Wednesday, February 12

The ladies spent the morning and afternoon at Kairos de Christo school in Cangrejo for distribution of knit Teddy Bears and Dolls.  The Kindergarten played Simon Says and sang songs.  The Grade Ones were excited to tell the story they were studying about Canada and ice and snow.  Grade Twos did some singing.  Grade Threes answered Math Questions and had a question and answer time with the ladies.  The distribution of the Bears and Dolls caused lots of excitement and interactions with the adults and with each other.  In the morning, Cath and Margot presented a computer donated by their work to School Director Marta.

The men were back in Loma with the boys carpentry in the morning and afternoon.  They are making awesome progress and have all the pieces for the footstool cut out and are starting to put them together.  Some of the morning group of younger boys and all of the afternoon group of older boys got both ends put together, which involved drilling holes, gluing and putting in screws.  I find it interesting that the older boys try to do everything quickly and some end up being less accurate than the younger group of boys.  They all seem to be having fun.  The older boys also do a lot of teasing when someone makes a mistake.  In the morning a bit of rain occurred after we started and wet the wood making it harder to saw and drill holes.  I had to let them use the battery drill which they enjoyed.  

Kindergarten Class playing Simon Says

Playing with their Teddy Bears

Cath making Computer Presentation to Marta

Comparing Bears

Bea Receiving Low Fives

Happiness is a Warm Teddy

Four Year Old Kindergarten Girl giving Thanks

Grade Three Class receiving Dolls

Grade Three Class with Dolls

 

Thank You, I Love my Doll

Bea gets Greeted by a Local Cow

Snack Time at Kairos School

Trying to use the Hand Drill in Wet Wood

Using the Rip Saw to Cut with the Grain

Using the Proper Stance

Sanding the Pieces before Assembly

Team Sanding??

Tuesday, February 11

The 'Grey Goose' picked us up at 9 and carried us to Loma Community Centre.  John and Vic began the Boy's Carpentry project with the considerable help of Junior, our translator and Eddie, the local handyman.  There were 5 boys for 2 hours in the morning and a different 5 boys for 2 hours in the afternoon.  These same two groups will continue the pattern for the rest of the week.  They are going to make a stool which can be seen if you scroll down to the end of my post of January 9th.

Eddie Assisting one of the Boys

John Assisting one of the Boys

Bea Encouraging one of the Boys

Junior Advising one of the Boys

The ladies were also busy today at Loma.  Bea led a 'Story and Song' devotional time with a group of kids to start things off.  They were then divided into 2 groups (older kids and younger kids) and did an activity making a Dominican Flag using paper and glue.  These activities were repeated in the afternoon for a different group of kids.

Bea Reading the Story while Tanya brings her Triplets to see Jesus

Bea Gave a Lesson on Self Worth based on the Story of Jesus Inviting the Little Children to come to Him. The Song: 'Jesus Loves the Little Children' was translated into Spanish, which produced the Humorous translation of "Red and Yellow, Black and White" as "Pink and Green, Blue and White". The song was eliminated with the afternoon group.

Margot and Cath with the Older Group holding up their Flags

We spent the last hour of our workday doing odd jobs at Loma:  cutting wood pieces for a craft on Thursday, tidying in the Art Room and discussing ideas with the Servant's Heart staff.

The New LED Projector donated by St Luke's Lutheran Church,
Kitchener was put to Immediate Use at Loma

Monday, February 10

This morning the team was taken to the facilities run by Servant's Heart Ministries - The Pregnancy Education Centre, Kairos de Christo School and the Loma Community Centre.  A five minute video introduced the staff members and their roles and we got to meet each of them during the morning and ask questions. We were given a short tour and overview of the programs offered at each location.  At the school, Wendy explained how the Hugs for Kids Child Sponsorship program works. She said that each child has a 'personal story' that she tries to learn so that their education can meet specific needs.  

Back to the resort for lunch and then returned to Loma to go over plans for the week and do some preparation.  Following the afternoon, John, Peter and Dario went to the lumber yard, while the ladies and Vic were taken back to the resort.  Obtaining wood, screws and nails turned into an adventure as I tried to get specific dimensions of lumber and lengths of fasteners.  I wanted 1 1/4 inch drywall screws but they only had 1 inch or 1 12/ inch.  I ended up with 1 1/2 inch nails, which will work by putting them in at a slight angle.  I wanted 1x6x10 foot planed pine boards but they didn't have any, so I had to get 1x12s cut down the centre.  Plus, they had to be cut to 5 foot to fit into the van under the seats.  What should have taken 20 minutes quickly became an hour.  

