Update August 2, 2014

Update August 2, 2014

 We have been here in the Dominican Republic for nearly 5 weeks now and I have taught my class for 4 weeks. We continue to have some new students starting my classes. There are also many students that have not been able to attend every day due to many reasons including illness of them or a family member that needed their care. This has made it a challenge for teaching this year. I cannot set a definite learning plan as there are so many students missing classes and if they miss one class they do not get the information that I am teaching that day. I have had to customize my classes every day to suit the students that are there. This leads to some review for some students in order for others to learn new things. I know that some review is good but I also do not want students getting bored and dropping out as a result. Please pray that I will continue to teach as God leads.

  There is still a very great need for rain here. The Dominican Republic is currently experiencing the worst drought that they have seen in 15 years. Many places have no water. The lack of water definitely does not help improve the lack of proper hygiene and only adds to the poor health of many here. There is a Tropical storm building to the east and heading for the DR. If this storm brings rain it will be very welcomed here. Along with the locals we are praying that the storm will hit the Dominican Republic and that it will not build into a major Hurricane before it gets here. Keeping up with the weather forecast has been interesting. It seems that the United States sees this storm as a bad thing and is hoping that it will stay off shore but the Dominican Republic sees it as a good thing and is hoping that it will bring rain to the areas that really need it.

  This week Cheryl was in the village on Monday and Friday but stayed home Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because she contracted the Chikungunya virus. Fortunately it did not hit her as hard as it does some others. She was still able to function somewhat but had quite a lot of pain and everything required considerably more effort than usual. Praise God that it did not get any worse and that she is getting better.

Cheryl

As Chris said, this week has been different here for me. On Monday afternoon a painful headache set in, the first sign of the virus. Tuesday morning it was hard to drag myself out of bed, and the rest of the week, well, I did what I had to do at home.

   Again I was moved by the resilience of these people we have come to love. I have in my home the comfort of a fan in the 37-42 ish degree Celsius heat. Most of the poor do not. Air movement in this heat for me is a necessity. For them too, but they don’t have it. On Friday morning, (it was a half day in the village so I went to help with the Daily Bread Feeding Program) Chris and I took a walk down to the college. Across the street and one house down lives a close friend who also came down with the virus this week. Chris told me this one day during the week when he came home for supper. She got up from her bed and came into the sitting room when her son told her that we were there, and as I went to hug her in greeting, I felt how hot she was because of the fever that accompanies this virus. And, I felt for her, because, there was not a fan in sight. Mid day in these tin roofed homes, it sounds like there are raindrops gently falling on the roof, when in fact it is the tin buckling because of the heat. There is no such thing as insulation between the roof and the room, just rafters. And so it is in the Dominican Republic and many other poor countries.

   Someone once said to me, “But they are used to it.”, In reference to the heat and other conditions that the poor live in here. Visiting in their homes, I don’t agree. They know that they are poor. They know that others (like myself) live in what they consider luxury, that luxury being a fan that works, water that can be poured from the tap and enjoyed, automatic washers and dryers, air conditioning, a vehicle or two, shopping money, among other things. They or there neighbors have TV’s on which they see movies, the homes in movies, western culture, and again, what they don’t have.

   And, in spite of not being used to it, they are grateful for what they do have. They have family. When an elderly couple from the church came down with the virus, neighbors and family took care of them. There is no home-care here. There is no pension plans, there is no un-employment insurance. There is no government assistance of any kind. If you have nothing, you have nothing. And yet, they are grateful for the support they do have. I am humbled by it all.

   So ends almost week 5 of being here for me. Next week, God willing, I’ll be back in the village, to be humbled again.

God Bless