Update on Agape Flights

The week in review

Sunday
I was in a car accident, while riding as a passenger in a friend's car, a few minutes after leaving Sunday church meeting. Thankfully, no one had any serious injuries, although we certainly have had our aches and pains this week from the battering we took in the crash.

Tuesday morning
We have received five used macs (computers) which were donated to the school by some dear friends of mine in California. The children at my church there had raised the money to ship the computers during their VBS last summer. Tuesday morning I went down to the airport where the computers were being held in customs to pick them up.

The teachers are very excited about having a computer in each classroom now. During the Christmas break, I'll be doing some training with them to show them how to use the computers effectively. We hope to have a computer at each teacher's house, eventually, so that they can develop their computer skills, and create new curriculum.

Tuesday
The children's Christmas program at the school was wonderful. The children themselves enjoyed it very much. The next day the parents were calling and even coming by, to thank the school for this special program. Most, if not all, of the deaf students, had never participated in any kind of program on stage. Being deaf means being excluded often, and a lack of opportunity to do the normal childhood things. The parents had tears in their eyes, seeing their children up there for the first time. The deaf students signed "Joy to the World."

Wednesday
We had our annual Christmas party at the deaf school. We brought the group over from the Sabana Perdida school, to reunite with former classmates. There were games, candy, a nice meal and gifts for each student. Vision Trust provided funds for our party, for which we are very thankful. The kids had a lot of fun, and we teachers had perhaps even more fun watching them having fun!

Thursday
Vision Trust provided the fixings for a Christmas meal at the school in Sabana Perdida. Some of the children did not eat all of their food. Instead, they set aside a portion to take home to their moms. It was very touching, and impressive to see how the children were concerned for others. One said "I want to make sure my mom has something to eat when she gets home from work."

A gift arrived designated to helping one or more families at Christmas time. Part of the money went to help the family of one of our deaf students recover from the recent hurricane's effects.

A second amount was given to the mom of another of our deaf students. When she received it, she said that the children had eaten some bread brought over by a neighbor earlier in the day, and she was wondering what she was going to be able to give them for dinner, as there was no food or money in the house. This mom is a faithful worker at the school--the one who is always ready to serve when anything is needed. I was blessed in being able to distribute this love offering where it was very needed.

Friday
The good news is that the pilots are okay. The bad news is that the small plane that brings in our mail and mission supplies went down close to the Bahamas yesterday. Please keep this situation in prayer. Agape Flights hopes to recover the plane.

We are uncertain at this time of exactly what will happen with our mail service over the next weeks, as that is their only plane, but very thankful that everyone was okay. They brought in three plane loads of cargo this week, and were on their return trip, to the US. They usually stop in the Bajamas on the way back.

May you all have a very blessed time with family and friends this Christmas!

A visit from Olga

We thought we were in the clear, since hurricane season ended a couple of weeks ago. We were surprised then, when Tropical Storm Olga, blew through on Tuesday, and dumped a lot of rain on us.

School was cancelled all over the country for yesterday and today, presumably to resume tomorrow. There was flooding on many of the major streets in the capital, and some of the people who were flooded out by the last big storm had to evacuate once again. The capital wasn't as hard hit as the northern coast was this time, and the death toll, which now stands at 13, is much lower. Santiago, which is the second largest city in the country, was hit with extensive flooding in river areas.

Joy to the World

That's what we are signing at the Christmas program. Although the song is a mere one minute 39 seconds long, it is going to take a lot of preparation, since some of the children are still new to Sign Language, and all are new to the concept of singing. I'm not looking for just a lot of waving hands. I actually want to try to help them understand what the song means. That is the hardest part, perhaps.

The kids are enthusiastic about participating, and I'm sure no matter how well or how awfully they do, people will be blessed, because they've never seen a song in Sign Language before.

Today a hearing student passed though the edge of the classroom, as she climbed the stairs toward her own classroom. Seeing our students at work, she exclaimed in amazement, that she never knew that "mutes" could write! Okay, we have a lot to teach the hearing children here, but I'm sure she went on to tell her classmates that the deaf children actually know how to write. You see, if you are deaf here, reading and writing is something you probably don't know how to do, and no one expects it of you.

Wycliffe Bible Translators are still interested in doing a Dominican Sign Language translation for us, but haven't got anyone qualified available currently. Do you know anyone who is fluent in English, Spanish, and ASL, and interested in missions?

We signed up another 8 year old girl today. She is our 14th student in the new classes. Although we are turning children away at this point, we had already reserved a space for her when we met her during relief efforts.

This announcement is bit premature, I suppose, but I'm excited. We are looking to add a deaf woman, Yulissa, to our staff. Technically, she'll be a teacher's aide, since she doesn't have the qualifications required by the Secretary of Education. The only formal education she's ever had was at DOOR's (Deaf Opportunity OutReach) school in Costa Rica, learning Bible Storying.

We would like her to help with teaching Sign Language and Bible Storying at both schools, half the time at each. We still have to confirm details with her, but she has wanted to work with us, and we with her, for a long time. I'm very familiar with her work, having worked with her in Church services, and I believe she'll be a wonderful addition.

As the end of another year arrives, I'm reflecting on all that God has done, and I cannot but be amazed. I thank him constantly.

I also want to take the time to thank all of you, for your participation in this ministry. People and church have sent money and teaching materials, replenished items such as pencils, given us needed equipment, and even come here to work directly with the children. (I tend to shy away from putting specific names on the internet, for privacy reasons, but you know who you are.) We also appreciate the ongoing help that we receive from Vision Trust, who supplies partial scholarships for most of our children, as well as other help from time to time.

Many are taking us before the Lord, asking for his blessing on these deaf children and this school. Thank you so much! The Dominicans have a saying "May the Lord repay you [for it]." Amen!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Even though it is still 90 degrees out here, you can tell the season is upon us. Since early November people have been displaying lights, trees, and other decorations. Here in the DR, there are a couple of unusual customs around Christmas. One is that in December, employees are paid double. Another thing is that not much work gets done. Christmas is a long season, starting in mid-november (although it seems to start a bit earlier every year) and running through mid -january.

But Thanksgiving has to be my favorite holiday of all time.

I have so much to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving is not a holiday here, so many of us opt for another day, when we don't have work to do. I'm cooking up the big meal on Saturday, and inviting the deaf teacher, the deaf pastor, and their familes.

School is moving along quite nicely. Teaching so many different levels is quite challenging, but I often put the students to teaching one another. As inadequate to the task as I know I am, I still see progress in the students, and that is such an encouragement.

We have a new student, 15 years old, in Sabana Perdida. He came unable even to count to ten on both hands. The other children taught him to count in Sign his first day. His house and all his family's possessions were swept away in the flood.

There is another little girl, 8 years old, who is supposed to come as well. We discovered her when we were doing relief work down in a previously flooded barrio. When we returned the second time, she had a broken arm! She's very bright, and I suspect very mischievous as well.

Both schools are now full and we are making a waiting list for others who want to come.

This past week both school computers died. That's the bad news. The good news is that some new friends came from FL with a brand new one. The Lord knew just when we would need it.

