Wednesday, July 29 – Day 7
Our last work day brought smiles, laughs, and tears from the best of us and supporting hugs from the rest of us. Another divide and conquer afternoon had people working on bathrooms, interior walls, and hanging doors. Homemade toilets were blessed with store bought toilet seats to make things more comfortable. One of the biggest smiles came as we collected everyone together to continue our tradition of delivering mattresses to our incoming families.
Tonight we close our eyes and reflect on the impact that we have had on people’s lives and look forward to our future together and apart. Tomorrow are the final goodbyes for the summer, or see you soon as we say down here.
Tuesday, July 28 – Day 6
Our second to last work day was full of accomplishments. While our last floor was being poured in Carolina’s house, a small team worked on the bathroom. The rest of the group divided and conquered. Some were on paint duty, adding finishing touches to the white trim and touching up the colors on all of our houses. Others were building bathrooms for everyone around! It was a wonderful demonstration of our student leaders knowledge and experience being put to use in another situation. In yet another area, some people were dividing the interiors of two houses. Not a month ago, clean ground was picked for the first time and today, 20×26 was broken down into three bedrooms, a living room, and a front porch.
While all of that was going on, some people were relaxing underneath a mango tree playing with kids and getting their feet taken care of. It was a beautiful day all around.
Sunday, July 26 – Day 4
Both houses are painted and the orange and turquoise are beautiful! After a morning of painting, working on finishing bathrooms and painting furniture we took a late lunch and headed back to the villa. Today is Dominican Father’s Day and we wanted to enable Felo, Kiko, and Papo to spend some quality time with their families as we enjoyed a late afternoon swim back at the house. Tomorrow we will spend a much needed relaxing day on the catamaran.
Saturday, July 25 – Day 3
Construction begins to truly take the shape of a house when the roof goes up. Today was all about putting on the zinc and then painting a first coat of primer. Zinc will test your skills with the hammer and nails. High above the ground, hammers slip as they are swung in attempts to make contact on the heads of nails.
Down on the ground everyone was focused on getting some white paint on the walls and not on themselves. It proved to be quite challenging while painting overhead or with a crew of muchachitos. Many children came out of the day looking like gringos without a piece of their own skin color showing through the paint. Everyone was so eager to help out that all of our benches and tables got painted as well!!
With great progress comes great sadness. As we sat around at circle time tonight, many spoke to the enjoyment of working and seeing the houses nearly finished. Of course, this means that the bitter sweet reality of the summer coming to an end is setting in. While the time may be winding down, we still have many fun filled days in front of us to enjoy with our friends and families.
Friday, July 24 – Day 2
The first day of a new group is always a wonderful day. The energy today was through the roof as we finished framing it out and worked up the gabled ends. To start our day, familiar faces walked through the village to find old smiles. Hugs were shared and long lasting friendships were rekindled throughout La Sabana.
Once we started working, we couldn’t stop! Both houses were hard at work on their clapboards while getting to know each other. It wasn’t long until nails were being passed from rafter to rafter and boards were held up by new friends. The most beautiful part of the day was watching Chunga, Oscar, and Papo go back and forth from the current houses to helping pour the floor in the siblings pink house. They were joined by Dani, Jonas, and other village members to help bring the siblings one day closer to moving in.
Tomorrow…it’s all about the paint!
Monday, July 20 – Day 6
Our last day on the job sites and it was quite an amazing day. It is hard to imagine that only 7 days ago, we walked onto flat ground. Moments later, we have the final steps left to complete a home. It was truly a group effort watching the roof get raised in the style of the old times. Lots of prep work was done by many hands and finally the ridgepole was up with rafters getting nailed on. By the end of the day, windows were in and we were looking from the inside out of what will soon be a beautiful home for our families. The end of the day was bitter sweet as we took our last group shot and headed onto the bus.
Tomorrow we will return to say our goodbyes to our families and the village, but only to welcome in the last group of the summer.
Sunday, July 19 – Day 5
“Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel.” ~Augustus Hare
A beautiful day with much needed rest.
Saturday, July 18 – Day 4
“There’s nothing like sharing your birthday with people you love and good humor in a hot country to break you down.” Today was all about having fun with dominican culture and we were all smiles as the final rows of block were laid. The progress over the last two days was incredible and everyone pitched in to make the most of the hot hours of work.
At lunch, Brian Santos partook in a classic dominican tradition as we toasted to his birthday and soaked him with water. When you’re a dominican, you know it’s coming. When you’re a tourist in a foreign country, you have no idea what’s about to happen. Brian headed into the center of our prayer circle and received his dominican birthday blessing.
