook our heads and told him and others that we were from Seattle and expected to work in the Rain, the sun or the whatever! 

People were running around in plastic ponchos and umbrellas and we were standing there in the warm rain with our hats on and our tools ready to go.  We all piled into the van and set off for our Batey at Alta Grazia.  It is usually a busy road out to our site but not today.  There was hardly a person on the road and the people standing in the houses looked at us as if we were nuts.

Today there was no sudden swarm of kids when we arrived simply because they could not believe that we would be there in the rain.  They started to show up in droves once the rain let up and the sound of the generator got going.  

We Worked on finishing the door to house number one -a story that should be told but not by me now as I am sitting on a very tall stool and might fall of it onto the floor from laughing too much.  But there is a door and a lock and Marty and I have stories to tell our grandchildren!

Latrine number two is finished but for the door.  Latrine number three is framed but not wrapped in metal or doored and Latrine number four is due to be framed tomorrow.  Our goal has been to do five latrines and we are struggling to not be so task oriented and driven that we lose sight of the real goals which is to build relationships with local people who are bettering the lives of children here in the DR and in other places around the world.

Yes, it is Sunday tomorrow but we are going to have to stay in on Monday due to Political Protests over taxes and wages here in the DR.  Sound familar world?  Ha!  We will do some work around the Casa on Monday instead but it does take time from our latrine work.  This work does desperately need to be done so instead of the beach on Sunday afternoon, we will hit the hammers on nails and try to get everything done that we possibly can.

We only have till Tuesday to get them all done or we will simply have to come back and do it all over again!  After reading this blog, you want to come as well, right?  :)

It has been an amazing time of working with the local people and us crazy anglos.  We have learned alot about making do with what you have and overcoming problems with various tools that one of the guys "just happened" to bring.  We are happy to be in this amazing place, doing the work that God has put before us.  We know we are only throwing five "starfish" back into the sea but that is five more than would have been thrown had we not engaged in this work to start with.

Please pray for us that we can complete our tasks and that we might have the wisdom to know how to proceed should that not be possible. 

Since we left Seattle, we have begun building relationships with the people of Altagracia. It simply amazes me how happy these people are with so little. The first latrine was built yesterday with many Dominican hands joining ours. The bonding is meaningful and productive. We are learning from them and they are learning from us. Yes, we have discovered there are many ways to attempt to build a latrine. We were amazed at the excitement from the family and neighbors as the boards were hammared. The woman of the household sat and watched the process all day.

The children came from everywhere as the COTN van pulled up and honked the horn. We were greeted with hugs and smiles and a genuine eagerness to be with us. We had about 55-60 children to teach in the morning and about 30 in the afternoon. There were chaotic moments of excitement, happy singing hearts and attentive listening during our story about the girl named Maria who got rid of her germs by washing the germs away with soap and water. Such a simple idea for us and an enormous task for them.

There is not even a sink at the school where we taught outside under the covered outdoor teaching area. The children have a breakfast and lunch served to them every day. The older students assist the children in washing there hands before they eat with a bucket of water. They pour water on their hands, the children soap up and then someone pours more water on their hands to rinse. The waster water is caught in another bucket.

I will post a few pictures for you. God is definitely here helping us each step of the way. More to come....

We are here!

I am typing on  a laptop that is having trouble.  It needs some keys cleaned and some are in the ¨wrong¨place so forgive me the typing errors!

We arrived yesterday after a four hour flight to Atlanta, a two hour layover and a four hour flight to the DR with a long wait on the ground before getting off it!  Then we picked up our stuff,got an ice cream and then took a four hour trip to where we re doing the work in Bahrona. 

We are staying in a place called Casa Bethesda which is  a lovely place in the middle of the town.  We were very grateful to get some sleep last night.  The power kept cutting out for a while and as our room has no windows, it got hot rather rapidly.   After a while, we got to sleep and slept rather soundly!  Imagine that!

Today we toured the Bateys or villages and saw what we have to work with.  We have things to overcome but it is all workable.  The people have been very friendly and kind.  The kids love me of course since I am such a rarity bearded and heavy to boot.

Tomorrow we get to the real work and hopefully some pictures to boot!

Learning to Trust God

I'm a planner and prefer to leave nothing to chance. Do some research. Make a plan. Make a list. Double check it. Confirm my expectations by checking with folks I must depend on.

Well, a lot of this goes out the window with this Mission Trip. Life in the DR is a little different, as it is in most countries outside the USA and Europe. Time has a different meaning. Relationships trump efficiency and completing tasks. I know we'll get a wonderful welcome, but what about all the advance work we are relying on.

We hope to have the holes dug for the latrines. We hope the concrete foundations will be laid. We trust that all the materials we need will be waiting for us, as promised. These matters are out of my control. It feels unsettling, but also turns me toward God. Trusting Him is what I must do. I'm praying that will be a part of my learning experience on this mission -- learning to trust God and back away from my natural tendency toward self-reliance.

Time to Pack my own stuff!

We made up a tool list and divided it up between the five guys that are going.  Each of us has some unique tool to bring so each one of us does not have to bring everything. I wonder how the women are doing dividing up all the stuff they are responsible for?!?!?!?!   Still, there is enough stuff that everyone has to have, that will add to the weight of what we are going to be carrying to the DR.  We  have seen pictures of the five families that we are going to be building the latrines for and we are excited to pack our tools and equipment so that we can actually be of some assistance to them. 
I have a double columned list of the stuff I need to bring and I am wondering where it is all going to fit!  I am used to traveling very light, never even checking a bag but this is the first time I am getting on a plane to actually go and build something.  I am very glad that when you fly internationally, you can check two bags per person because I am pretty sure that I am going to need that much space.
I am getting more excited with each item I stuff in the bags!

I have also been thinking a lot about my role as Christ's person on this trip.  For this blog's design, I chose the motif of a dandelion being disbursed in the wind, taking its seed pod and starting anew in another place.   We have a destination and a purpose in mind but we truly don't know what will happen once we get there.  This is not a planned vacation where everything is prepped and ready for you when you arrive.  We want to bloom wherever we find ourselves, ready to grow the seed of God's love for all those we encounter along the way.