We spent many hours this past weekend, discussing what the needs of the schools are with these brothers, and how we can make their work team's upcoming trip a blessing to the participants, as well as those they will be serving. We headed out to both schools, and into some poor areas, to give them a idea of what they'll be facing, and how they may fit into the Lord's work here. It was a great blessing to all of us, and of course, it's always nice to get to speak English for a few days! :)

Relief

If you want to see photos of Noel's visit, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/alabemos/

Sunday, I went down into the affected areas with a couple of doctors. They have a work team coming in, and want to see where they can best be used in the relief efforts. Happily, la Barquita was finally receiving some help. Two other areas we visited, el Caliche and Acapulco were in much need.

My church here collected food and clothes, and some members & I took them over to a church local to the affected area for distribution. When you know you don't have enough for everyone to have the same amount of everything, you can't just walk in and start giving out stuff, or you'll be mobbed! So on our Friday visits we took people aside and said, come to the church at 2:30, and then we gave them what we had. Between the two churches who have contributed, we will probably be able to provide clothing for a substantial amount of the community, but only limited food. We bought some food and mosquito nets, but they still need stoves and mattresses. Tomorrow, more distribution of the collected items will go on by the local church there.

Another missionary is going to check out the situation on Thursday; I pretty much have to leave it in others' hands at this point to get back to school.

It is good for the kids to get back into their studies, because it will provide some normalcy after the trauma of what they've gone through.

Personal note: I apparently have a burst eardrum, after a severe ear infection that I've had this past week. I'm rather deaf in that ear. Spanish is tough to follow, and English needs to be spoken on my good side! I went to an ENT who didn't diagnose it, followed by a regular Dr. who did! Tomorrow I need to go to another ENT, and try to find out just how serious it is. Today was a holiday, so no one was working except in the ER. Pray for me, that this will be healed up soon. Apart from the hearing loss, it has been rather painful.

Blessings!

What's worse than a major hurricane? Tropical storm Noel!

Yesterday I was able to get to Sabana Perdida at last. A group of us from the church and school went to visit three places: a shelter, a neighborhood, and a family from the church that had lost everything in the flood. Before going, I went through my whole house, setting aside things that I could take to the refugees.

The taxi over was "interesting". We got stopped by the police once, but the driver told them that we were bringing in relief supplies so they let us go on. The driver told me that he was sure they were stopping us for a bribe. Sometimes it helps to have an American in the car! It is a long drive, and the best way is to go on a highway which runs out in the country a bit. While in that part, the car began to go slower and slower. We were running out of propane! The driver told me that we were not far from a gas station, but he looked a bit uncertain if we would make it there. We did, barely. I think we were about on fumes, the car was going so slowly.

During the visits our group made, we ran into a group of protesters carrying signs saying "we need food, water, clothing, medical care", etc. We stopped and talked to them for a while, and took their pictures. I'm afraid they put a lot of faith in me, for some reason, like I was going to be the one to fix everything. I tried not to get their hopes up falsely; I didn't know what I'd be able to do; I still don't.

We walked on and came to the next community, one where almost all of the houses were either fully submerged, or nearly so, just a couple of days ago. At the time there was still water in the houses and in some streets, although it had gone down a whole lot. The houses may have had six inches to a foot of water still in them, for the most part. My friend reports that they are still flooded today, because it rained over there again.

These people told us the same story. They have no drinking water, food, clothing, medical care, or mattresses to sleep on. Some are sleeping at shelters (which can be dangerous) while others choose to sleep on the street near their house. Thieves steal everything they can get from the flooded houses; they will even steal light and plumbing fixtures, if the houses are not carefully watched.

We went to a shelter that housed about 67. It was a public school, and they put several women in each room. It was not clear if the whole family stays together or apart, as the men were gone looking for work. Most of the men of this community work as "chiriperos;" that is, they do whatever they can find for the day. The room where the food and any other donations were kept was shockingly bare. There were some small milk cartons from the government school breakfast program, and some bread, and precious little else to be had. People from the community had brought in a few odds and ends. It didn't look like enough for 20 people, much less 67. At the shelters the people supposedly are fed at 11AM and at 4 PM, and that's it for the day.

The moms and children were just sitting around on the floor on very thin mattresses. Some had sheets some didn't. Some of the children were naked. I am not used to seeing children as traumatized as some of these were. While some kids were still happy and friendly as usual, there were others that just looked like they were in shock. There was nothing for them to do, not a book to read or a toy to play with, nothing to distract them from the horror of what they had just been through. There were several pregnant women. One who was due any time, said she had nothing at all for her newborn, when it arrives.

After various phone calls, I was able to ascertain that in the church/school in Bonao, at least three deaf people have lost their homes and are in shelters. One of my students in the capital was from the area where the houses were submerged; he and his family are staying with relatives for the time being. Part of the roof is missing from the house of another student.

A friend who is a medical missionary is interested in bringing a team to help. Another missionary I go to church with wants to work together to get these people some relief. We are forming a quick net of providers, to help fill in the gap. We are going as the hands and feet of Jesus, not any particular denomination.

We are thankful for a Florida church that joined in the battle and send us $300 to help provide for basic needs.

The next two days will be busy ones. I have asked for donations of household goods, food, clothing, medicine and just about anything, from the church I attend here. A couple of people have offered to help deliver whatever is collected from our small church. I'm going over with a medical missionary who wants to look over the situation, with the possibility of scheduling a medical operative for a day next week. One other missionary who attends my church has offered to join in--she knows more than I about relief work.

Then there will be Tuesday. School will start again. It is important that parents get their kids back in school quickly. It will help them to be in their regular routine again, and I'm sure it will be a comfort to them. I hope at that point, that I'll be able to walk away, knowing that there are loving hearts continuing to help these people.

Tropical Depression Noel

The effects of this tropical depression just won't leave. Yesterday, the rain was intermittent, but mostly light, so it looked like the worst was over. Today I awoke to yet another downpour. I heard on TV that it was supposed to rain for another 24 hours. The Miami Herald has a slideshow at http://www.miamiherald.com/924/gallery/288864.html?number=8 if you'd like to get a look.

We are in a state of emergency here in the capital, and in much (all?) of the country. School, by the way, as been canceled for three days now, but that isn't the worst of it. There is widespread flooding. I don't know how much rain we've actually gotten. The predictions were 10-20 inches in general, with up to 30 in some areas.

Lots of very poor people have lost their homes and all their earthly possessions. So far on record, 30 people have died, thousands are homeless, and many are missing as well. Bridges have washed away, leaving many communities cut off from the rest of the country.

Currently I'm housesitting for a missionary couple who are stateside for a year. I'm in a sturdy cement block house in a good location--as in not low-lying. The fact that I still have running water, electricity (mostly) and internet amazes me. I am aware of the fact that I could lose these at any time.

Much of the city hasn't had electricity for a couple of days. One missionary friend told me their running water is black. So just to put your minds at rest, family and friends, even if you don't hear from me, I'm in a safe place. I may lose basic services at any time, but my house isn't likely to flood. If you don't hear from me, it's because I have no internet.

I just spoke with the director of the school where we have put the new classes, in Sabana Perdida. She said that some of the children of the school come from down by the bridge, where the water is over the rooftops.

No one can go in or out of Sabana Perdida right now, because the bridges are flooded and dangerous. She said she is blessed with phone service, but that the phones are out in most of the area, and the church's internet is down.

