Well I will start off by saying HAPPY EASTER!!

The month of March was quite a busy one, starting off with my alma mater coming down.  A group of students from Cazenovia College, along with students from La Sal were here on their spring break.  They worked  in Pueblo Nuevo on a new house for Pavel, Sujer, and their baby Paula.  They also worked on a house in Novillero for Kenya, Leo, and their 3 kids.  This house was finished by the group that followed.  It was great having all the groups down here on their spring break!

After the groups, Bill came down with a couple of board members to start staking out where buildings will be going on out new property.  Also, while they were here they checked out the couple of vans Chris had been looking at and…

WE BOUGHT ONE!!!  Here are a couple of photos…

I have been practicing driving it and will be picking up the kids in it tomorrow!!! J

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to my fundraising efforts for this new vehicle for the school!

(The Toyota also had a nice fix up,  THANKS SO MUCH JOHN!!!)

On a side note, we now have out mail set up and running smoothly.  My mom has begun sending down kids clothes that had been donated by families at Madison Learning Center.  I had brought a suitcase of clothes which I sold at a parents meeting in the school.  I divided the last box of clothes between 3 students in my class who I knew needed them the most. We still have a ton more clothes to get down here.  My mom is sending it box by box when she can.  Here is a photo of Isaura showing off her new blouse.

I received the most interesting gift last week from a boy in my class.  As I was picking up the students one morning for school, José came running out to the car with something in his hands.  He ran right up to me with a pigeon in one hand and a bottle top of crushed corn in the other hand.  With a huge grin on his face, he looked up at me and told me this pigeon he caught was for me.  I looked up at his mother and with an apologetic look on her face said, “ He really wanted to give it to you!”  Hahahaha  I obviously thanked them both while thinking in my head, what in the world am I going to do with a pigeon.  He climbed into the car with the bird still in his hands.  Here’s a photo.

Luckily Chris is taking the pigeon to his property. 

I hope everyone has a fabulous Easter!  I wish I was there to celebrate with everyone!  It’s days like this that are a little more difficult being so far away!

We have been working on assessments of the kids in school.  I wish I had done them when they first started.  I know how much they have progressed and it is so very rewarding to see and be a part of!  We have been giving Suni many more responsibilities in the school and she is thriving!  It has also been extremely rewarding watching her grow in confidence when working with the kids.  There are some photos in the post below of this.

Well, after Odil learned how to sew a little pillow for her doll, she went ahead and sewed 3 more.  Haha When I asked her where the blankets were to go with the pillows, she responded with a “ you didn’t teach me that yet?”  Haven’t done that yet, but we did build her a doll house as well.  I had her and her sister and brother help me build it and them I let them go to town to build a box/bed for their new puppy. Today I am going to bring over paint for Odil's doll house.  She wants it to be pink.  A girl after my own heart! J

I have started the seeds for my veggie garden, and made the plant boxes so they hopefully won’t drown again.  The soil here is so fertile here that you can take a branch off of a bush and plant it, and I will usually grow.  It’s amazing!  Sandra loves to garden and has lots of plants and flowers.  She got me started with a collection of my own.  They are beautiful!  They are all planted in containers.  I hope they all grow well.  We’ll see just how green my thumb is.

This month is Carnival.  It is not so big out here in the campos but in the cities it is Huge!  Last weekend, for Chris’ birthday, we went to Puerta Plata and experienced Carnival first hand.  They had closed off a huge section of the street by the beach and there were beer tents all over.  There was a main stage area where the costume/dance contest was held.  Groups of Dominicans dressed up in elaborate costumes and one at a time went up on stage for a minute or two.  Some had little skit type dances, and some just jumped around.  There were street venders walking around selling masks.  Jamie bought one with spikes, and we both bought some with feathers.  Boys walked around with a ball on a string and hit the people walking by.  There were tons of Dominicans and tons of tourists.  The energy was amazing.  It was a great day! I took a ton of photos of this.  I'll post some of them later after I go through them.

