Literacy group I visted, they were praising to end their lesson

They were singing the following:

Demos Gracias

// Demos gracias al Senor, demos gracias. Demos gracias por su amor. //
Por las mananas la saves cantan las alabanzas al Cristo el Salvador.
Y tu, mi hermano, porque no cantas las alabanzas al Cristo el Salvador?

Translated version:
Let’s Give Thanks

// Let’s give thanks to the Lord, let’s give thanks. Let’s give thanks for his love. //
In the morning, the birds sing the praises to Christ the Savior.
And you, my brother, why don’t you sing the praises to Christ the Savior?

Punta Cana, the ride back and thoughts...

On Thursday all of the Esperanza staff and family headed towards Punta Cana. There were over 200 of us coming from 10 different offices both from the DR and Haiti. We stayed at the all inclusive Occidental Grand Flamenco Resort. We had a quick worship/gather up on Thursday where Esperanza directors shared the most memorable successes of the year. Then we all went our separate ways to enjoy our time at the resort.

<-- Our San Pedro Office staff with family

The beach was incredible, white sand, warm water, and light waves.

On Friday I literally spent all day on the beach and in the pool. And as you can imagine I got a pretty bad sun burn. But I think it was well worth it.

<-- Claire (Hope intern Trip coordinator, also PLNU recent graduate), Me, Brande (Spiritual integration intern specialist, from Missouri)

We headed back on Saturday evening, 4pm. An hour into the drive I would say that about half of us were asleep on the bus. We were wakened up by people freaking out and standing up saying they wanted to get off the bus. I was a little alarmed but for the most part nonchalant, apparently the gears weren’t working properly and the bus was having trouble getting up the hills.

Just as this happens the director talks to the driver and orders a new bus to be sent to La Romana the closest town. After she reassures everyone that everything would be fine, we hear a large thump, the bus turns off and we slowly merge to our right. So somehow the battery fell off the bus and caused the bus to stop. After they checked the engine, they noticed that the brakes were completely gone. We were stranded in a little village 40 Kilometers from La Romana. Honestly I thought the brake down was quite adventurous. We were surrounded by cows people riding horses, the teenagers were sitting on the floor eating their smuggled food they brought from the buffet, the kids were picking wild fruits and berries, and the adults were either chatting or arguing with the bus driver. After about a two hour wait we got a little van sent our way, where about 25 people tightly squished themselves in. The second van arrived about 20-30 minutes later, there were about 30 of packed in but neatly seated on small seats or on the ground (our luggage was pulled behind us on a small trailer). We got to San Pedro at 9pm.

So there was a lot of time to ponder about life during the long bus ride. My mind drifted from politics, to addressing social issues, and then skipped to memories with family and friends. Side Note: Okay so if Becky is reading this, I am so sorry I forgot to call you or email you on your Birthday!!! I love you and hope you had an awesome time, you know I’m a ditz and forget everything!

Unfortunately I think I thought too much on the ride back and began to feel really home sick. The big fuzzy spiders and lizards that crawl on my walls really bothered me on Sunday. I began to wish I had warm water to shower in and just as I thought that, the water ran out! ahhh I missed the feeling of clothes right out of the dryer, the taste of tortillas, the smell of febreeze, the convenient invention of wifi, and so much more… But I got a hold of myself took a long deep breath picked up a book and read under my creatively hung mosquito net. After a few tears I was back to my normal self again. Today I woke up at 4:40am, took my three mile walk (round trip), gave thanks for my cold cup of water, picked my sun dried clothes of the electric cables outside, took a quick shower, got dressed, had a Dominican cup of coffee, said good morning to my neighbors, bought two fried danikakes (fried flour) from a street vender (5 Dominican pesos for both, about 14 US cents), walked to work, at work wrote some Kiva journals, and now I am typing this… How could I be upset? Despite all the bumps I have to get used to, there are even more good things every morning I have to look forward to.

Happy Sixth B-day Noe

I wanted to wish my favorite nephew Happy Birthday today. I hope you don’t forget about me! Remember I am the auntie with the iphone who lets you play whenever your parents aren’t around and gives you ice cream at Disneyland…haha

You’re growing too fast!
Remember when you were this little…
You were six months old here and were so glad to return from Texas.



















And this was taken on Tuesday, three weeks ago, the day before I left to Pennsylvania. You are quite the big boy!


I wish I were creative enough to have left a gift wrapped for you… But know that I owe you one when I get back. I hope you have a wonderful day today.


Much love,
Your tia Maira

Noemi: Give him a big hug and a wet kiss from me...

New habits in my life...

There are a couple of good changes that I am doing while I am here in the DR. The first and most important is that I am waking up early. I am waking up every day at 4:45am. I know quite incredible! The people that know me, especially my roommates, know that I am not a morning person! So I am waking up and walking to the pier for exercise (it’s a bout a mile walk I would say, maybe a little more…) Another change is that I am not drinking much coffee (I think I had a total of 4 cups of coffee in the past 3 weeks). I am also reading a significant amount, I have finished one book (The Poor will be Glad by Peter Greer) so far, and have two more to go. Oh and my daily meals average about $2 per day (half the world lives on less than $2 day)…

So, last week I wrote that I would begin teaching English at Tu Hogar Cristiano, Milan Tapia’s school. So this is the update. I taught around 30 kids on Monday. It was a one hour class and I had kids ranging from 8 years old to 17 years old.