Video

If you go to the above link, then click on blog hispaniola, then the Oct. 30th entry, you'll see a short video about the school that Ryan did for us recently. He plans to polish it up a bit more before he actually calls it finished. Once that is done I'll

You might also like his video "my first two weeks" which gives some shots of Santo Domingo around town.

There are some portraits of the kids under the pictures link.

Enjoy. Thanks Ryan!

Tropical weather

This hurricane season has been pretty tranquil up to now. Enter tropical storm Noel.

School is cancelled for today in much of the Dominican Republic, and we'll see about tomorrow, as inches of rain fall on us. The forecast is 6-8 inches, with up to 20 in some areas. I think I've already had several inches at my house. It has been raining for two days straight now. This is the kind of rain that inevitably causes several deaths; it provokes mudslides, and people try to cross flooded roads, only to be swept away.

The banana tree in my back yard is now laying on its side. :( The bananas were only a few weeks away from being ready. I hope I can somehow prop it up till they are done. Long palm leaves litter my yard as well, and a piece of zinc roofing has appeared from somewhere, as the winds have been high.

Meanwhile, I have had a whopper of an ear infection since Friday afternoon. Ear doctors don't work on weekends, so I managed to wait till today. Of course I did not know then that the whole city would be flooded by now!

Let me mention how many of the doctors work here. This is a culture where people are relationship oriented, not time oriented. So if they have an appointment for 3, they may show up an hour or more late, and still expect to be seen. Almost no one arrives anywhere on time. So the doctors generally do it this way: everyone gets the same appointment time. Then it is first person to the office is the first seen. Exceptions are made for VIPs and friends of the doctor, of course. There could be a whole roomful of people, and you may wait for hours. On the other hand, you may go into an emergency room, and be taken in before you even fill out the forms!

A lot of phones are out, and many people have lost electricity. My friend says at her house the water is running black. I have electricity, clean water, and even internet, for which I am very thankful.

New school--off and running

The new school began on Monday of this week. Okay, technically it is not a new school. What we actually have is a new self-contained deaf class in an already existing (hearing) school. Most of the hearing children attend school in the morning, which leaves us classroom space for the afternoon. Some older hearing children are attending in the afternoon, but their classes are upstairs. Translation: We can be noisy! :)

I expected to start with about half a dozen children and two teacher trainees. Instead, we have 11 children currently, and four trainees. It's quite a handful.

The children are from 4 to 14. All of them, of course, are deaf. In addition to deafness we have: one child who cannot walk unaided and is probably autistic, one deaf-blind child who has not yet learned communication skills, one child who is mentally challenged (retarded), another who seems to be have some pretty strong learning disabilities. About half of the children can sign. These are our teens, in their second year. The other half know little to no Sign Language.

We are in far from an ideal situation. If we wait for ideal conditions, however, these children will end up without any schooling whatsoever. Unfortunately it comes down to "better than nothing" sometimes. This is not to say they will not learn, just that we aren't starting out in a fully equipped school with well trained teachers. This is a developing country, and we are a developing school.

The teacher-trainees are learning Sign Language too. What distinguishes our schools, is that we require teachers to be Christians and fluent in Sign Language. Sign Language classes abound in the US, but here, they are very rare. Basically, if you want teachers to sign, you have to teach them.

While training the teachers, I must also be training myself! I have worked with deaf-blind students before, but only at college level. This is quite different. I'm scouring the internet for info, and praying for ideas on how to teach our young deaf-blind student to communicate.

Meanwhile, the Ozama school is doing well. The new teacher is adjusting well.

Alexi, who recently underwent surgery to correct a malformation of his ears is recovering well, and the surgery was a success. He is expected to be able to hear much better than previously--perhaps even 100%.

As for me, I've had a few glitches in hearing myself! I have noticed recently that I was needing things to be repeated much more frequently than before. It seemed like my understanding of Spanish was degenerating, when it should continue to improve. So I had a hearing test to see if that is where the problem lies. Sure enough, I showed a mild hearing loss.

The audiologist said that it is noticeable in Spanish, rather than English conversations, because Spanish isn't my native language. That means it is a language that I must hear in more ideal conditions, and perhaps at a slightly higher volume.

Please pray for me as I continue getting the new classes organized and functioning. Pray that our teachers will love and understand these special children. Pray also that everyone's communication skills will be adequate to the task, and develop into fluency quickly.

What do missionaries need?

This blog focuses mainly on the school, but I hope you won't think it a diversion to talk about the overall mission. Without the mission, the deaf school doesn't go on. Without the missionary, the mission doesn't go on. Read on.

This week I had the opportunity to go to a seminar on mission support with Agape Flights, my mail service. Now if the first thing that popped into your mind was finances, let me just say, that is only one part of the equation.

An all-around support for a missionary includes four principal things: prayer, participation, advocacy, and financial support. I need all these things from other Christians, if I'm to be successful in the work with these deaf children. Missions don't just consist of the missionary. It is a team effort. It is the church who works, one in one way, one in another, to accomplish the goal of reaching the world. I'm not doing missions, WE are.

Prayer. That one is obvious. Prayer for all kinds of things. In my case, for continued health and strength to do the job, for wisdom, for the Holy Spirit's guidance, for lives to be touched, for these children and their parents to come to know the Lord, for provision for all of my needs, and the needs of the ministry here. I could go on. But you get the idea. No prayer, means nothing worthwhile ever gets accomplished. The whole thing turns into social work, rather than mission work.

Advocacy. Telling a friend about the work with the deaf here. Would your friend be interested in being part of my support team in these four ways? I do enjoy visiting the US, but my time there is very limited. You who live there can make introductions for me so that I can keep on doing the work that needs to be done here.

Participation. This would include sending work teams, or individuals coming for long/short term missions. Being a helper from the US in some way: whether maintaining a website, doing some needed shopping, providing lodging or a car when I'm visiting the US--there are many many ways to participate.

Financial support. Here's the part not too many people like to talk about. Me neither. You'll notice I left it till last. But I do want you to give. Why? Because it is an opportunity for you to further the work of the kingdom. Because it allows me to keep working toward the church's goal of telling every person about Jesus. Both of us get blessed, the giver, and the receiver. And without financial support, let's face it, the whole thing falls apart. I want you to give, because I know that where your treasure is, is where your heart will be.

Thank you to all of you who are supporting me in these four areas. If you are not involved in these ways, would you like to be? After prayerful consideration, you may contact me at deafschool, followed by @gmail.com.

Blessings!
Peggy

New teacher, Secretary of Education, musings

We have a new teacher, Eunice (pronounced "Ay-oo-nee-say"). She is taking over the class I've been working with. She has wanted to come to work with us for a while. Like Maria, she teaches mornings at the National School, another private school for the deaf, and loves the Lord.

Last week she worked alongside me, to learn the general routine, and this week she is teaching on her own, while I am busy prepping for the new classes in Sabana Perdida.

Monday will be our first day of classes at the other school. Please pray for our new teachers, that they will catch on quickly. Pray they will be creative. Pray they will be filled with love for these children, and see their potential. Pray that these children will respond to our love, and recognize its source, the Lord of love. Above all, we want them to know him.

