Friday, February 28, 2014

Vic, Chuck and I finished assembling the library carts in the morning.  The rest of the Journey team went first to Cangrejo for a walking tour and then to Esperanza to visit the women’s H.O.P.E. centre (Helping Other People Eat) where jewelry items are crafted for sale and shipment using recycled cardboard.  Many changes continue to be made in this village, which was built to replace a shanty town fashioned from tin, scrap wood and whatever is available. 

The 2 ½ Amigos rendezvoused with the others for lunch at the old fort located near the shipping port in Puerto Plata.  From the fort we could see a row of colourful houses in Agua Negra, an extremely impoverished area around the mouth of a river.  Phil explained that some of these houses were constructed by WestJet employees who travel here on working holidays, much as we do (see the WestJet Video).  Interested employees enter a lottery from which a number of names are drawn.  

View of the ‘WestJet’ Houses from Across the Bay

      After lunch we went to Agua Negra (recently renamed Nuevo Renacer, meaning new re-birth) where we met Sandra, a tireless advocate for the poor and a worker of miracles.  Since 2007, when I first met her, she has inspired numerous teams of workers (including Mike Holmes and the Ontario Homebuilders Association) and recruited many like-minded individuals to work alongside her to fulfill her dream of reducing poverty, improving the health and educating the people of Agua Negra.  The school she started in a derelict building which had a plastic tarp for a roof, has been substantially rebuilt, with a new steel roof, furnished classrooms, a computer room, an operating kitchen and offices.  There are 6 teachers.  Next to it is another building which houses a fledgling medical centre, a new sewing class and her small living quarters.  Sandra toured us through part of the village, all the while chattering away about all the changes taking place.  She would have kept us going through the whole town if we had not insisted that we had to continue with our itinerary.

Sandra Gives Each of Us a Hug

New Roof on the Church/School

New Desks in the Classrooms

Sewing Class for Women in a New Building

Sandra’s Mother is the Cook for the School

We finished up the day by riding a cable car to the highest point on the coast, Mount Isabella, with its giant statue of Jesus, modeled after the famed Rio prototype.  We spent about an hour hiking on the maze of pathways through the tropical forest before descending and heading back to the resort.  The bus stopped at a grocery store so we could shop for coffee, vanilla, spices, etc.