This morning we went kayaking.  We went to a spot where supposedly there are a group of manatees living.  The boys that took us out said that they are always in this cove area.  Today unfortunately we saw no manatees.  Oh well… maybe next time.  It was still a beautiful kayak trip!  Chris took some photos.  I’ll try to get a few to put up.

Before we went out on the kayaks, while walking around the beach, I found a beached starfish.  I threw it back into the water.  J

I found another when we got back but it was dried up.  I took that one home with me! J

Here are some photos...

Suni, Anthony, y Romer used every block for their castle.

Maicol

Suni working with Isaura and Jose.

Emilio

Everybody LOVED the doll house I made! :)

Eimy and July playing ball.

Well after a couple of months at home, I am back in the Dominican.  I can’t say my time at home was very relaxing, but I can say it was productive.  In addition to working part time here and there, I fundraised, fundraised, fundraised.  I succeeded in raising the funds for a new vehicle.

For those of you who are unaware of the vehicle I drive here and there, village to village, picking up kids, dropping them off, driving to the city of Imbert to get groceries for the school, and occasionally when I have time (which isn’t often) to the beach….

It is a very run down station wagon from the 80’s.  There are holes in the floor, 2 of the 4 windows don’t close, one of the back doors doesn’t open, while when unlocked the other back door flies open while driving down the road (since I have been back, the front passenger door does this as well.).  I put water in the radiator every other day and have to disconnect the battery every night if I want the car to start in the morning.  The seal is broken on the front windshield, therefore when it rains, I get wet. (I just put silicone on this, don’t know if it worked yet. I haven’t driven in the rain since.)  There is no power steering; I have also become a pro at changing tires.  I pick up 7 children on my first run, drop them off at the school with Jamie, I then drive out to pick up the breakfast and continue to pick up our local helper and 4 more kids. This vehicle is not safe for me and not safe for the children.  But we are a small mission and so we have had to just use what we have. 

Anyways, due to lots of generous donors and one very very very generous family, we are shopping for a new vehicle for our “school bus”.  Thanks to everyone who donated!!!  I’ll let you know when we are up and running with a safe reliable vehicle! J

I spent my first couple of days cleaning the house, reorganizing my things, and of course visiting families.  I received lots of hugs!!! Early last week, Jamie and I went house to house of our students in the pre-school letting everyone know we were back and starting right up again.  The parents and kids were all super excited!  One of the boys ran to put on his shoes and grab his backpack.  He was very disappointed when we told him he had to wait just a couple more days.

Our first day of school went almost too well.  The kids all listened well, shared the toys, participated in circle time, and listened to the stories.  It was totally not expected but a great surprise!  Our second day went pretty well also.  The kids showed their excitement a little more by being a bit more wound up.  Haha  But it was a great start to this semester.

I have been working on a doll house for the school.  I built and painted it before I came home.  I made some furniture for the little dolls I brought back with me. ( Thanks Susan and Alex!) I’ll have photos up soon of it!

Sandra’s girls, Diana 11, and Odil 9 were over visiting and admiring the doll house.  This led to a lesson in sewing little pillows for their dolls.  Next lesson, blankets!

I am also going to try again on a vegetable garden.  I bought wood to make some boxes to raise the plants up in hopes of them not drowning and becoming mush again.  Both Sandra and Suni want to try to grow veggies too.  It’s a good thing I brought down a bunch of seeds! J

That’s all for now!

New Year’s resolution… I’m going to try to make more time to keep up this blog!  Sorry to all that were reading this regularly.  Here’s to the New Year!

ADIOS!

Part 2….

I decided to make this a separate blog… because it’s kinda a big deal!!!