After lunch, we headed into Pueblo Nuevo for round two of softball. Tomorrow brings a much needed day off.
Friday, July 17 – Day 3
Today was a day of incredible accomplishments. We set out to lay half of the block on each of our houses, but by lunchtime, we were struggling. After regrouping over some tayota, fried yuca, white rice, and red beans, everyone set out to do the unimaginable. By the end of the day, we had not only put down our goal of blocks, but surpassed it by one or two rows. It was truly a group effort and an amazing demonstration of community.
Thursday, July 16 – Day 2
Our first day on the job site started with a challenge… “I noticed last group dug two footers but only poured one in a day. I say we dig and pour BOTH on our first day.” Challenge accepted! At lunch, both footers were dug out almost to perfection. The energy that our extraordinary students brought with them when they traveled yesterday was tremendous. Instead of hitting the ground running, they hit it digging and never stopped. As one site began to slow just before lunch, a much needed burst of energy and motivation arrived from the other members of our group. It was a dream come true as the pink shirts walked down the path with picks on their shoulders and shovels in their hands. “Hi ho.. Hi ho.. It’s to the other site we go!” They jumped in to help and made the dream of finishing both footers a reality. Everyone pitched in to ready the rebar, string, and levels so that after lunch, both groups were pouring water into their dry mixes and carrying the infamous black buckets full of liga.
By the end of the day, there wasn’t a clean shirt in our group or an arm without a kid on it. We immediately bonded with the locals throwing kids in the air, collecting rocks, and just simply exchanging smiles.
To say the day was a success would be an understatement. We are all looking forward to mañana to see what we accomplish. Today was a steep learning curve. Tomorrow it’s all about the block.
Tuesday, July 14 – Day 8
What a last day!
We started out riding half tame horses on the beach, first walking and then galloping through sugar cane fields and onto the beach. It was the bareback dip into the ocean that brought the most smiles to our faces. Confidence built and everyone galloped back to and through the fields to the guagua.
We then ventured down to our village and broke bread at our beautifully built tables. Bruce spent all week working hard to provide a place for each family to eat at. Now, when inside their houses, they can sit entertain family and friends. Tears began to flow as Bruce blessed our final meal with our dominican families and Oscar was brought to tears as he thanked us for changing his life. JoAnn let him know that, while physically alone, he will never again be solo in his heart. “We all sleep under the same stars and as you lay in bed at night, think of each and every one of us. We will be praying for you.”
The day was finished off with a fantastic carnival full of tattoos, bracelets, face painting, lots of playing, and of course an overly competitive game of basketball. We all joined hands at the end of the day to bid farewell to La Sabana.
Monday, July 13 – Day 7
Today was our last day at work on our houses which was bitter sweet. Fifteen days after breaking ground, we put on the second coat of paint on the outside of the houses and finished the inside with bright white. It was amazing to walk out of the houses knowing that we have changed the lives of Chunga, Oscar, Manuel, and Nana. Maslow talks about basic human needs. Safety is low, meaning that it is incredibly important and comes before many others. With the gift of shelter, these two families will live a safer life, no longer fearing the roof over their head, or the water running through their walls and doors. Along with safety they receive the gifts of love and belonging and self esteem. Chunga can now invite his family, including his many children, to his house and hold his head high as they walk through the front door. The siblings will live their lives with more dignity and a sense of belonging to not only their extended family, but also have the opportunity to start a family in a respectable house.
It was with great pride and excitement that we boarded the bus this afternoon and headed out to our house to reflect on the impact that we have had on each other as well as the dominicans.
Sunday, July 12 – Day 6
One of the best parts of the summer is asking families what color they want their houses. Today the dream became a reality as we painted our two casas pink and cielito lindo. The oos and ahhs were flying as the colors went up and down the walls. Chunga’s house matched the sky its color was named after and the siblings chewed gum as they helped paint their walls. Paint fights broke out all over the sights as children of all ages came running around the corners with names, arms, and even faces painted with white, blue, and pink. It was a beautiful day in the village and the painting brought even more life to the atmosphere.
At the end of the day, we broke for a visit to church. It was amazing to sit alongside the people we spend our days working with to pray and listen to the word of God. The pastor thanked us for our work and prayed that we continue to find happiness in each other, for that is the only way to find it within ourselves.
Saturday, July 11 – Day 5
A much needed day off was full of jumping in the water, swimming with the fishes, and the breeze blowing in our hair. Tomorrow, it’s back to work!
