Kelly - In DR - update #4

From Kelly last Monday....

I went to mass tonight (Saturday) in another batey. The orphanage is right next to Batey Nuevo. It’s the one that I wrote about earlier. Today, we went the other direction to Batey Monte Christi. Batey Monte Christi made Batey Nuevo look “not so bad.” Since I won’t be taking any photos of these places, out of respect, I’ll try to describe them to you.

The houses are small, and some are made of concrete and were painted a long time ago, so there is still some color on them. Others are corrugated tin that is set up into 4 walls and a roof. Some are made of cinderblock. They all have barbed wire fences around them, and the wood part of the fences are made from whatever trees are growing in the area, so each fence post looks like the trunk of a small tree, and some even have leaves. There is usually clothes hanging on a line, and the livestock live inside of the barbed wire. There is leftover food, peels of mango and other fruits and some garbage strewn about in the livestock pen – I guess that’s part of what they feed them? I don’t really know.

As we were driving to mass tonight, we drove through the batey because the church is right in the middle. Everyone sits in those plastic lawn chairs we have in the states, on buckets, on stumps or whatever they have to sit on in their “front yard” with the animals. As we drove by, there were women doing each other’s hair, men talking, and everyone just sitting around. They definitely watched us as we came in. We were driving in the bus that the orphanage has.

Anyway, it is very hard to see these people and how they are living, knowing that I am going back to a house with an indoor bathroom, a bed, and enough to eat. The living conditions are very rough to say the least. There was a boy bathing in the “yard” his bath consisted of him standing in his shorts, using an old jug cut in half to scoop the water and pour it on himself. Then he lathered up and rinsed the same way, as the cows were standing right next to him in the mud.

The director and the head nun came to have a meeting with the new volunteers today. They explained some of the dynamics that are going on here in the D.R. They said that the surrounding bateys know that NPH is a school, but the people of the batey don’t know all the details of why the kids are here. In actuality the kids that come to NPH are here by recommendation only. They don’t go “throwing a net out” as the director said looking for new kids. The kids come through the court – so that eventually these kids can get their documents. By documents, he meant that many of the kids are of Haitian descent, and they will need to get paperwork to be legal here in the DR to take their 8th grade state exams. If they are not legal, they can not take the test.

The tios and tias (those caring for the kids) are of Dominican descent. So, they live here taking care of children of Dominican descent as well as Hatian descent. He said there is also some tension in that area because the tios and tias are here for 6 days and then off for 3 days. So, they leave their families to come work with these kids. The director explained that some of the tios and tias have a hard time making ends meet and they worry about the well being of their own children while they are away. Then they come to work and see these kids with all of their needs met, in a safe, clean and healthy environment. Just another dynamic of the orphanage I guess.

Today is Sunday. I am thankful to be back at the orphanage. I went to Santo Domingo (the capital) today. Megan – a new volunteer is studying Spanish in Santo Domingo for 2 weeks. She came to the orphanage on Friday to drop off some stuff and then returned today. She’ll be coming to stay for 1 year beginning next Friday. Anyway, she was a little apprehensive about returning alone, and Teresa and I wanted to see Santo Domingo, but didn’t know which buses to take. So, we all decided to go together.

To make it clearer, the orphanage is set way out behind Batey Nuevo. We are about 15 minutes from San Pedro de Marcoris. Some of the kids have their sponsors visiting and they were going to the beach. So, we caught a ride when them to San Pedro. They were nice enough to drop us off at a bus station. So, we finally figured out which bus we wanted, and got on. It sat about 35 people.

There is no “bus schedule” basically, you find the bus that is going where you want it to go, then you get on. You sit there until the bus is full (overfull actually) then, you drive away, and the “doorman” pushes his way down the crowded aisle to collect the fare. It was 110 pesos to go to Santo Domingo and 110 to get back. Basically $7 for a 1 hour ride each way! Pretty cheap if you ask me.

Anyway, got to Santo Domingo, walked around, saw the FIRST church of the Americas. For those of you who don’t know the history, when Christopher Columbus was sailing for the new world, he stopped at DR and established the first colony. Therefore, the first church is here, the first of LOTS of things are here, in the capital of Santo Domingo. And, there are statues of Christopher Columbus all over as well.

We looked in the sky and saw black clouds. Then, they opened up. We had a downpour for about 15 minutes, then it stopped. Not too bad J

We grabbed some lunch (rice and beans) at a WEIRD restaurant. I think there was some sort of “service” going on through the restaurant… based on the people that were there, and the number of single guys, prostitues, etc. well I think you get my point. So, we ate and we left.

Getting back was pretty uneventful. We found a guagua to take us to the bus station. Took the bus back to San Pedro, then we got a taxi back to the orphanage. I wanted to kiss the ground when I got here, but I held back.

Santo Domingo was nice to visit, but I’m glad to be home. I was talking to one of the boys and he was telling me that because of my skin color the Dominican people think I am rich and that I could get mugged. He said San Pedro is a little safer than Santo Domingo, and that NPH is the safest. He tried to make me feel better by telling me that if any of the kids here at NPH saw anyone trying to hurt me – they would all run and fight them off. Quite protective huh?

Then, when I got to dinner, my tia hugged me and welcomed me back. She said she watched for the taxi and saw that I got home ok. She was glad to see me.

Long story short – I probably won’t be going back to Santo Domingo!

We’ve been having thunderstorms off and on all day. Right now there is lightning, but no thunder and no rain. Odd… oh, and it’s hotter than heck, and all the crickets are chirping, and the cockroaches are out in force. Must be a Dominican evening!

We’re getting a new volunteer (supposedly) tonight. It’s now 7:45 and she’s not here… so maybe she got a late flight like me. She’s going to be sharing my room, so maybe I’ll meet her in the middle of the night when she comes in.

I guess that’s it. Just another day in DR.

They took the satellite down yesterday, but I think it’s up and running again. Vamos a ver!

Love,
Kelly