A Rainbow was viewed from the Breakfast Table

Waiting for David to arrive with the 'Grey Goose' (van)

Pit Stop at the Money Changer to Procure Pesos

1st Stop - Pregnancy Education Centre

Vic received a Warm Greeting from Jenny

10th Anniversary T-Shirt

Grade 3 Class at Kairos School

The Upper Room in the Addition - Kindergarten Class

School Yard

Guitar Teacher 'Chris Rock' tests out a Hanger

A Student and 'Chris' holding a Capo and Strings

Looking Out from the Second Story of the Loma Community Centre

Inside the Second Story of the Community Centre

Sunday, February 9 in Sosua

Well, I'm connected again.  Our 5 team members went to church this morning with David, Sandy, Peter, Tanya and Judy.  I mentioned to Peter the problem I was having with my email and other programs and he advised me to sign up with ExpressVPN (click for link - very private network - a network within a network).  I did so, paying $12.95 American for a month using PayPal (which was immediately refunded since ExpressVPN offers a month free trial).

Church service this morning was at Ocean Side Christian Fellowship, which seems a bit of a misnomer since the ocean is nowhere in site.  Fact is, it used to be held in an open air structure at a resort, which is on the ocean.  Pastor Dave and the praise band kept us busy standing and sitting for an hour and a half, of which Pastor Dave consumed 40 minutes with his message of achieving Peace in our lives.  His volume rose and fell as noisy vehicles periodically fought their way up the hill outside the open door.  Near the climax of his message, a relatively unmuffled truck hauling a massive digger on a flatbed was no contest and Pastor Dave was forced to pause until it conquered the hill and restored a semblance of peace.

Bea and I spent time on the beach starting a tan and did a walking tour of the Sosua area around the resort.  Noticed several overzealous 'tanners' doing lobster impressions, as well as 'career tanners' which in Florida they call 'Leathers'.  Cath and Margot tried out the small ocean view pools then read books, while Vic caught up on some TV programs.

Cath palming the palm so I can get a Photo of the Sign

Bea, John, Sandy, David, Margot, Cath, Vic and Tanya.
Peter took Pictures with multiple cameras and Judy had wandered off. 

Praise Team in Action
Like Small Congregations anywhere, the chairs filled from back to front.

Three Attentive Visitors (Dog not paying attention)

Peculiar Daffodil - will have to look it up.

Grafitti at Mototaxi Stop

Artsy Sign Post near our Resort

Wall around local school Featuring Political Heroes of the DR
Notice the Barbed Wire atop the wall to prevent students from Escaping!

Martyred Mirabel Sisters  (click for link)

Reading a Kingsolver Novel

Georgetown - Monday, February 3, 2020

Last week I designed and built a couple more projects which could 

be done in the boy's woodworking class in the village of Loma.

 A Simple Toolbox

Plans for Toolbox

And a more complicated Project.......

Tall Stool for Working at Art Tables

 Bea and I spent some time in the Church Hall today, repacking hockey bags to hold more supplies that have come in.  Each bag can hold up to 50 pounds and we will have over 500 pounds total.

Our team will be taking 11 Hockey Bags of Supplies

49.4 Pounds - Perfect!

Picton - January 9, 2020

There are five of us going to the DR this year.  Four of us are veteran DR trippers and one is a newbie.  Bea and I and Vic will be going for 2 weeks and Cath and Margot for 1 week.  Bea and I have been preparing for 2020 almost since we got back from last year.  We have been fundraising all year, including 2 garage sales, a 70 km walk, Soup Sundays at church, building garden easels and benches, selling preserves and sending out donation letters.  And to top it off, a Friend named Eric performed a successful Concert featuring songs of the 40's, 50's, 60's......and raised over $700!!
We have also been busy collecting supplies that are needed for the various programs run by Servant's Heart Ministries in the Sosua area of the Dominican.

Children's clothes.

School and Crafting Supplies

Knit Dolls, Tooth Care Products, Painting Stuff

Towels, Face Cloths

Tool Kits

Something I want to try this year is teaching woodworking to some of the boys in the village of Loma.  I have put together 5 kits of hand tools, including saws, drill, hammer, square, etc. in each box.  The first project will be a stool which can be used for both sitting and standing on.  I made a prototype in my workshop using the same tools the boys will use.  I also drew a detailed plan for it.