Llego Papa

I'm here! Not only did we decide on a site, I mover there! Big stuff happening. 

So, I arrived yesterday around 5pm. It took me 5 hours to get here in, of course, the pouring rain. Why is it always raining! Before we left, I gave Rosy a good tuning up, and by me I mean I went to a mechanic and he did it. She got new all-terrain tires, oil-changed, gears/chains tightened and greased up good to go!

I got here and my landlord and key project partner (if you will) Frank was putting the finishing touches on the house, things like water and electricity: 

I bet you're thinking, "wow, that's nicer than I imagined". You probably thought I was going to live in a shanty, half underground and eat dirt, worms and bathe myself in reclaimed pig urine.....well, me too.

Seriously, its a very comfortable 3 bedroom block structure with "constant" water and electricity every now and then. I feel very fortunate to be here. Restauracion is a very cool town. To re-iterate, Restauracion is a semi-developed town (paved streets, mostly block homes, small stores, etc) and is surrounded by 7 villages (the opposite of the town). Our work will primarily be in those villages and Haiti. I chose to live in the town because I believe I can still be an effective development worker and not have to bathe myself in reclaimed pig  urine :) . Having Rosalia with me makes getting to those villages easier.

Anyways! Today was my first full day, so I spent the morning outside reading and catching up on some work in hopes that I could meet some people as they walked by. I was reading my bible a little and praying for some encouragement (its lonely sometimes guys) and almost immediately a group of Jehovas Witnesses comes to my patio an starts chatting me up. Gods sense of humor? Super nice group of people, and not even 20 minutes after they leave another pair of Witnesses comes up and talks with me. Apparently, 25% of Restauracion are JW's, ha. Interesting tidbit for ya. It was great to meet them and boosted my confidence. 

Shortly after, the Peace Corps volunteer that lives here (yup there is one here, Garrett) came by and he showed me around the community a little bit, and we got to meet a few people he knows/has worked with, which was great! At this point in the project (first day) I am trying to feel out who the leaders are and who are the people with influence/are willing to learn and better the community. This involves a lot of small talk, which i'm not super good at, but trying hard. 

I feel like I have had a pretty productive first day in terms of meeting people and getting my life organized and ready to go. I have a lot of great leads on potential project partners and people who would be interested in volunteering for the foundation. Tomorrow I hope to take Rosy out to the villages and see what they are all about. Also, I have a Pica Pollo (fried chicken) guy now. Great chicken. 

It feels a lot like i'm doing PC all over again, but this time I know exactly how to get started instead of stumbling through the first 9 months, ha. Not to mention, I know a scoche more Spanish. I know I am still on a learning curve because this is a new community, but I'm excited to get started! 

Adios!

Drumroll please.......

After 2 and a half months traveling around the country, meeting with community members, being offered copious amounts of coffee and driving my motorcycle through torrential downpours......We have finally come to a final decision on which site we will be working in. It....is.......

So, my boss Meredith came down last Monday to travel to the top three sites I had identified; Tres Ceibas, Paradero, Restauracion. Each site is so unique and brought their own set of advantages and weaknesses.

Paradero is located on the tippy top of a mountain about 2 hours outside of Santiago. It is the most remote site among the three and the only way to get up there is take a 4-wheel drive machine an hour and a half straight up a dirt path. Nearly a thousand people live up there and are served by one poorly staffed and ill-equipped clinic. The community is very organized as a good representation came to our meeting on Tuesday and asked all kinds of questions and responded very favorably to our concerns and inquiries. Meredith fell in love with the people in this site. They are so incredibly warm and welcoming! This would be a great project!

Tres Ceibas is located on the north coast near the beach town of Rio San Juan. It is a very rural village with very limited access to water. Hardly anyone has running water in their home as they have to travel great distances to retrieve water from wells. They have no health clinic and the closest one is in Rio San Juan which is a very long 8km walk. The community represented very well with 24 community members showing up to our meeting on Wednesday! Very encouraging. Many of the members who showed up were interested in our health promoter program. Many of the homes were made of tree bark and palm leaves. Definitely among the poorest of communities that I have seen. Possibilities are endless here!

Restauracion is a border town approximately 12km from the Haitian village of Tiluri way up in the mountains. There are about 10,000 people in the village. There is a town center, which is fairly developed and 7 outlying rural villages which are about 50% Haitian. There is a municipal hospital and 4 rural clinics that serve this population, but given its proximity to Haiti and the influx of immigrants there is not enough infrastructure to support the number of people visiting the clinics. The clinics are understaffed and inadequate in quality. The hospital is basically a clinic in that it has nothing better than any of the clinics. It is a level one care center. Great site!

Which one, which one...............

We rented a small SUV to get to the sites. I thought it would be a better idea than both of us on my motorcycle for hours at a time. There were a few times I didn't know if we would make it up certain inclines, mostly in Paradero. It was nice being able to drive through the rain and not get completely soaked!

So, I will be spending the next year and a half enjoying the fresh mountain air in.............

Restauracion!

We have a winner! Restauracion offered so many opportunities to work not only with the Dominican population, but also with the marginalized undocumented Haitian communities on both sides of the border. We had a great meeting with the local government  which offered their full support of our project, but I think the moment Meredith and I both knew was when we crossed the border and it felt like we were in a different world. We saw malnourished children running up to the car banging on the window begging for food. It was very upsetting. You want to give them everything because you know if you give them whatever you have at the bottom of your left pocket will make them the richest kid in the village. Homes made of earth, and no electricity/water whatsoever. A little education would go a long way here.

We are going to work on integrating into that village as a side project. I am very excited about the opportunity. Can't wait to find a niche there and get involved in the culture. Gonna be awesome!

I move in next week!!

Haitian countryside:

More countryside...












Awesome picture of 2 kids crossing the border in Dajabon. One guy got on the others shoulders so as not to get clothes and shoes wet, haha. DR to the left, Haiti to the right:

Thats it!