Six Months Have Flown By

I have been a few weeks over six months in mission now.  The time is flying by and seems like I have only been here a month or two.  Work is also increasing which is making the weeks go by so quickly.  I am so enjoying getting to know more and more people and am inspired by their hard work and cheerfulness.  Laughter is frequently heard and children are well cared for.

I am working full time in the accounting office.  I attend people in the mornings and do the online account system in the afternoon.  My transportation is the school bus that picks up the grade school children who attend the Catholic school where my office is located.  Now, the large school bus is broken down so they borrowed a smaller bus and it is a challenge to get all of the children to school.  Many are standing in the aisles.  The bus driver is very good and cautious but has never bothered to get a drivers license.  Things are definitely done differently here.

Another of my jobs is to run the parish center.  Last week we had 250 Haitians, who live here in the parish, come to get their Haitian documents including birth certificate, identity card and passport.  The church had to do a bit of finagling to get the transport of the undocumented to the center for the event.  Only the parish center was protected from immigration raids so all the people had to stay inside the property fence.  Thus, no leaving to buy food or water.  

The event started at 6:30 am and finished at 7:30 pm.  We gave water and a few crackers to all but everyone was tired (some had walked hours to get to the road) and hungry by the end of the day.  Not everyone was attended to so we repeated the event this past weekend and had another 125 people show up.  There was a meal for the Consul workers so lots of dishes to wash and clean up.  I ended up on my feet from 6 am to 9 pm so am glad that we are not doing this again this coming weekend.  But of course, the parish priest just texted me to inform me that a retreat for 10 people will be arriving this Friday.  No rest for the weary!

Building A Chapel

All continues well here. Still learning my new ministries. Working to learn several different programs for accounting and setting up an office. The plan is that I will work out of the back room in the Catholic school library. Looking forward to having work closer as now it is a 45 minute walk each way and “fun” in the 95 plus degree heat in the afternoon. The eight Catechism classes that I was teaching are over now during the school vacation. Religious education classes are due to start again in August, so now I have more free time for learning accounting work.

One of my other new challenges is helping with groups that come for two weeks to do charitable work. A great group came from a Catholic University and spent all their time here to build a new chapel. The work was hard physically. I helped with the ditch digging and knocking down the old chapel partial walls with a sledgehammer. The group also dug a huge, deep hole for a latrine. The local construction workers were very enjoyable to work with. The young cement mixer kept us all laughing.

I, being the eldest and most out of shape of all the workers, asked for only ¾ full buckets of cement to carry. Every time I asked for less in the bucket he would put in another shovel full to fill it up. He did this with everyone as he laughed. Needless to say, I was pretty sore after the first week. The chapel is now finished and the community has a monthly Mass or Eucharistic celebration now in their community. 

There are two other groups scheduled to come in the next few months so that should be fun (and include lots of hard work).

Religious Education

I have been in the Dominican Republic for two months. Eventually I will be doing the accounting of the two parishes but am waiting for a computer and for the accounting program to be downloaded on it. There is also a clinic and pharmacy that is in the planning stages so I hope to be able to use my nursing skills there. Now, I am helping out with the religious education in the more distant communities.

My first experience of teaching religion here was being dropped off in a community with thirty children and one teenager. The children are all Haitians in this community and of course I only speak English and Spanish so taught in Spanish. Some of the kids, who have been here in school for a few years, seemed to understand but most just stared at this strange woman in their community. I tried teaching some songs, even though I am not great at carrying a tune, and the kids liked that.

My second experience was in a community with Dominican children so communication was not a problem. I started with 3 girls and 4 boys and by the end of the time only had the 3 girls in the church and the 4 boys chasing lizards outside.

I now have seven communities where I regularly teach religion to. I have been asked to teach the teachers at the Catholic school how to teach English. I also have the possibility of teaching English to a group of adults. There are also lots of ill people to visit and some wounds that need treatments in the home. Each week brings new experiences and opportunities for work.

The photo is of the most distant community of Banica. The Church here gives out soy fortified rice and we took advantage of the visit in the community to distribute it. Since this photo, the church we were in for the photo has partially collapsed. During a heavy rain and wind storm a section of the side wall fell and the front and back walls are heavily cracked. Getting materials to that community to rebuild will have to wait until after the rainy season. We went thru a mudslide on the way to the community and had to return to Banica via a long trip around thru a large city. 

Holy Week in the Dominican Republic

Holy Week in the Dominican Republic was an interesting experience. There was the expected live reenactment of the Way of the Cross using the cement cross on the main highway. Another day, in another town, the traditional praying Way of the Cross before the church services. Holy Thursday was during a huge downpour of rain, and there was a beautiful floral setting to have a holy hour after mass. 