Friday, July 10 – Day 4
Today was literally a home run! The morning was hard work on the house and all about progress until we broke for lunch and headed into Pueblo Nuevo. Everyone was so engulfed in their work that we didn’t realize that the typical noon had come and gone long before we sent people to pick up our fried chicken. By that time, Chunga’s roof was complete and his house is now waterproof. The walls are finished, the zinc is on, and the doors are ready to be hung. On the siblings house, everything has been framed out for the zinc to be laid starting and finishing on Sunday. The house is fully wrapped and just a few boards are missing to finish up the gable ends.
The real joy of today came in the afternoon. We crammed on the bus early and headed into Pueblo Nuevo to spend the afternoon playing softball with villagers of all ages. It was only a matter of time before the bleachers were chearing for both teams. STRIKE! BALL 2!! At the end of the day, it was another beautiful example of the combination of our two cultures. We joined hands along the third base line and congratulated each other on a great game. We then enjoyed watermelon and fresh juice, made by a local.
Thursday, July 9 – Day 3
Today was all about names…
Joe, John, Jack, JoAnn, and Jose Augustin jingled through the jubilant day as many jokes were told not about Jersey, but our lives juntos. Jenna and Jess had to juggle their feelings and jigs while they jammed nails on the roof of the house. Feelings of homesickness were juxtoposed against our new joyful feelings for our families. At times the day felt like Jeopardy with so many questions asked and answered both in Spanish and English. At night, journals were out and jugo was drank as we remembered being jabbed by kids throughout the day.
The trip has just been filled with joy as we continue to see Jesus in each other and those we jam into our minutes and hours.
Wednesday, July 8 – Day 2
Mother Teresa once said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” Last week’s group threw the stone that began the ripples and today, 26 people walked into La Sabana to make more waves.
We started our day with a tour to say hello to old friends. Chololi greeted us with hugs and lifted those that worked on her house off the ground as she thanked God once again for G.O.E.S. and the blessing that we brought to her life last year. Nana and Orfelina were all smiles as they welcomed us into their houses with pride. Our tour ended at Celia’s green machine of a house before we met our new families. And then it was off to work!
While slow at first, the day was a complete success. We hung all the windows in Chunga’s house and finished the slat wood to get started on the roof mañana. The learning curve was steep as many led by example and taught along the way. It was a family effort as well with sets of cousins, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, and even a full family.
At night, we filled our hunger for food with spaghetti and our desire for reflection with quotes. Tomorrow always promises to bring wonderful opportunities for memories and surprises to embrace.
Monday, July 6 – Day 8
Our last day was another bitter sweet one. The afternoon was full of smiles as we headed into La Sabana for games galore. Everyone in the village gathered ’round when the van pulled in and the “gringos llegaron.” We finished our lunch of spit roasted chicken ala Santo and got to work on entertaining. Jump ropes, bats and balls, tattoos (fake of course), and face painting were just among some of the activites that rose the energy of all around. Tears began to flow when we said goodbye to our friends and look forward to a lifetime of friendships.
Back at the house, our closing circle was full of reflections and more hopeful thoughts of the future. As we begin our transition home we look forward to the opportunities that lay ahead of us, the memories that will always be in our heads and our hearts, and the moment we are all together again.
Sunday, July 5 – Day 7
Today was a day of rallying and surviving! We started the morning with a hazy and yet beautiful sunrise. Those that were healthy boarded the guagua and headed down the road with energetic smiles, eager to work on the wood of both houses. It was a day full of sawing, nailing, climbing and progress! On one house, a barebones crew combined to frame out the house of the siblings. On the other house, it was all about the planks. Siding went up rápido and five rows got finished by the end of the day. In both cases, they truly are beginning to look like a house.
Tomorrow will be our last day in the village. We are looking forward to spending the afternoon with our families and the children that have been holding our hands and handing us materials all week.
Saturday, July 4 – Day 6
Friday, July 3 – Day 5
Today, our giving G.O.E.S volunteers received an additional gift beyond the infectious smiles of our village children…a day of rest and relaxation to recoup their strength for our next two work days. This was not a typical American day of rest in front of a TV, sleeping in late. It was a day in paradise … up early and boarding a giant Catamaran by 9:00 am setting sail for a fourteen mile excursion to our first snorkeling destination. After hand feeding the tropical fish amongst beautiful clear waters, spectacular coral and sea fans, we ate our lunch aboard ship and rode the gorgeous coastline to deeper waters with different fish. Last but not least we settled aboard the Catamaran canopy and suntanned as we set sail for our original destination, getting sprayed with sea water as the boat cut through the Caribbean Sea. We ended our fabulous, rejuvenating day with a walk to a near by Mexican restaurant for an authentic Mexican dinner.