Pray also for me, for wisdom in so many decisions being made, and for my health to hold up under all the extra work the new school brings.

A woman from the Secretary of Education came by today. Now we've been trying to get them to come for over a year, but when do they come? The day I leave to work on the other school! :) This visit is part of the process for having the school recognized by the government. I think I mentioned before, that that is how it's done here, in general. You start the school, then you work on recognition.

We do have a few things standing in our way. One is that they want us to have a library--as in a room dedicated for that purpose. Now that is kind of funny, because even most of the public schools don't have as many books as we do--two small bookcases full.

Another thing is that they want us to have an office. Sadly there is no space available. Our secretary works at a table out in the hall, and the file cabinet is in one of the classrooms. This is somewhat inconvenient, but actually functions, since there are only 41 students.

One other thing they would like: they want the teachers all to be working toward their masters degree. We would like to offer help toward further education as a job benefit at some point, but that may be a while.

All of our teachers are at the educational level called "technico," which is about the equivalent of an AA degree. (The children are in beginning levels, equivalent to preschool through about second grade.) We believe our teachers are the best in the country. Very few teachers can sign fluently, and even fewer have the amount of experience our teachers have in working with deaf children.

One of the distinctives of our school is that we are constantly working on our own teaching methods and materials, developing more and increasingly effective ways to reach these children. We don't consider ourselves to have arrived. We press on.

I remember a quote at a workshop I attended years ago. The presenter, speaking of teaching experience, said that some teachers have taught for 15 years, and others have taught one year fifteen times! We want to be the former, not the latter.

New School

Maria (the teacher who co-founded the school) and I have been talking about a school in an area of the capital called Sabana Perdida for a couple of years. We have half a dozen students from there, and they have an hour commute each way. Well, our prayers have been answered.

There is a church there that invited me to do a presentation on Deaf ministry last year. They now have a couple of deaf children who attend, with no special help or interpreter. The mother of one of our students is a member of the church as well. The area has a large number of Deaf adults, and a very active cult recruiting them. The nearest Deaf church or ministry I know of is over an hour away from them, so there is no Christian witness to the Deaf people in the area.

About ten days ago, I received a call from a friend who works in the (hearing) school there, offering us two classrooms, free of charge. I made her a counter offer. Since her church is interested in working with Deaf ministry anyway, how about if I help them get a school started, and train their teachers? It would be their church's school, rather than an extension of this one. She presented this idea at their church council, and they agreed.

There is potential for a large group there, as many deaf children in the area are unschooled. I'm hoping it won't grow too fast, however, because I need to be able to train the teachers well before we get too busy.

Several of our students who live nearby, will be transferring to that school, enabling us to open up spaces for those children on our waiting list.

This means a very long daily commute for me, but that's okay. The deaf children in that area have been on my heart for so long.

The other significant thing is that I will need to hire another teacher to teach in my stead, while I am working at the other school.

We will appreciate your prayers that all the needed preparations will go smoothly, and especially that many Deaf people will come to know the Lord through the ministry of the church and school.

Floor, strike, video, new student, surgery, work teams

We went into the school today, and over the weekend the beautiful tile floor had buckled in several places! (The tile is over cement, and this is on the second floor.) We had two theories: a mild earthquake, and intense heat. But it's always hot here, so I don't know why all of a sudden it would do that! We don't really know what happened, we just hope they can fix it. The problem isn't in the classrooms, but in a large room (church's fellowship hall) that we pass through to get to the classrooms.

We use the facilities of a local church, and they told us to try to keep the kids from walking on the parts that are sticking up, in order not to break the tiles--like I can keep 41 deaf children walking around an obstacle course to get to their classrooms, LOL! I'm going to do my best.

We also had a new five year old come register today. We just have to figure out how we can get her into the school. She lives a whole hour away, but her mom is willing to bring her daily.

Tomorrow is a national strike for higher wages, so there are no classes. (I should say "today" since it is after midnight. ;)

We have a young man here who is going to do a short video of the school ministry for us. Once it is done, it will be posted on the internet, and you can have a more close-up look at what we are doing.

There is one hard-of-hearing child who attends school with us who is going to undergo surgery next week on Tuesday, to correct his hearing loss. This is very unusual; most deafness cannot be surgically corrected. In this child's case, he has a syndrome that causes malformation of the ears, and results in hearing loss. The surgeon believes his hearing will be normal post-surgery. He's just a little guy, four years old. We ask your prayers for him.

There are some possibilities for work teams coming this year. In January a team will be here as part of a college & seminary program. They will be doing some cultural studies in the country, as well as spending a few days working with our children. There are several Signers among them. Some of the people on the team came last year, and the children are looking forward to seeing them again. There are others are talking to us about coming, and we look forward to seeing what the Lord has in mind for all of us. We hope to be of mutual benefit.

Lights out!

Last school year we were blessed with an abundance of electricity. We only lost electricity maybe once a month or so, and then it usually was less than an hour. This year is proving to be quite different. Some days we do not have electricity at all. Other days we may not have it for one to two hours.

Not having electricity means we cannot use the computer or lights, but that isn't the worst of it. It means we can't use the fans and there is no cold water. When it is in the 90's outside, it is pretty hot in the classrooms. The good news is that elections are coming up in May. Electricity always improves around election time, because otherwise the incumbent hurts his chances for reelection.

This week's theme in our Bible study is prayer. We are telling the children that God cares, and hears the prayers of his children. We are praying specifically for more electricity. We would rather not have to wait until election time. As for me, I love this stage of early prayer, where the Lord begins to show the children his mighty hand. It is very faith-building.

Misc. news

Yesterday the children asked if they could have a "día de colores." Normally they wear a uniform to school, as do all school children here. Ours is a blue shirt and khaki pants. A "día de colores is a dress-up day, where no one has to wear a uniform. We agreed to have one next week. It's a good time to take some pictures, and I'll be sure to post some here. Stay tuned.

We have been offered two classrooms in an area local to about a third of our students. If we can get at least one teacher set up over there, we'll transfer the local students who want to go, and we can enter the students on our waiting list here.

There is a national strike for higher wages and lower prices set for Tuesday Oct. 2. We never know if the strike will actually happen until very close to the appointed time. Sometimes the government manages to avert a strike with last minute negotiations. Strike days are no-school days.

Full

The school is now full to capacity, and we are turning children away. We are all working hard with these full classrooms, but it is a work of joy. Pray with us that the children will receive much spiritual and intellectual benefit from their studies this year.

We had the first of our daily 15 minute Bible studies this week.

The children are all excited to see each other again. During the summer, many have no one with whom they may sign, so they are greatly isolated. As they get older, and have more freedom to leave their house/area alone, they become active in the Deaf community, and this isolation goes away.

Yesterday I did a simple exercise with my class, for distinguishing left and right. One hundred percent of them didn't know which was which. Considering that most are teens, this isn't good. There are so many absolute basics to teach them that it is very difficult to sandwich them all into the school year. The good news is that there is constant perceivable progress in our students.

Thinking skills, and creativity is high on my list, rather than just stuffing the children full of facts for them to parrot back. When you begin your first year of school at more than 12 years old, language and life skills take top positions.