I DID IT! I DID IT! We have a pre-school up and running.  This past year of immersing myself into the culture, pushing through more personal barriers then I thought possible, and challenging myself to have a school up and running in a year has more than paid off.  J

I have to send out a huge thank you to the group who came down to help fix up the building.  Also, here’s another huge thank you to all the groups and people who came down with suitcases of supplies.  And finally the biggest THANK YOU goes out to all of the people at home supporting me with their thoughts, prayers, emails, facebook messages, and notes.  I wouldn’t be where I am today without you guys! J   

So here’s what my days look like now.  I leave before 7am to pick up kids in El Estrecho Abajo by 7.  On my way back I pick up a few more kids who live on the main road.  I drop off those kids at the school and leave them with Jamie, a girl from Ohio who is here helping out with the school.  I then drive through Pueblo Nuevo to Sandra’s in El Canal and pick up breakfast for the kids.  On my way back through Pueblo Nuevo I pick up either Sujer or Suni, my 2 Dominican helpers along with 3 kids. (Angel, son of Rosanna and Jorge, Kelvin, son of Yolanda and Boho, and Isaura, daughter of Nani)  I am back at the school around 8am where we begin our day with outside play. 

We built a sand box, and thanks to Teresa we have sand box toys.  The first day I opened the sandbox and put out the toys and they just stood there not really knowing what to do.  After I showing them how to how to dig, rake, sift, and pile up sand, the kids didn’t want to go inside. There are a few that like to sit inside looking at board books.  They enthusiastically flip through pages pointing out every animal and object they know.  In a culture where the only books people pick up and read are school books and the bible, getting kids excited about looking at books and reading for fun is a huge deal.

After outside play, we wash up for breakfast.  We wanted to make sure to include in our program a hearty, nutritious breakfast for the kids.  Many of the households don’t have a family table to eat on, let alone money to feed their family a nutritious diet.  We have put together a menu which includes oatmeal, eggs, fresh fruit and yogurt.

Following breakfast we sit for circle time.  This is where we sing songs, read stories, talk about the calendar month, days, and numbers.  I also will try to do an activity around the theme for the week. 

From circle time we divide into centers with the project being one of them.  The kids have been playing with matchbox cars, play dough, pattern blocks, and drawing on small chalk boards.  They are having a ball other then the fact that they all want everything for themselves.  We are working hard on learning to share. Haha They are 3 and 4. 

After centers, we come back together to either sing or dance some more, or read some books on CD.  Once 11:30 rolls around, the parents from La Sabana (the village where the school is located and where I live) come and pick up their kids.  I then load up the El Estrecho Abajo crew and drive them all home while Jamie says with the Pueblo Nuevo crew.  After driving everyone home, I sit down for lunch with a family and breathe again.  Haha

This is a class photo but it was taken the second day.  We had 3 more kids join the next day.  Hopefully we get another class photo taken soon with everyone!

My afternoons have been filled with running around grabbing something for Sandra to cook, running to the yogurt factory and picking up fresh (the best ever) yogurt, cleaning the school, prepping for the next day, and when I can, sitting and keeping up with emails, and writing this blog. J

I feel like I had a whirl wind of a first week of school, but I am just so thrilled that it all came together.  I haven’t quite figured out why, but after this summer, making many more acquaintances and a couple of good friends, and running my own classroom, I finally feel like I’m at home and I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.  It was a long, stressful, challenging journey, but here I am running a pre-school in a 3^rd world country. 

Woohoo!!! J

Part 1....

I hate starting with this again… but I do apologize for not writing for quite a while. 

~An overview of my camp this summer…

I was in 4 different villages running 2 camps per village, one for 3-6 year olds, and the other for 7-10 year olds.  Camp ran for 2 months and overall we averaged about 150 with all four villages combined.  Overall I’d say it was a huge success.  The kids were thrilled to be able to sing songs in English for and with the participants.  Kids are still asking when the next camp day is.  I also had several parents tell me how happy they were with the program.  I had one mother tell me her 2 daughters make her sing some of our songs every night before they go to bed.  Another mother said to me, “My daughter loved your camp and so did I because before camp she walked around shy and timid, but after going to your camp every week she was bouncing around the house happy and singing all you songs!” And then she thanked me with a hug.  Even though I already know of things I will be changing for our next year, we had a fabulous summer! :)

My mom was here for 2 weeks in August.  We had a fabulous time.  Her first week, we worked with Ben and his family on a roof for Maria.  She is one of the many Maria’s in Pueblo Nuevo.  She is the sister of Oneydo who has helped out and worked with the mission for a number of years.  The VMM had built her a block house in 2005 but that was before we included a zinc roof.  Here is a couple of photos of us working on the roof.

