Framy update

We hear from Framy's mother that Framy is doing well and that he had light perception today at least. It is not really clear what surgery they did! They have said it was for detached retina and they have said it was for cataracts. I hope it is the latter, as that is much easier to deal with, although the symptoms he described (sudden pain, a lot of floaters, and inability to see), seem like the former.  Whatever, we are glad to hear that he is doing well, and will give him a few days of recovery before we visit. Thanks for your prayers.

Okay, it is officially hot here! Today we had a few tarps put up for shade, since the tree we used to have was taken down during the construction. At lunch time, when the kids have a little extra time to play outside, it is just too hot in the sun, so we hope this will help.

Framy's Surgery

Today, (student) Framy underwent eye surgery on his one "good" eye for a detached retina. As far as we know, it went well, but of course today it is patched up with gauze. Imagine being deaf and having no vision even for a day. It is a deaf person's worst nightmare. Tomorrow we should hear if the surgery was successful.

Vision Trust helped make the surgery possible. The doctors had said that they would not do the surgery until the mother came up with several thousand pesos--not an easy thing for her. She is very thankful for their help, as are we who work at the school.

Your prayers are appreciated.

Daily snack & Time

The students are very much looking forward to VBS camp, coming up in June. Those who attended last year have heartily recommended it to the new students, and daily we are asked, "When is camp--tomorrow?"

Many of our older students have been language deprived and have great difficulty with the concept of time. Most of them understand tomorrow and today. "Yesterday" to them means anything in the past, and they are often unable to be more specific than that. They will tell you their birthday was "yesterday," when in fact, it was three months ago, but they still remember it well. Explain that something will happen next year, next week, or next month,  and it is beyond their comprehension.

Students who have spent a few years with us usually catch on a little better to time concepts. But even then, if they started school in their teens, they usually cannot grasp the idea of something even as simple as next Thursday. It isn't just a matter of learning the signs; it is understanding the whole concept of time.

It is difficult to invite them to church. If you tell them on Friday, they may show up on Saturday.  For those who understand, we say to come on Sunday. To the others we usually say, "Come in two tomorrows."

 This week the government began providing the students with a pint of milk and either a roll or a cupcake for morning snack. We are thankful that this is available, because most Dominican children have very little milk in their diet.

Teacher Melandina will be leaving after this week for maternity leave. In the DR maternity leave is six weeks before the expected birth of the child and six weeks following the birth, paid leave. Her class will be divided between two other classes, for the remainder of the school year.

back to school

Well, Easter week is past, and the children are drifting back in to school. This is something we experience every time the children have a week or more off; they don't come back all at once! Many go off to the country for a couple of weeks during the break. They are always glad to see each other again, after their time apart. It's so nice to be able to communicate fully with friends.

We have a few special problems right now as well. One teacher is out, because two of her own children have come down with viral hepatitis. We aren't sure how long she will be out. It can take from a few weeks to several months to recover from hepatitis. Meanwhile, the directors have divided up her class among the other classes.

One student, Framy, had a problem before the break. He has only one good eye, and began experiencing severe pain in that eye, and seeing a lot of floaters. It sounded like his retina was possibly detaching. We got him off to the doctor quickly. They basically said it was nothing, but his mom had the wisdom to take him on to the eye hospital. Still, even they were not sure. Meanwhile, Framy has not returned to school. His vision has been severely impaired these couple of weeks, and at night he's pretty much blind, according to his mom. He doesn't want to come to school because of this. The eye hospital is discussing possible surgery. Imagine how terrifying it is to a deaf child who uses his vision to understand others! Please pray for Framy, and especially pray that the Lord will give the doctors wisdom how to save his one functioning eye.

The church is meeting on Sunday afternoons, and a local pastor of the deaf comes to present  preaching/teaching for the children who come. He teaches at another deaf meeting in the morning. The students know and like this pastor & his wife, and we are blessed to have their help. Pray that the children will see the importance of church participation, and that their parents will allow them to participate as well. Several live in the area, although there are also quite a few from outside the area.

Word of mouth is your best recommendation here, and news continues to travel that we are here in Sabana Perdida. Even though we are approaching the end of the school year, we still have children coming in to start school.

Please pray for God's provision of personnel to work with the ever-growing student population. Many of our students have problems in addition to deafness; dyslexia, autism spectrum disorders, vision problems,  difficulties walking, among others. Nearly all come in with severe language deprivation as well. For this reason, it is quite a challenge to find teachers who can meet the needs of this population. We are thankful that the Lord continues to make it possible for these children to come to school.

And we are thankful to YOU! Your prayers make a difference.

Back to our routine

We've enjoyed a couple of very special weeks, with visitors from the US. It's been a great experience for the children. Watching people on TV really doesn't give you an accurate assessment of their culture like meeting them can. It was especially nice that we had several Christian teens here working with us. There is nothing like a good role model.

Now the days are settling back  into their normal routine. The students are glad to come, to see each other, and to learn. I've always been amazed at how very rare it is for a deaf student here to be shy at all!  Ask a question, and every hand goes up! Who wants to read the book to the class? All hands go up again--even those who aren't really able to answer the question or read the book!

The weather is hot once again, after a brief reprieve of cool and breezy days, when it was down to the 70's. The heat can be a distraction.

Next week the directors will begin a deaf church service which will meet on Sunday afternoons. We'll be able to use the school lunchroom for this meeting, and it will be open to deaf people from the school and the community. Although we do have devotionals and weekly Bible study with the children, we see the need for something more in depth for those who are wanting to grow in the Lord. Deaf children are not able to fully participate in their parents' church because of the language barrier.

We hope to have a local deaf pastor preach at the meetings. He is currently out of work, so it will depend somewhat on the job he eventually gets, if he will have the time free to preach twice on Sundays. He already preaches for the deaf at another location on Sunday mornings.


Please keep this new ministry in your prayers. We believe that feeding the spirit is as important as feeding the mind and the body.

School is open and we are at work!

The school is open at last! Only a few kids per class arrived the first day back, but by yesterday we had three-fourths of the students. Some are hard to contact, so we have to wait for them to get in touch with us, in order to let them know that school has reopened. This is due to the fact that people change cell p hone numbers almost constantly. Often cell phones are stolen, and other times they simply haven't put money on them recently and lose the number.

We have a work team here of four adults and six teens. They are doing a great job, but I'm going to let them speak for themselves. You can read the blog of one of the teens, at this address: DR blog. He has even posted some video.

Thanks for your prayers. We are all so pleased to be in our renovated space. It is wonderful to have bathrooms with running water! And it is great to have a little more space to move around in. We are still getting the walls decorated. We want this to be a haven for these deaf children, a place where they can be at peace, a place where they know they are loved. All this for Jesus' sake.

Did I mention that we were starting school again?

Well we didn't. Unfortunately, promises were not kept, and the day we were to begin, found us still with no bathrooms ready for use. The principal had to send the students back home. They say we are really going to start next Monday. And yes, this time the bathrooms are finished! 

They've made a lot of progress this week. At least that's what I've heard.  I haven't been over to see it. Instead the teachers have been coming to my house for workshops, so that that cement could be put down in the courtyard without our being in the way.

So, I believe that this time we really are going to begin...I know they are planning an inauguration of the site for Monday. We did this before, as the school began on the site, but this time it is to re-open the newly inaugurated site. There are still things to be done, but my understanding is that we will be beginning the full day session right away on Monday. Thank you Jesus!