Sunday in the DR: We go to Church and then Visit a Village

 Sunday was a rich day for us.  As will be our custom all week, we had an early breakfast.  After donning  our Sunday Best, we walked four blocks into the city center to attend mass at the Immaculate Conception cathedral. Attending Catholic Mass in a Spanish-speaking country provides a wonderful learning experience, and everyone embraced it.  We watched and listened and as Sam later said, we were given the opportunity to see him important this church is in the local community.  It was the first Sunday in Lent, and church was full.  Toward the end of the service all who wished to receive Communion were invited forward.  Local Catholic church policies vary with regard to who may receive the Eucharist. The priest in Cotui has made it clear that all were welcome, and several in the group came forward in addition to the Catholics in our entourage.  A bit later, all of us were called forward and we stood in front of the congregation while Rita Severinghaus described the work of DR projects over the years.  Then the Captain of the Cotui Fire Department, who is a member of the DR Projects Board of Directors,  spoke and praised the impact that we have had on Cutui and the villages surrounding it.  We were then invited behind the altar and lined up facing the priest, who sprinkled us with holy water and blessed our work.  The congregation applauded as we returned to our seats.  It was pretty moving.

Our bus picked us up in front of the church and took us back to the hotel, where we changed into comfortable but respectable clothing (no shorts, no shoulders, safe shoes) and drove 45 minutes on increasingly bumpy roads to the little mountain village of Las Ayamas, deep in cattle country.  DR Projects has had a significant impact here for 20 years, and Rita proudly told us later today that three young doctors have all emerged from this hardscrabble town.  We made our annual visit to the home of Jean Maria and Anna Maria, a couple who work with us year-round to distribute clothing and supplies to the villagers.  We have donated two sewing machines to Anna Maria, and this allows her to provide a service to the townspeople and also make a modest living.  DR Projects has twice helped rebuild and expand her house.  As we arrived, we were greeted by their family and many neighbors, most of them related.  It was a festive atmosphere.  Our crew of Luis and Lewis took a long pole, and knocked down several star fruits for us the try.   We sat together and ate a delicious meal that they had prepared, and the treats kept coming. We sipped the Best Coffee We Have Ever Tested, just ground by Anna Maria's mother. Then we had sweet and delicious pineapple chunks, and again it was far better than anything you can hope to get unless you also harvest it the same day.  Then we tried cacao pods, harvested an hour ago.  Cacao is a cash crop for many local families, who dry it and sell it to brokers in either La Mata or Cotui.  This is how subsistence living works. Then the music started playing and we danced.  All of us.  With many partners.  Local teens, little kids, and old-timers like me. I've got Salsa down.  Then we took a long walk on a hilly country road, and as we did many of the students in our group naturally gravitated to the dozen or so young children who were walking with us.  Shy introductions evolved into earnest conversation, with many in our group speaking Spanish in a way to make their teachers proud.  I have been on many of these visits, and have rarely seen a larger community group, and a better dry run for the interactions that we will be having on Monday at the Altagracia school.  We finally said reluctant and fond goodbyes and loaded the bus for the trip back to the hotel.

After supper we circled up and met, to debrief the day and plan for school tomorrow. This is what we have been waiting for. This is what the children have been waiting for with great anticipation, which we humbly hope to fulfill. See you tomorrow!