"Lifelong learners" is cliché among teachers, or perhaps even passé these days, but it is critical to these children that they become such. A good part of their education will need to be continued on their own after they leave school to go to work. We teach them how to teach themselves.

Yesterday I told the story of the three pigs to my class. They spontaneously broke into applause at the end!

masterpieces

Lots of new children are signing up, as we expected. Several are looking forward to their first year of school, regardless of the fact that they may be 7, or 11, or 12 years old already.

Today, although it was the beginning of the third week of school, was really the first week for most of the country. Parents simply waited until they got paid to bring their children, because they couldn't afford the uniforms, books, crayons, pencils, etc. needed at schools all across the land.

All our children have not arrived yet, but by the end of the week, we will probably have all that are coming. We have about 40 signed up, and expect to see from 30-36 by the time everything settles down.

These children are to me like a great work of art. I see the big chunk of marble. I know that trapped inside is the masterpiece, wanting to escape. I look for ways to show them how to be free of that prison they are trapped inside. I am not the artist. I'm just cooperating with the Master Artist as best I can. But he opens my eyes to see their beauty and their potential, and keeps me going forward, while difficulties arise on every side.

On reflection, I'd have to say, this has been the most difficult year thus far. I've had more moments of discouragement than ever before. I see myself so inadequate to the enormity of the task. There is so much to be done, and so few to do it. Pray then, with me, to the Lord of the Harvest, that he'll send workers into these fields which are simply overflowing.

But what if it all falls apart? I am no stranger to failure. There was a time in my life that failure was what I feared, perhaps most of all. But that is no longer true. Instead, I learn what I can, and get up and try again when I fail. I have no need to protect my reputation. I don't have to look successful. I just have to obey God.

I look at this school, and see all of the glaring mistakes I have made, and think sometimes, that I should just quit and start all over again, with all I have learned from all the things I didn't do right the first time! It is only by God's mercy that we are still functioning at all.

Onward!

Strike!

It's our first strike or "huelga" of the school year. Public transportation leaders decided to take a few hours off to march to the capital and make more demands. It isn't an all day strike, but because of the time it comes, it will interfere with our students and staff's arrival at school. These strikes aren't always announced, so one may find oneself in the street, far from home, with a long walk ahead.

People here feel powerless against the mafia of public transportation. Frankly, public car drivers I've spoken with feel the same; they don't dare keep driving when they are told to strike. The public transportation sector shuts down the country any time it wants to, and usually that's once a month or more. The impact on the economy is devastating. These strikes assure that the country will remain in poverty for the foreseeable future.

I don't want to get political. But this is something that is constantly affecting our ability to minister here. A single leader, could turn the whole thing around, and empower the people. Where is that leader? Pray that the Lord will raise up a Dominican David who is willing to defy the Goliath of this mafia.

The students are trickling in...

and that is the way it usually happens here. Over about a three week period, the students will all show up. We won't know until that time who we can actually count on coming for sure.

This week two new students have signed up so far. One of them a 7 year old, is pretty wild; within an hour of his arrival he had already punched a couple of teachers! We are giving him a trial week. He seemed to be manageable today, although he will require a lot of supervision. Since we don't have TA's (teacher's aides) we have to be sure that one teacher alone can deal with him without neglecting the other students in her class. At this point, we are the only option he has for school.

The hurricane missed us, and we are thankful. We are in a season of stormy weather now. August is usually pretty hot, and the rains can bring welcome relief, although they make taking public transportation difficult for our students and staff.

We are having blackouts almost daily at school. They usually last an hour or two.

I'm very pleased to find that my students appear to have retained a lot of what they learned before summer break. I'm looking forward to a fruitful school year.

Please keep us in prayer. Especially ask for wisdom as we learn how to work with several new special needs students, and that the Lord will shine and show his love through us.

Blessings!

Good news for us...

Hurricane Dean is blowing past to the south of us tomorrow, if it follows the projected path. The extreme west of the country, along the Haitian border, is in the path of Dean, however. Instead of a hurricane, we'll get a tropical storm here in the capital. That just means lots of wind and up to five inches of rain--flooding all over. But floods resolve quickly as a rule, and we get back to normal within a few days.

We accepted two new students today, and are expecting more to show up next week as school begins. We are very close to capacity now.

Yesterday we went to remind the government folks that we want our school to be recognized. The process stalled when the govt. worker who we first applied to, left the job and it was taken over by another. Our application letter got lost in the shuffle. The current worker assured us they will be sending someone to check us out soon. Please pray that all will go well in this process.

If variety is the spice of life...

then my life is definitely spicey.

Some of the things I've done in the last week or so:

• Met a missionary at the Ferry, as he and a deaf-blind friend arrived from Puerto Rico for the Deaf camp here.

• Went shopping for books and some school supplies.

• Met with the head of Voice for the Deaf, to discuss current ministry plans.

• Visited a government official as part of the process for getting government recognition of the school.

• Interpreted a job interview for a deaf man.

• Printed up some books for the school.

• Discussed some of the communication options with parents of a very young deaf-blind child.

• Did some research on the internet.

• Signed up a new student.

• Met with the head of a local school about lending us some classroom space.
  

• Emailed & Blogged. :)
  

Upcoming events

Just two important events in the next seven days...first, there is a storm heading for us. Now it is looking like it will be a category one or two hurricane. This morning's paper said it would hit Sunday morning, if it followed the projected track. Tonight I'm reading on the internet that it is still heading this way, only the ETA is Saturday afternoon.

The second event? Well, school is supposed to start on Tuesday. Monday is a national holiday here. We are really looking forward to getting started again. I think this year is going to be very fruitful.
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Not upcoming, but just over this past week, was the Assembly of God Deaf camp. I dropped by for about five hours on Saturday and saw lots of old friends, and made some new ones as well. They had a pretty good turnout; it is a much anticipated event all year long.

Currently if you are a deaf Christian living in Santo Domingo, chances are you go to the Assembly of God, if you go anyplace at all. None of the other denominations are doing much in deaf ministry these days. There is one very active cult, however. Most Deaf people do not have a Deaf church or Deaf ministry within a reasonable distance of their home. There are only a handful throughout the whole city.

Surprise! School is starting!

And it is a surprise.

Today I read that the government insists that every school, public and private, begin on August 21st. This means the teachers must return next week, a week earlier than they had expected, and the children will come the following week.

We are flexible. We can do it. The way it usually happens here, anyway, is that the kids will drift in over the first two to three weeks. The first days of school usually have very few students attending. In a way it is good that we start early. That way, by the time we were planning to start, perhaps most of our students will have shown up!

How are Dominican Schools Different?

Dominican public & most private schools are different in some very important ways, from schools in the US and Canada.

For one thing, student books are not provided by the school; parents must purchase them. Book prices typically begin at $6, and go up from there, depending on the book, so it can be a heavy burden for a parent, especially if the parent has several children.

In an effort to help families in this regard, the government recently announced that all current editions of school books will be good for four years. This means that any new editions must receive special permission. Books will be able to be recycled, and purchased used, which will be very helpful to poor familes.

Another unusual thing about schools here is that all schools have uniforms. The standard school uniform, which is what our students wear, is a blue shirt with khaki pants or skirt. Many students have only one uniform, and must wash it daily.

Most schools do not provide transportation for their students. Students either walk to school, or ride public transportation at their own expense.

Most schools are very small, and do not have facilities such as gyms, libraries, and computer labs.

Another thing that is quite different in Dominican schools is that the main method of teaching is the teacher writes a lesson on the board, and the students copy it down.

The school day is short. Children attend either a morning or afternoon session which lasts a mere four to four and a half hours a day.

Students do not eat lunch at school. The big meal of the day (rice and beans) is around 1 pm, and is eaten at home. Many workers have a two hour lunch break which makes this possible.

Electricity can and does go off, at any time of the day, so schools don't always have electricity available during school hours.

Running water is likewise not necessarily available.

Schools have frequent breaks, due to rainy weather, and transportation strikes.

Another very great difference in education here: there are huge amounts of children who do not attend school at all. Most deaf children fall into this category.



There are a few schools that are more like North American schools. Those are the private schools that more well-to-do children attend.

Variety

On Friday, Svetlana taught her first Sign Language class. According to a visiting teacher of the deaf who sat in on the class, she did a great job. She enjoyed doing it, and wants to take it on as a weekly responsibility.

Mondays, we'll also be doing a special weekly Sign class with an audiologist who is a missionary here. Her 18 year old son who works alongside her at the audiology office will also attend.

We had to turn away a 16 year old boy this week. He had no formal language skills, and his father has never made the effort to get him into a school until now. I wish I could say this was unusual, but it isn't. Currently we don't have the staff or space for a special class to help these older learners. It is hard to close the door.

Yesterday we spent several hours at the audiologist's office. Four audiograms were done and explained, and we were on our way home.

We are hard at work getting materials together for the soon-coming school year.

Monday we are going for a follow-up to a letter we sent last year to the Dept. of Education. The person we gave the previous letter to has been replaced by someone else, and probably our letter was lost in the shuffle, as we have not heard from them after quite a long time. We are still in the process of getting the school recognized by the government. That is how it is done here. You start the school first, then you get it approved, rather than the reverse.

Sandwiched into my days, are meetings and appointments with a variety of people who need our help, or who are helping us. Time is running out to get all the odds and ends done before the intensity of back to school.

please pray for:

• wisdom in preparations for the new school year
• continued good relationships with parents and among teachers
• God's provision for our needs
• every child to come to a knowledge of the truth
• the school to be a channel of blessing to everyone involved
  

New Social Security to be implemented

Before I tell you about the new Social Security program here, let me just mention that the strike was one of the most peaceful ones we've had. I'm guessing that it's because it wasn't called by the transportation industry. Theirs usually include violence. We are all very thankful it went so well.

This year has brought heavy additional costs to all private schools here. It is likely that many of the smaller private schools will not survive. Earlier this year teachers were given a raise from their entry level salaries. This was a good thing. It was desperately needed.

Now schools are faced with paying an additional 16% for the new Social Security program, which officially begins in September. This program is supposed to include health care (with a co-pay) and pensions for employees. This is a good thing as well, but it is difficult for schools to do.

Teachers are paid 13 months a year here. How's that again? They are paid during the summer, and as all other regular employees nationwide, they get double pay in December.

I need a fundraiser! There are so many things that I have to do in order to make this school function, I simply cannot stop doing them to raise funds. I'm in sort of a catch 22 situation. If I stop and go fundraising, the school will fall apart, but if I don't have the funds, I cannot run the school.

A hammer or a wrench? You can use a wrench for a hammer for a while. The wrench will require more effort, but it will usually work, although not as well as a hammer would. Eventually, though, the wrench will break, and won't be a good wrench or hammer!

What I'm good at, and what I'm called to, is running the school. What I'm not made for is raising finances. So pray with me, that the Lord will lift this burden off me and place it on someone who is gifted for this work. I don't want the school to fail, but I can only keep hammering for so long.

Country news

I read in the morning newspaper that there is a national strike planned for Monday. more info What usually happens when there is a strike, is that there is no public transportation, and everything is closed. But then, most of the strikes are called by the transportation people. Any driver who dares to work that day runs a very slight risk of getting a molotov cocktail thrown into his vehicle. Most stores do not dare to open either, although sometimes the little local stores will sell on the sly out the back door.

It's a good day to stay home, because strikes always have the potential to become violent. Almost all here have some violence, but on the whole the strikes of recent years are fairly peaceful. The few incidents that happen are overreported, so people become more frightened about it all. The populace really has little choice; they are forced participants. That is the saddest part of all.

There have been protests in the capital this past week by a sector that is demanding water and electricity for their area. They have been lacking adequate water supply for weeks. What they have done is block off a main road going out of the capital, causing serious traffic jams.

Meanwhile, on the home front, I have not had any more problems since the garbage can was stolen and a day later when a guy was seen inside my locked gate. Except of course--where to put the garbage now!

Summertime

Just two of us will be working during the summer--Svetlana and myself. I plan to spend a fair amount of time teaching her basic Spanish, since she mostly reads and writes in Russian. We will be working on curriculum development, materials preparation, and teaching a Sign Language class as well.

We are planning two reunion activities for the students in the summer. One will probably be a visit to the National Aquarium. It is kind of rundown these days, but is still a very manageable field trip that the children will enjoy. The other day is supposed to be an activity by Vision Trust, but I don't have the details yet.

The teachers are almost desperate for larger classrooms. It has been difficult teaching in such cramped quarters this year. I find the children fight more as well, when they are overcrowded. There is no immediate relief in sight, but it is one of our greatest prayer requests.

I was reading an article about education and poverty, and it really described our students to a T. It said that they tend to bring the rules from their barrio into the classroom, and that they need to learn the middle-class rules for success in school. I've never heard it put that clearly, but it makes perfect sense, and I'm going to work on that. It's tricky, because their limited language skills tend toward the concrete still.

Another article I read talked about developing thinking skills, and how many children of poverty come to school without the basics in that area.

I'm constantly studying and researching on the internet, to see how we can improve our methods in educating these special children.

New beginnings

Thursday I met the new pastor at the church where we rent our classroom space.

K. got off to VA today, so today I begin housesitting in earnest--on my own again.

Today is the beginning of summer break.

Today began a new friendship. I met one of the kids' biggest supporters (through Vision Trust.) It was fun meeting her and going down the list telling her about our kids. I'm sure I'm as bad as any parent, when it comes to talking about our students. I could see that she has the same heart for children that I do, and it's always wonderful to meet a kindred spirit. We spent lots of time exchanging ideas and teaching tips. Fun!

It was quite fun spending several hours in English mode, talking to various people visiting here from the US, telling them a little about the work here.

It was especially nice to see two dear friends who formerly lived here as missionaries, and now come from time to time with work teams.

Monday is a teacher work day, to get the classrooms straightened up. After that I am setting only a couple of "must-do's" for the week, because it really is time to take a break and relax before I dig into the summer's work.

Countdown to the finish line!

It's hard to believe there is only a week of school left. I'm not ready for it to end. There's so much more I want to teach! One of my future goals is to have year-round school, with frequent breaks, rather than one long summer break. The students would retain more that way.

