Nagua at sunrise (its much prettier from up here)
I birthed seven children this month, and two of them were already 9 and 10 years old. Man, did that hurt! Alright, so they didn’t pass through my birth canal, but I did help to give them a chance at life. I’ve been working for about three months now on a campaign to help register people who don’t have their birth certificates. There is a big problem in this country with people not being registered, as once a child is born it is the responsibility of the parents to go to one of the Civil offices and declare their son or daughter. This must be done within 60 days or the child is not registered, and to register a child after this period is a time-consuming and costly hassle. Many parents just don’t get around to it, don’t see the importance of registering their child (they come from small communities and don’t realize there is opportunity outside of their village), or they simply live too far from the Civil office and don’t have the money to go there. Whatever the reason, a large percentage of the population is undeclared. Without their documentation, they can not hold a job in the public or private sectors, can not go to school past the 8th grade, can not obtain government health care subsidies, can’t open a bank account, can’t vote, can’t marry…the list goes on. Basically they do not exist in the eyes of the government.
The good news? We helped seven of these people get their documentation! Together with the help of a woman from the Foundation in my town, we met every Sunday and the interested people came and took the necessary steps to declare their children, grandchildren, or themselves. We have also been trying in vain to get four adults declared, and have been ALMOST THERE for a month now, but there’s always something else the office needs. Hopefully we can get these men (all over 50) their birth certificates very soon. One wants to travel to visit his daughter in the United States and needs his passport; another told me he just wants to know he is written down somewhere as having existed before he dies. People from a nearby community, a village in my district, came a few weeks ago and told us about all of the people in that area who are undeclared, so this past Sunday we started a second wave of the campaign in this town. We’ll just keep going and do what we can and hopefully declare as many people as possible! Here are Darwin and Faviola, two kids we helped to register:
Also this month, I started the Servir y Jugar (Serve and Play) program with the local baseball league. Through community service work, sports teams can obtain free sporting equipment. The equipment is donated from people or organizations in the states, and with the guidance of Peace Corps Volunteers, Dominican kids and youth can work to earn this equipment. Every 10 hours of work earns them one piece of equipment (one baseball bat, one basketball, one t-shirt, etc.). We started two weeks ago on what should be a long run of Serve and Play activities, and I must say it feels great! The kids are excited because they are going to get more equipment for their teams, and in the meantime they are helping the community! We've started with some clean-ups - a clean-up of the baseball field, and many of the beach. (If I haven’t mentioned it before, Dominicans tend not to use trash cans, so there is a lot to pick up!) Here are some shots of the activities:
After the first clean-up of the baseball field, I went to the PC office in the capital to see what supplies were available to bring back. They were hoping for uniforms, as well as bats, gloves, balls, etc. (no jock straps Jeff, but thanks anyway.) I managed to bring a few bats, balls, and gloves, as well as two sets of uniforms! I came back late from the capital that day, and as I walked through town to my house with the ends of three bats sticking out of my backpack, I was spotted and followed to my house. The next thing I knew, a whole team of boys and girls had arrived, coach included. They were so excited that they could hardly wait for me to put down my bag to see what I had brought. They loved the uniforms (t-shirts only), and are ready and eager to continue working to earn these uniforms. With the entire league working two hours at a time (i.e. 25 people working two hours each = 50 hours), those hours add up fast. I’ll keep everything at my house until they have earned it, no advanced loans! I’m tough but fair : ) I’ve also got plans to help a new girls volleyball team, and a new sports league’s first basketball team. They just re-made the basketball court in this town, so everyone’s super excited about basketball.
Let’s see, what else…My youth group has been growing in size and strength, which is good, though its been a little tough to handle. The kids have a ton of energy and are excited about the group, but its hard to control and many don’t know yet how to take responsibility. We just attempted a movie night that we had been planning for a month, but where some people slacked and didn’t do their work, things fell through and in the end we were not able to pull it off in time. This will be their first lesson in “taking responsibility”. That talk comes at this week’s meeting. Here are some of my youth at my house:
Another thing I did was help plan the going-away party for Frank, who left this month for one year of his seminary program where he will live in a house in Santiago and pretty much can’t leave or have visitors during this time. I guess the idea is that if they can survive this mental test, they’ll probably be able to make it as a priest. The going-away party was quite an event, with dramas, speeches, and poetry. And once again, it was a complete surprise! That makes two successful surprise parties I've pulled off - yes! We had it in the new fancy town hall building, here are some photos:
Here I am with Frank (right) and his cousin who lives in New Jersey. No joke, this kid is 13-years-old!
At the end of the month, my community organization had its annual elections to elect the next president and board of directors. I was on the election committee and helped prepare the event. We've got a great new president now and a lot more motivation for the upcoming year, hopefully we'll get off to a great start! On September 1st they swore in the new representatives. I didn't make it that day, but they gave me a special recognition for the work I've been doing on their behalf. Other than that, there was the hurricane evacuation, which I mentioned. Coming up next month: more homework at the Sala de Tarea; giving birth - again; fundraising/pleading for money; and the new batch of trainees! That’s right, we’re the veterans now ; )
Here are some random photos to keep you all photo happy:
Shots of the beach at my site:
My favorite twins, Eliasil and Eliasail, listening to my iPod:
I'll leave you with this video of my cat, proof that he is possessed by demons:
