Shine the Light-Dominican trip

On Friday I returned from the Dominican for my second time this year. I felt so blessed that I could go again and serve in whatever way needed. This time we had a much larger team which was really neat. From little tikes to the young at heart we had such a phenomenal group of people. We split off into four groups while we were there…a dental team, medical team, construction crew and jr. high mentoring team. This way we could reach as many people as possible while we were there. This time we headed to a community called Agua Negra which means Black water. It is a community that is built on the old city dump. The houses were all built lower than the roads so when it rains all the houses flood. One of our building projects was to build a new home for a family so that when it rains they can still stay in their home. In their current home…as soon as they get a bit of rain(which happens quite often)  it floods so much that the water covers there beds where they sleep. So to work we went…moving a ton of dirt and concrete blocks. We got to work along side the locals while building their home. What a beautiful experience this was.

I could write a whole novel of my experience there but I thought I would share one main thought with you today.                                                                                                                                          The people there are stunning. They laugh and cry…. they are smart, attractive and very hard workers. But one of the saddest truths  is that they have  no hope for a bright future….unless there is intervention.  They can barely afford food let alone pay for their kids to get an education. The majority of the people we work with are Haitian who have an extremely hard time finding jobs because work places are suppose to hire local dominicans before the haitians. So they turn to prostitution, begging or gathering plastic in the dumps. The chance of them attending school is extremely slim so the chance of them getting out of their situation is even worse.

In North America the people who are on welfare are one of the richest people in the world. We have opportunities and education here that hundreds of thousands of people only dream of having. Why do we deserve these opportunities and not them? Basically the answer is we don’t. We don’t deserve it, but because we were born in Canada we have all of this at our finger tips. Because of the place we were born geographically we can dream big and actually see it happen. The Haitian people there dream of having food for the week. We dream of having an extra home on a lake to go enjoy in the summer. We have it so good just because of where we were born.

Food for thought. Was I born in Canada just so I could have all these opportunities for me to enjoy….was I born here because I deserved to be born here? Here is my perspective. I was born in Canada to enjoy all these things that have been given to me. That is true…we have to see how good we actually have it. But living here isn’t just for me. It’s for those Haitian people I met with this week. It’s so I could send them money to build a home, so that when it rains they can still sleep in their beds. It’s so that some of those children could actually get an education and then in return possibly change their country. I know I can’t possibly help them all, but I can start by helping one. And then one more, and then one more. If we all start with one….what could happen? Could we end hunger? Could we end prostitution?

I only know that I am responsible for what I have been given.

Here are a few shots from my trip. Maybe another day I’ll share some more thoughts with you.

This here was basically the kids play ground. They were building sand castles here and icecream cones out of big leaves.

This guy was having his morning shower!

Some of our hard workin’ construction team….

While we were there they had an election. So everything basically shuts down for 2 days while this happens. On our way home from Agua Negra one day we got caught in the parade. It was a four lane highway all jammed up with people like this waving their flags and blaring their spanish musiqua!!

One afternoon we got to join them in a little baseball game in the alley. They used whatever stick they could find and an old plastic bottle for a ball. Their bases were just garbage from the streets…but boy oh boy could they play ball. Amazing!

One of the clients at the dental clinic.

Here is our whole team right before heading home. Thank you all for becoming part of my life this week. You all worked so hard and loved these people as if they were your own flesh and blood.

Our abundance may just be someone else’s necessity.