After a very sad day of saying good bye to Ben, his family, and Anna, my mother and I spent a few days visiting with different families.  Everyone was VERY excited my mom was coming to visit, and everyone wanted to meet her.  We ate dulce with a couple of different families.

One family I have become very close to this summer is a family in El Canal, Sandra and Obie, and their three children, Diana (11), Odil (9), and Israel (7).  As a gift for the family, my mom and I took Sandra and her kids shopping for new school uniforms.  We all had a fabulous afternoon which ended with my buying everyone ice cream and eating it in the town square.  It was a great afternoon.

In the middle of the second week, my mom and I spent 2 days and nights relaxing by the pool and enjoying walks along the beach.  The resort is going under so there weren’t many people around.  But we had some nice relaxing time.

After my mom’s 2 week visit I was sad to see her leave but anxious to get everything set for school to start. 

Hello everybody!

Well we have been busy busy busy this summer.  The last group of the summer just arrived last Thursday.  They are finishing house number 6 in El Canal today. 

Other exciting news… One of the groups from Ohio helped me out fixing up my little school house.  They also were able to join in on a couple of camps!  It was great having them help out!   Here are a few photos of us fixing up the school.

 

The local kids were ssoooo excited to help out. I had to find lots of little jobs for them to help the group with.  We walked up the street to my house to grab the tires I had been collecting for the playground.  Here is a photo of them walking/rolling them to the school. 

The kids of La Sabana were thrilled to be helping out.  Here is a group shot of the group from Ohio as well as the kids who helped out.  And here is a huge THANKS going out to the group!!! J

And  of course I couldn’t have a preschool without a sand box!!! J  (Thanks Teresa for the sandbox toys!!!)

My branch of “The Village” Mountain Mission is the C.A.R.E. Project (Children At Risk Education).   The little girl in this photo is Robaisi.  She is 3 and comes to camp with her 2 year old sister and 5 year old brother.  She has become my shadow and whenever I get up to walk around, whether I’m passing things out or leading a game, she is always right behind me.  And as soon as I sit down, she plops herself right into my lap. Haha! 

Camp has been going great!  For the older groups of kids, the 7-10 year olds, Anna and I have been trying to get them thinking.  We keep the themes the same, but when the little ones learned the Itsy Bitsy Spider, we had the older kids draw a spider and on each of the 8 legs they had to write 8 different ways to be a good friend.  Also when the little kids decorated stars,  we explained what reaching for the stars meant, and they wrote what they wanted to be when they grew up in the star.  They then pasted strips of paper coming off of the star and on those strips, they wrote how they were going to get there.  It was great listening to their hopes and dreams. 

This week is our last week of camp.  We have lots of fun things planned for the kids! 

2 weeks ago Kendi turned 8.  His family received a house from VMM in 2009.  Anna and I took him and his family to the beach for his birthday.  When we went to go pick them up the kids came running out to the car yelling “La Playa, La Playa, La Playa!”  They were singing it the whole ride there and squealed with joy when they saw the beach.  It’s their excitement that fills me!  We had a great afternoon! 

Last week was Ana’s 6^th birthday.  Her family received a house from VMM also in 2009.  Anna and I took Ana and her family to the River for her birthday.  Again, the kids were squealing with excitement.  Here’s a photo of Anna with the family.

And…… Saturday night was a big night!!!  Our cat had kittens!!! J And Sujer, a girl who works with me, had her baby as well! J

 Can’t wait for my mom to come down in a couple of weeks!!! J

Good bye for now!