Today we went to the park, as is our custom each Wednesday, weather permitting. At the school itself, there is very little room outside for active play, so the park fills a real need. We also have the goal to teach the students how to act on these short weekly field trips, so they will know how to behave on longer ones.

The students, especially the boys fight a lot. Most of them come from very rough barrios, and have parents who don't really know how to communicate with them.

Emotionally they are very childish, and react to any insult or perceived insult with violence. This is something that will change in time. It is difficult, because when you have two seven year olds fighting, they probably aren't going to do any permanent damage, but teenagers who fight over the same things may actually harm each other, because of their nearly adult size and strength.

Playing is one thing we really like to see the kids doing. I admit, we have a hidden agenda; learning. We try to make learning fun, rather than tedious and boring. We do have to teach them how to play. They tend to be like little children when things don't go their way, pouting, or getting angry when they lose. We have a lot of 12-14 year olds that are more like 7 year olds emotionally.

The work team that was here from Baltimore left us some little wooden cubes that open up and show the gospel in pictures. This week we are taking about fifteen minutes at the end of each day--our normal time for Bible study--and devoting it to teaching them how to use the cubes. Each student gets to have one of their own, as soon as they are able to explain the pictures. They should be ready to do that by Tuesday.

Wednesday will be a clean-up day, where we will have the students help us put all our materials in proper order. Thursday will be our end of the year party, and the last day of school. We expect to have a couple of summer activities, one in July, then a short camp in August.

During the summer Svetlana and I will be working on a variety of things, from curriculum development, to home visits. We'll be printing up a lot of our own materials. At least that's the plan. :)

Please pray for us and these children. Only through Jesus can these little lives be truly touched.

Storms

Yesterday we had quite a storm. Rain came down in torrents for hours. The usual parts of the city and country flooded. Three students showed up for classes, and were sent back home. We don't have snow days. We have rain days! Today attendance will be dismal, but we will go on with classes, if it doesn't flood again.

Most students, and all of the teachers come on public transportation. This includes at least three blocks of walking once we get off the bus/car. On my way home, a rainy day means a walk of about three-quarters of a mile for me, as there are few public motorcycles available then. Did I mention that crossing a street usually involves wading through ankle deep water on rainy days?

A few students come on motorcycles driven by relatives or paid drivers. A few other students walk, from a distance of up to two miles. Most don't have umbrellas, and raincoats don't really work well in this climate.

So, we don't panic. We just accept it as a day that we will be doing other things.

Everyone is okay...

but a group of our students were in an automobile accident on their way home Monday. Their parents pay a driver to take the whole bunch of them to and from school every day. One girl got pretty bruised up, but nothing more serious than that, PTL. They missed yesterday and today, while the car is being repaired, but we are expecting them tomorrow.

A new student came in, and registered for the fall. She is 6 years old and has never been to school previously.

Two of the boys got into a fist fight during school today.

K. and I went to the grocery store this evening, and it was pouring when we got out. We were pretty wet by the time we got all our groceries into the house.

Fruit loops are about $11, but were on sale for just $9 the other day. But broccoli was just around a half dollar for a nice sized bunch. The moral of the story: buy as little imported food as possible, and especially avoid the cereal aisle. (Note "corn flay" is what you call all cold cereals.)

End of school year coming up

It's official: the school year will end on Thursday June 14th.

One unusual thing about school here is that teachers are paid 13 months salary a year. They are paid during the summer, and, like other employees in this country, they receive a Christmas bonus of a full month's salary.

"Veta," our deaf teacher, having just begun with us in April, isn't entitled to full summer pay yet. She has chosen the option of continuing to work while the others are off, so that she'll have a summer salary.

It will be a blessing to have someone to work alongside me, as I won't be able to go to the States at all this summer. We will be continuing curriculum development, printing up books, and making some home visits, among other things.

My move is mostly complete, although there is still plenty to unpack. Moving involves some different things when you live in the DR. For one thing, you don't usually just turn off your electricity. Instead, you sell your contract with the electric company to the next person coming in. This includes the cost of the electric meter that you actually purchased from the previous occupant when you came in. The phone company does something similar if you want it, asking you to pass on your phone service to a friend or relative if you don't want to take it with you.

Normally when you move, you take everything, down to the light bulbs.

Weather? Hot and humid. It has been raining off and on for two days, and the forecasters promise a similar week, with scattered thunder showers. This is important, because it usually means low attendance, our students mostly arriving on public transportation.

The National School is telling us they will be sending more students over for next school year. Oh my! What will we do with them?! We are considering if we need to move. Our space is one factor that will limit our growth, if we stay in this location. Of course we don't even have permission to stay yet, but anticipate approval.

Post move

My niece Karen arrived last week and has been helping out in the school. It is great to have her help, as we have our hands full all the time. We are putting her Signing skills to good use. She has learned to prepare a basic powerpoint presentation, which we use for teaching reading, and is beginning to read picture books to the students, among other things.

We've also been scoping out new transportation, since I've moved to the other side of town. It used to be 20 minutes to get to the school, in two public cars (sort of a shared taxi on a route.) Now it is over an hour with one or two cars, plus a bus. The first day it took two hours to arrive! We whittled the return trip down to an hour and forty minutes. Yesterday we tried a whole different route, and were pleased to find we arrived in a mere hour and 20 minutes! Looks like that is going to be the winner. It is just one bus and one car.

Some of the bus time can be redeemed, using the time to read, study, and plan. The car time is more difficult to use, as there is usually no space to work. We are crammed into the back seat of a car that comfortably seats two, but seats three in a pinch. How many ride in it here? Four. I always get the feeling I'll be getting out skinnier than I went in! When it rains, it will be taxi time, because there is a 20 minute walk to get to the transportation routes.

Some have asked why I don't just get a car. There are a few reasons. One, it would probably add another $500US to my monthly costs, between maintanence and gas at over $4.00 a gallon, as well as insurance. This doesn't even consider the original cost of the car, which could be pretty high. But the biggest reason is just that driving here is absolutely crazy. A couple of weeks ago, in a public car, we riders heard on the radio that the government was taking steps to make people stop driving so poorly. Everyone in the car laughed, including the driver, because we all knew there was no way.

If you get in an accident here, and there are any injuries, you are arrested! It doesn't matter if you are at fault or not. Being single, I don't have someone to run bail me out. So I will stick with public transportation.

We aren't in a routine yet, but between the bus rides and classes we put in a full day's work. The school computer printouts are temporarily suspended while I get all the computer equipment set up again. Right now we are coming home almost too tired to cook dinner. Between the intense heat and the stress of new transportation, we are quite worn out. This, I am sure, is for the moment, and will gradually subside, as we get used to the new circumstances.

We are probably finishing school around mid-june. We follow the schedule of the National School for the deaf, so we cannot fix a time until they do. It may seem surprising that we don't have the whole school calendar planned out in advance, but that is the way it is done here.

Times are a changin'

Last Thursday I sprained my ankle. By Friday evening, I could not walk on it. As a result, no school for me on Friday.

This Friday I will be missing for a very different reason: my niece is coming into the country, and I'll be meeting her at the airport. She is fluent in Sign Language and will be helping at the deaf school. But best of all, she is a faithful Christian woman.