What I found different here is the relative few people who participate in processions and church services. Only about 30 people from a large town participated. The other thing different here, from other places I have worked as a lay missioner, is the use of bullwhips to “chase away evil”. Men dressed in red, devil costumes and cracked these huge, long bullwhips on the street corners. Lots of loud music and drinking parties spilling out of homes onto the streets. Heavy drinking and bullwhips did not seem a good combination, so I spent most of the week near the house.

I am enjoying getting to know more about the culture here. All vegetables are only available in the open-air market. The paths are narrow and clogged with people, wheelbarrows, hot pushed bar-B-Q grills with roasted meat and huge loads carried on the head. I got knocked around a little and found unknown people just grabbing me to steady me from behind or holding my shoulder for balance if they jostle me in passing. Very kind people. The people selling are also friendly.

Life Is Different But Enjoyable

I have been here in Banica, Dominican Republic for three weeks. Life is different here but so very enjoyable. I live on the main street leaving Banica on the way to the next town of Pedro Santana. The sky is so very beautiful at sunrise and sunset. From my front porch I can see both as there are screens on three sides. The photo of the sunset was taken from the porch.

I have been visiting different communities and am struck by how dry everything is. Very few crops are visible but lots of goats and sheep. Yesterday we drove about an hour along the river separating Haiti from the Dominican Republic and passed the military transport full of illegally residing Haitians from the area. The people have houses, planted their crops, have their families here but still have no legal residency so are being sent back. It has been mentioned that the deported people will be able to return by crossing the shallow river at night within a few days. It is estimated that thousands of Haitians are crossing every month.

The church we visited had 7 adults and over 40 children. By the end of the mass there were more children chasing the chickens out of the church and church grounds than sitting in the pews. The singing was robust but very off key. Needless to say I am enjoying these masses in isolated communities.

I went to help one of the catechism teachers. It was a 30-minute drive to get there, we waited over an hour for the students to come, then taught the single child who showed up for about ten minutes. The teacher had a different book than the student but still read passages from her book to explain the topic, which was not in the student’s book . It was kind of confusing to me but the teacher has been doing this for 37 years so I have great respect for her. Improving the religious education here is one of the hopes the priests have for me. Confirmation is in four months, and they hope for more candidates. This sounds like a challenge!

Welcome Back to Being a Missionary

I am very excited to be back working/living as a missionary. I arrived in the Dominican Republic and knew I was back “in mission” when the airport gate would not attach to the airplane and the bathroom had a long line and no paper towels. Welcome back to being a missionary!

I arrived at the mission site, after 26 hours of travel, at 10:30 at night. The driver, who has what I am beginning to recognize as a typical Dominican sense of humor, spent the drive telling me that the house had no furniture, food, kitchen or anything but we would “work on that”. I was so tired after traveling all night without sleep that I figured the floor would be fine for one night! As it turns out, the house was incredible and had everything I could have hoped for and more. I am so happy to be here. To top off how well I am being cared for here and welcomed, I have already inherited a dog and a goat (which anyone who knows me well can attest that these are my favorite animals that I had been missing so much).

In the week I have been here: I have visited four communities, eaten in a family’s home, got my first accounting lesson for my new job, been to four masses, visited with both groups of religious sisters, bought my way thru the open air market that comes over the border from Haiti, shopped at two grocery stores, ate out twice in nice restaurants and was invited for dinner with the two American priests. My days are very full.

My first impression is of a warm, friendly people who can laugh about anything and tease each other about everything. The undocumented are very poor here and have no access to education for their children and no medical care. It is dry and has no crops for at least 6 months of the year here. Lots of need, and so many things that need doing, which I slowly hope to become involved in. 

New Mission

I am a LMH veteran and am now returning to mission going to the Dominican Republic on 2/24/26.  I am excited to being returning to missionary life with LMH!

I am a long term lay missioner with about 35 years of experience in Mexico, Venezuela, Guatemala, Bolivia, Panama and lastly in Ecuador.  I am a nurse by education and have been working in clinics, pharmacies, health promotion programs, woman’s groups, child sponsorship programs and various developmental projects.

In the Dominican Republic I hope to do parish accounting, religious education and coordination of short-term mission groups of students or medical/dental professionals.  I will be living in Banica on the border with Haiti.  

I greatly appreciate the sponsorship and personal support of all the LMH team.  Pray for all of us in mission that we may reflect God’s love to those we serve.