Thursday, July 2 – Day 4
What a great day! Both groups were in full swing laying block all day long. On our third day in a row of work we were a bit slow to start, but after our dominican lunch we kicked in high gear and plowed through our materials. One of our houses is officially DONE with block, laying almost 500 in two days. Talk about a steep learning curve! On Tuesday, we had minimal experience with block. Two days later, WE’RE DONE!! Whoa…
The second house split up to finish painting and start mixing. They had their first and toughest line done early on and complete almost three rows by the end of the day.
But work is just one part of our day. Hugs were given every other minute. Kids were thrown in the air and swung around in circles. After lunch, we played basketball, jumped rope, pitched tennis balls, and much much more. From the minute we stepped off the guagua to after we got on, all 28 of us were full of smiles.
After three days of hard work, a much needed day off is awaiting us mañana.
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July 1st, Day 3
Another incredibly successful day! In the words of Buddha, “the mind that perceives the limitation is the limitation.” Today we perceived no limitations and worked beyond our goals to unimaginable lengths.
We got to the job sites this morning and hit the ground pouring! With one footer already in the ground, one group started mixing cement with a 6/6/3 mixture to bring the second house up to speed. It was a long and hard effort put in by everyone involved to pour the footer before lunch despite the final mix which was started at 11:45 and in the ground by 12:15!
Meanwhile, the other house was laying block and had the first and most difficult row done before lunch. We were graced with blue skies today as the pace of work slowed and the learning curve increased. Surprises greeted us at every hour as Chunga kept ice for our water and Oscar climbed a tree in the late afternoon to toss down coconuts for use to drink and eat.
By the end of the day, our collective effort motivated us to lay three rows, pour a footer, and paint a first coat on all 16 windows that will be hung in the houses in the weeks to come.
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Tuesday June 30th, Day 2
Ready… Set… GO!
It was an amazing day filled with joy and hard work. A short walk around the village early on allowed many to see old friends and many more to dream of the day they are walking to see their finished houses. There was no shortage of smiles from people like Joel, Jose Agustin Santos Castillo,Dariani, Nana Ramos or Mingo.
We started building side by side for Chunga and the siblings, Oscar, Manuel, and Nana. The group hit the ground hard with picks and shovels, working in unison to make the best of our time, space, and people. After not too long, old knowledge kicked in and new lessons were being learned.For the first time in a long time, we took breaks in the shade of a beautiful mango tree intertwined with towering coconut trees. Energy was high enough that we not only met our goal of digging both footers, but we even came together to pour one!! AMAZING!!
The most meaningful part of the day were the genuine smiles we shared and the small hands that ever so quietly reached up to clasp ours.
Check back later in the week to see the progress of our work, the growth of our friendships, and many more smiles.
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Monday June 29th Day 1
Travel Day
Day One is traditionally a very long day! Participants were up early to meet the bus at 4:30 am & many said that they did not sleep at all the night before. Excitement, anticipation and packing kept quite a few of them up 24+ hours!
Kyle, Chris and I spent the morning at the local market buying a car-full of fresh vegetables. Going to market is one of my favorite times!
As leaders one major concern is getting all of our supply bags checked [and that they were all under weight] and retrieving each one once we arrive in country. Mrs. D’Anton and Miss Fischetti couldn’t say enough about how cooperative this group was during this travel day! Kyle, Chris and I greeted them at Santiago airport and boarded our van/bus for the two hour journey to our Villa in Playa Cofresi. The country has not seen rain since early May and the students definitely noticed the very dry/brown countryside.
The group unloaded all of the luggage, got settled into their rooms and we met for our orientation, rules and expectations meeting. John Goodyear led us in a beautiful prayer prior to dinner; which was white rice, a delicious egg plant in red sauce and a green salad. Participants then had free time to unpack, settle in, play cards, relax and swim! To ensure that this trip exceeds all expectations, our adult staff [Chris, JoAnn, Dina, Kyle and myself] met with our two student leaders, Omar Mahamed and Brian Santos. Kyle led us to close the evening with a “get-to-know-you” circle time that included questions like “If you had to eat the same thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?” and “If you had to eat worms, how would you cook them?” It was an early bed-check and most were already asleep as I checked in on them!
I am so very grateful. I appreciate the sacrifices families & friends from home have made to provide this experience to the students here!
May God continue to Bless Us All.
“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.”
– Tim Cahill
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