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Changing Perceptions |
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By Paul Rader, a Self-Development
of People National Committee Member
Issue 3. August/September 2004 e-Stories that Make A Difference, A Publication
of SDOP, A One Great Hour of Sharing Ministry of the PC(USA).
In this article
Paul shares how practically all of his perceptions of the Dominican Republic
were changed after his experience there during our May 2004 National Committee
Meeting. Here's Paul's story . . . |
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"Having been to the Caribbean before, I expected the Dominican
Republic to “feel” Caribbean. I thought the food
would be spicy, the music driven by steel drums, and the whole
country run on “island time.” I was wrong on all
accounts.
Our SDOP group visited three different projects, two within
the capital city of Santo Domingo, and |
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The Association of the Disabled, one of
the projects visited by SDOP National Committee in the Dominican
Republic. Photo by National Committee member |
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one in the rural village of Guerra. How to give an
accurate impression of each project?
The Association of the Disabled
was the most enjoyable.
Those participating, while poor, seemed happy and productive.
The Association is a kind-of-a workshop for mentally and physically
handicapped persons of all ages. |
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Many of them
create craft products for sale, the kind of items typically
found in 10,000 Villages or Serve stores. I was struck by the
state of the equipment used: rickety, wooden wheel-chairs,
warped tree-limb crutches, arm and shoulder slings made of
strips of used clothing. Housed in a building given by the
government, the Association of the Disabled appears to function
the way most non-profits in the US function: there is a formal
board of directors, a mission statement, a budget, staff support,
and clientele. Plenty of initiative on the part of the disabled
was evident. Cynthia White, SDOP’s Executive Director, who had visited
the site before, remarked that the building was in much better
condition than before. This is clearly a group of people making
real effort to improve their lives.
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 37
families who were relocated to an abandoned schoolhouse after
Hurricane George (1998) still live there six years later. Photo
by National Committee member |
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From the Association building
we walked just a few hundred yards to an abandoned schoolhouse
that was home to 37 families relocated there by the government
after Hurricane George in 1998. Promised new homes in the storm’s
aftermath, six-years later they are still waiting. Now numbering
more than 200 persons, the majority of them children, this
group of “internal” refugees may be too disorganized
and too dispirited for our help.
“Squalor” is the only
term that describes their living conditions. Howard Dorgan,
a professor of speech communication at
Appalachian State |
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University, once said
in my hearing, that “given enough time, poverty
can debase anyone.” With no front wall to their living
quarters (hence on privacy whatsoever), no plumbing or electricity,
no sewage disposal, and no social or political support, the
residents of the abandoned school are surely occupants of Dante’s
Hell. And yet, some of them thanked us for visiting them and
hoped that we would remember them in our prayers. I am reminded
of Psalm 139:8, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art
there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” God
is in that awful place: may we be given guidance to know what
would be truly helpful to them.
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An hour and a half later
we found ourselves in Guerra. The only signs of prosperity
were two: the Los Angeles Dodgers training facility we passed
on the way, and the cock-fighting ring on the main street.
The Women’s Federation of Guerra would be a remarkable
entity anywhere; to find it in rural Dominican Republic is
astonishing. A small group of women have built a kitchen where
they bake sweets for sale throughout the community. Given the poverty
of the community, one wonders who can buy from them, but it
seems to work. We saw their oven, a propane-powered, multi-level
contraption once used by a pizza shop; the cutting board, an
ancient wooden table doubling as a storage bin; two five-gallon
mixing bowls, stirred by hand over wood-fires;
the concrete table under
the corrugated roof upon which dough is
kneaded and rolled.
We learned that these women have a system of supply and demand
worked out with others
in the community: they buy wood from a |
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A
member of The Women's Federation of Guerra stirs a five-gallon
mixing bowl to make sweets that the group sells in the
community. Photo
by
National Committee member |
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few women,
cow’s milk from others, sugar
from still others. It is a marvelous example of “spreading
the wealth.” When asked what was the best thing about
their project, one of them responded, “That we are family.
We take care of each other.” This same woman went on
the describe how the youngest member of their group “has
a child. She is paying for college with the money she earns.
We all watch her child while she is in school.”
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The Association of the Disabled, one of
the projects visited by SDOP National Committee in the Dominican
Republic. Photo by National Committee member |
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I do not know how to describe
our experience of the Dominican Republic. As intimated above,
the food was not spicy, the music not reggae, and the persons
we dealt with were punctual. There was none of the blasé “be
happy, man!” facade presented on other islands. We were
treated with the utmost respect and with what seemed to be
genuine interest. However, I doubt that we brought much hope.
I overheard one person at the abandoned school say that “lots
of people come to see them and take pictures.” It was
said without recrimination, but it also bespoke a weariness
with outsiders offering aid. I fear that our response to such
human tragedies as how many of our Dominican brothers and sisters
are forced to live, may be far more indicative of our own worldly
values than those values espoused by the gospel of Jesus Christ." |
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This story has not been
edited for content. |
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Self Development of
People (SDOP) giving opportunity
Self Development of People is one of three components of the One Great
Hour of Sharing Program. This project serves as a way for individuals to
contribute funds directly to the work of Self Development of People. You
can donate to the project online by clicking the "Give " button
or by contacting Cynthia
White at (888) 728-7228 x5780.
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E051602 |
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Goal: $1,000,000 |
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