A Successful Zoom With Marion Cross, and a Clinic Visit

 Wednesday morning at the Altagracia school had a couple of nice wrinkles.  We now have arrival and preparation down pat, and as we lined up for flag-raising and national anthems, the DR students were invited to stand with the Altagracia student singers, and they performed "The Star-Spangled Banner".  We have had a lot of nice moments like this. We taught sixth and fourth graders for the first two periods, and here again our experience over the first two days made for excellent organization and even better teaching. The second class of fourth graders was a small one with only 17 students, and then actually allowed for some one-on-one teaching.  What a gift! It was also gratifying to have DR Projects leaders Rita Severinghaus and Danielle Taylor conduct observations of the teaching with the current and past Altagracia English teachers Maribelle and Lewis, and work toward improving teaching skills and better pedagogy. Teachers at Altagracia and faced with so many challenges, and this professional consultation will make the program stronger after we leave. It is a fundamental principle of our support of the English program to increase its sustainability, and that's clearly working.  We have seen a big jump in student interest and ability since last year, and this only increases our interest to so as much as we can.

Along those lines of support and sustainability, it was a highlight of our trip to participate in a Zoom exchange with a fifth-grade class at the Marion Cross School in Norwich.  We used one of the two smart boards installed at the school, one last year and one this year. (We have also donated smart boards to two other Cotui schools, and the Fire Station.  Word is out in the educational community here, and thanks to the tireless work of DR Projects Leader Dr. Franlk Perotti, who visited with a DR group in February), we will continue to do our best to acquire and ship more smart boards and other educational hardware to meet this demand).

The Zoom call was planned on the Norwich end by Marion Cross 5th grade teacher Leslie Dustin, who traveled with us to Altagracia the past two years, and loves the school.  Her son Gus is on this trip as a student leader. On the DR end, our tech trio of Karen O'Hern, Chris Maute and Lewis Marte spent a pressure-packed hour preparing for the exchange, switching out computers at the last minute, but in the end working their magic.  As the packed classroom of Altagracia 6th graders watched, with our DR group crammed in the back of the room,  suddenly on the big smart board there was a split screen image of both classrooms.  The excited Marion Cross 5th graders waved at us.  Our crowded classroom, holding 50  in all, waved back.  We could clearly see and hear each other.  The Marion Cross kids sang two songs for us. The Altagracia students stood and sang the DR National Hymn, loudly and proudly.  Then we all joined in and sang "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands".  One by one, everyone in our classroom went up to the camera on the computer and introduced themselves.  Leslie Dustin was happy to greet all of her DR Projects friends, and got a "Hi, Mom" from Gus.  This is the third year that we have tried to do internet classroom exchanges, and it was clearly the best.  The smart board functioned perfectly, and there were no techinical glitches.  We solved volume issues, and every child in the DR and in Vermont can go home from school and report that they connected with kids from another country.  You can see where this might lead in future years.....

The afternoon was devoted to visiting the rural health clinic in El Limon, founded 14 years ago by DR Projects.  Rita negotiated for the land from a woman next door, and with the help of the Peace Corps and many visits by Rita and DR Projects friends in a fairly short window, a sturdy three-room clinic building was constructed.  Today, Rita presented her with a much-appreciated certificate of honor, recognizing her gift and continuing support. The Ministry of Health staffs rural clinics like these with doctors fresh out of medical school.  There are also several locally-hired staff, including a nurse manager who put herself through school by selling locally-made handicrafts through a womens' collective in Cotui, founded 20 years ago by (who else?) DR Projects.  Maribel is a major success story, and does a great deal in the five small villages covered by the clinic, visiting patients on her motorcycle and distributing donations of clothing that we bring her. This year, we were able to give her two full suitcases of medical supplies and clothing. The clinic is a vital link in the health care process, providing urgent care first aid and referrals to the local hospitals, advice and support for expectant mothers, diabetes care, and so much more.  On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Maribel's home, visited all of the goals and pigs, sampled some sugar cane, fresh-cut by her father, and watched several of our crew try to catch falling fruit knocked down by Lewis with a long pole.  Several of the little girls in this family compound took a real shine to som of us.

On a day when we saw the good work of both the clinic and our beloved Altagracia school, it's possible to imagine that we have made a positive impact in the lives of many hundreds of people on the margins.  We're making so many lives better, and even saving some. The hard rains, predicted for this afternoon, came just as we were returning to the hotel.  Great timing!  Tonight is game night, and we will play dominoes and some other local games in the hotel dining room, joined by several of our local friends.  Cooled by the rain, it will be a nice way to decompress, and get us ready for the stretch run of our trip.