Today I went to ask about our staying at the same location next year. As it turns out, the Episcopal church that rents us space is changing priests. So it will be the new guy's decision. He will probably say yes, and raise the rent. Our greatest difficulty as a school thus far has always been the location. This one has been good for us, although barely adequate in terms of space. It doesn't really leave us any room for growth.

The preschool the church currently has, is going to be turned into a regular school with all ages under the new priest. This is doubtless going to mean a lot of change for us. They will be tearing down one of the two buildings (not the one we are in) to rebuild it as a school, with two stories instead of one. I don't relish the idea of a lot of building going on while we are in school.

The other change is that I will be moving this Saturday to the other side of town, to house sit for a missionary couple I know. They will be in the States for a year. After that, I'll be looking to see where the Lord will have me next. I'm thankful for the time I've had here, but the Lord has made it abundantly clear I'm not to return after the year is up.

There will be lots of walking at the new location, and I'll be much farther from school. Maybe I'll walk enough to get skinny again! (I'm trying to look on the bright side.) It's been very hot these last few days, and walking in the sun, even with an umbrella, as the custom is here, is not one of my favorite things to do right now.

Yesterday I checked the weather online, and it said 89° and "feels like 99°; you gotta love the heat index. It is pretty humid right now, having just rained a few minutes ago.

My house is in total disarray, as I'm packing up. I don't have boxes to put things in, so I've been using plastic garbage bags. Temporarily, I won't be able to make any school materials, but by the end of next week, everything should all be set up and ready to go again.

Death in the DR

Melvin died this evening. He never really had a chance once he broke his neck. It is a difficult situation anywhere, but in a developing country, it is almost a sure death sentence. The first doctor he saw sent him home didn't even recognize it, saying he would be better in the morning.

Then later, when he was taken to the ER and admitted, he lived on for a week. Other strange things went on towards the end. The family was told he was dead, then an hour later that he was still alive, but that he was dying. Imagine going through that.

Usually here people are not informed that a person is dead right away. Instead they are told in stages. First they are injured or sick (even though they have already passed away), then after a while when they get used to the idea, the person is informed of the death. As a result, when someone is only injured or very sick, people assume the worst--that the person may, in fact, be dead. This time they got it backwards.

I still remember my own hospital stay, when the front desk refused to talk to me because I was the patient. They said they would only talk to my relatives. When I informed them I had no relatives present in the DR, they would only talk to my friends! Both patients and relatives are often not allowed to know the full extent of the patient's condition. Sometimes one relative is let in on the secret, but makes the decision not to inform the others.

Sad

I only have five minutes before I run off to the school, but I wanted to note something. There is a deaf man, 18 years old, who broke his neck this past weekend. He is in the hospital a block from my house, and I'll go to see him today. I know he is paralyzed from the neck down. The public hospital is not prepared to deal with someone like him. I understand they have him in a neck brace--one like we might use for a bad case of whiplash.

More later.

Complications

Ah, the joys of the WWW! As a veteran websurfer, I really appreciate the web. It is a great help to my work, providing materials, inspiration, education on a plethora of subjects that interest me and communication with a myriad of people. Still, it was quite a stretch to make and maintain my own website. I decided to go with a freebie, because frankly, I wasn't sure how it would work out. I didn't want to invest a lot of money or even time, until I could see it would actually be useful to me.

Unfortunately, the server I chose, doesn't like to let me update my site. Sometimes I upload it five or six times before it all gets through. And their support is dismal. You send in a support ticket, and wait up to 48 hours for a response. The first response is always something canned, so it means writing again, and waiting up to 48 hours more. And so it goes. What do I expect for free?

So if you've been over to my website, hey, I'm working on getting it back up ASAP.

All in a day's work

Today was a "día de colores" as they call it here. That is a day where the kids can wear clothes other than their school uniform. We wanted to take pictures. Many came quite dressed up. Normally the kids here in all schools wear uniforms.

We also welcomed a new student. He's 8 years old and has never attended school. He doesn't know any Sign, or even how to count to five on his fingers. His mom said she tried to sign him up before, but the (oral) school wouldn't take him without a hearing aid, and she couldn't afford one.

A couple of the boys were fighting today during the last hour and a half of school, and every time I looked away, they would go at it again. At the end of the day, almost walking out the door, one popped the other in the nose pretty hard, and gave him a nosebleed.

Lately I'm constantly saying, "Use your hands to Sign, not to fight!" I want them to learn to resolve problems more with discussion and less with fists. These kids come from rough neighborhoods, so they are not easily convinced.

I walked R. home so I could talk with his parents. .Wow, quite a walk! It was about 35 minutes at a fast pace. I couldn't have found my way back without help, because there were so many twists and turns on the way.

The unpainted cement block houses in the area, many with zinc roofs, are separated only by narrow walkways. There are no roads. Everything that comes in must either be handcarried, or come in on a bike or motorcycle.

These are houses that no architect has planned. Instead, they are put up, little by little, as the family can afford the block. Most begin with a wooden one room shack, and slowly replace it with block, then begin to expand and add on rooms. Eventually, they replace the zinc roof with cement, if they can, allowing them to build a second floor, perhaps for another relative to live in.

Pumps were on, pumping water to fill up containers for later in the day when water and electricity would be off. Laundry hung everywhere. There was a spider's web of electric wires connecting all the houses, providing the intermittant electricity which was doubtless stolen. (Note: approximately 50% of the electricity used in this country is stolen.) A baby cried. A barefoot little boy filled a plastic bag with water and threw it against a house. People looked at me with curious eyes; they weren't used to seeing an American this far off the beaten path.

As the boy arrived home, he found the door and gate padlocked. No problem. He was obviously used to this. He called for his brother, but the brother didn't come, so over the 8 foot tall metal door he went.

The mom didn't arrive at the promised six o'clock that her other son indicated. Because this little barrio is undoubtedly a dangerous place, I had to get out before dark. I left word with the brother to have his mom call me. Sadly, R. is suspended for the time being, pending a meeting with his parents.

Centro Cristiano de Educacion para Sordos

Originally I had planned to update the website more often, but since it often takes hours to update it due to various error messages, I thought I'd just do a blog for more frequent updates, and try to update the pics etc. on the website once a month.

Update:

• Thursday several of the kids are off to the audiologist. There is a group here that will provide recycled hearing aids at no cost to the children.

• Bus fare, which is already a difficulty for many of the children, is going up five pesos on Thursday. It has been $12RD-$15RD already. The good thing is that carfare will not increase. (Here there are "public cars" that are on regular routes, which function pretty much the way buses do in many countries.)

• Friday, there is no school, because they will be fumigating the building. The teachers will be getting together for a planning session.

• My students are starting to read at last! They are very excited and very proud of themselves. So much preparation went into this, and it is really nice to see the "aha" moment!
  

• The new deaf teacher, Svetlana has finally started teaching. She had been delayed since January, because she needed more appropriate housing for her family. She and her husband, three children, and her parents, all deaf, are from Russia. We are so thrilled to have her on our staff. She will be the primary Sign Language teacher for new students, and will be teaching the youngest as well.

• One of our students has begun to attend the deaf church on a regular basis. She is a new Christian.
• Hector, the deaf pastor at the deaf church is trying to work into his schedule a weekly visit to teach the kids. He was with us last Thursday, and the kids were very attentive.