We reviewed the alphabet, numbers 1-20 and basic introductions that included:
Hello (Hi) my name is ______________________________ ?
What is your name?
My name is __________________________?
How old are you?
I am ­­­­___________________ years old?
Nice to meet you, Goodbye.

I went a little fast because more than anything I wanted to know how much they already knew and their overall interest/dedication. I was surprised when about all but maybe 2 kids were actively engaged. They are all very eager to learn and I am really exited to be part of their learning process. Starting next week (this week they have final exams), I will teach two lessons a day, twice a week. The first lesson will be for a group of 20 kids, the second lesson will be for a group of 12 kids who will go visit the US in September on a HOPE trip. The director, Milan will also attend the HOPE trip in Pennsylvania in September. Milan, will also join me in the lessons so she can learn/practice her English.

Milan gave me a tour of the school and introduced me to all the teachers and students who were in classrooms that were in session. I was quite impressed with the school. The kids are well behaved when class is going on, after they are dismissed now that’s a different story, haha. The building is quite nice; it is two stories high with six classrooms, a kitchen, an office, and a play area. Tu Hogar Cristiano educates 430 kids and employs about 25 faculty/staff. This is quite impressive considering the start of this school began with a woman who after receiving an Esperanza loan to start her own sowing business, with her profits began teaching street children from her home. Milan is an inspiration, she is very positive and if I could quote her in one phrase it would be “I can do it, God willing”. She is determined to succeed in her life and see others succeed as well.

Well that is all for now. Tomorrow I will go to Boca Chica once more and Thursday-Saturday I will stay at a resort in Punta Cana.

XOXO,
Maira

Happy Friday Everyone

Yesterday, Thursday, I went to Boca Chica for a bank meeting. This particular bank has eight groups and a total of forty people. The meeting took longer than usual because there was people missing and all the payments weren’t complete. One lady was unable to do her payment of 600 Dominican pesos, approximately $17 US dollars because she had been sick and could not work. Everyone pitched in 15 pesos, an equivalent of .42 US cents. It was great to see that everyone in an organized matter did this without any real protest.

When the payments were complete Alejandro, the loan officer, jots down their information on individual booklets. Each person takes the booklet home and is able to see how much they have paid, what is left, their savings, interest, etc. While the loan officer is doing this (takes time to do 40!), Esmeida, the Human development coordinator, talked about the literacy course that was in session. An associate (client) also brought to the attention the desperate need to have Esperanza help with the people in the community who were not registered. If you are not registered you cannot be legally inscribed in schools, so many of them who do attend cannot get their degree. I was surprised when everyone in the community raised their hand to say that they had a family member, friend or neighbor they knew who weren’t registered.

After official business was sealed, we proceeded to singing Christian songs. I even pitched myself to say a joke. Since I only really know a few jokes I shared the one about the Christian horse, everyone enjoyed it. Finally after Alejandro finished with the booklets, we prayed to close the meeting.
After the meeting I met the leader of the bank’s son, for the purpose of this blog I will name him John (I forgot his name…). John and I had a decent conversation in English because he wanted to practice what he was learning in school. Even at the young age of 20 he is an Esperanza associate who invests in buying sugar cane tickets. In surrounding communities, the sugar cane plantation owners pay their daily workers in tickets. Those tickets can be later cashed at the end of the month. John finances some of those tickets for people who cannot wait until the end of the month to cash their tickets; he charges a 20% interest.

It’s Friday, wow does time fly! I just got off the phone with Milan, and educational director for a school here in San Pedro. I will begin teaching English courses on Monday. Here is a picture I pulled from Reader’s Digest that show children from her school.

This morning I have been busy putting together their lesson plans for the following two months (I will teach them twice a week).

So far it’s a Good Friday. The weather is nice and cloudy, I have few new mosquito bites, and I get to have lunch with Claire who is visiting from Santo Domingo.

I hope your Friday is going as nice as mine,
Maira

I am not a good friend

I had lunch with a child who was begging for cash today. He told me a long story about how he was lost and needed to get back to the capital. I heard him knowing that his situation was a tale. I asked him to join me for lunch where I proceeded to buy him chicken and french fries. We talked about family, food, and what we liked. He said he liked math and social sciences and that his family meant everything to him. I knew this was also a lie. I don’t know a 13year old that would openly state that he loves his parents and siblings… My heart ached for this lost child. He wasn’t lost geographically, but he was disoriented from a lot more. He has been forced to lie to survive. When I finished my lunch and started to get up to leave he told me “tu eres una buena amiga” (you are a good friend). As much as my ego would want this to be true I know in my heart it is not. I am not a friend if I cannot change his situation. I am not a friend because at the end of our lunch meeting I chose to turn around and go home not knowing where his home lies, if he even has home to turn to. I am not a friend because right now all I can do is stare at social injustice and secretly sob.
-Maira

Our Kiva partner :)

Many of you are probably already familiar with Kiva the online organization that allows you donate $25 at a time to an entrepreneur in your choice of country. Like I had stated in a previous blog, I will be help strengthen the relationship between Kiva and Esperanza. Just so you can see statistics and what not about this relationship, click on the following link: http://www.kiva.org/about/aboutPartner?id=44

Hopefully by the end of the summer we can decrease the days it takes to fund our loans, have better quality photographs, and journal more frequently letting you know how our entrepreneurs are doing.

Have a blessed day,
Maira