A busy July in the DR

July has been a busy month for us here in the DR. First, we had two couples celebrating their marriage vows in the chapel of Triplici Ossama. 

Most couples in the DR live together for sometime before solemnizing their marriage in church, often their children and grandchildren are gathered around them.

Next, one of the seminarians, Rev. Mr. Neftali Brito, of the parish in Don Juan was ordained a deacon on July 20th in preparation for his soon-to-be ordination as a priest, sometime in the coming year.

On July 25^th, eleven parishioners from Sacred Heart Parish in Auburn, and St.Ann's in Owasco, arrived for a week-long visit. During their visit they renewed old friendships and formed new ones in Don Juan.

The group kept busy completing the first coat of paint on the new chapel in Bosque Arriba and doing projects with the children in some of the communities of the parish.

The container shipped from Auburn on the 20th of June arrived in Monte Plata on July 27^th. Some of the people who helped load it in Auburn, NY were on hand to unload in Monte Plata, DR. Quite an interesting happenstance.

 Saturday August the 4th was the first mass and blessing of the new chapel in Bosque Arriba (the monies for which were raised by the Cornell Hockey team under the leadership of their coach and good friend Mike Schafer).

Final touches of painting inside and out are yet to be done. The chapel also needs to be connected with electricity and water, and we will build an eco latrine. All in good time.

A very busy four weeks indeed!

Bosque Arriba & Good News Update

Work continues on the project in Bosque Arriba.

We hope to have it ready to be painted when the group from Sacred Heart arrives near the end of July.

GREAT NEWS!

Our visit with the president of the republic has paid off! On Monday July 9^th I will receive the papers that will give us control of the property we have been seeking. We will build a softball diamond on the new property which we hope to then trade for the property we want in front of our complex here in Don Juan, which is the present softball field.Anyone want to help us build a softball diamond?

Children's Global Health Alliance

On June 23^rd Jeff Anderson arrived in the DR. Now a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania, Jeff first came to Don Juan on a project three years ago sponsored by his fraternity, Sigma Chi, while he was a student at the University of Rochester, NY. 

His heart was deeply touched by the obvious health needs of the children here in the DR. Since then Jeff and his friends have started their own foundation, Children's Global Health Alliance, to service the health needs of children, pregnant women, and mothers in the Third World. They are in the process of partnering with us in the municipal district of Don Juan.

Jeff spent his week here interviewing mothers, doctors, nurses, visiting homes, area bateyes, local clinics, and health services. Most clinics were very cooperative but not all,  the clinic that deals with AIDS patients was not.

His findings were a mixed bag as a few health services function quite well, and while look great on paper, the actual services provided do not match the description. Children's Global Health Alliance.

Eighth grade graduation

Last month we celebrated the eighth grade graduation at the school in Don Juan.

This was the second graduating class since the school opened.

The ceremony was very elegent.

A container packed with blessings

For some months now three parishes in Auburn, Sacred Heart, St. Alphonsos, Holy Family; and St. Catherine of Siena in Ithaca, as well as many friends of the foundation, have been collecting items to send to support the foundation in the DR. The parishes have collected school supplies, furniture, medicines, school desks, clothing, and medical equipment, as well as many other useful things. A generator was sent for me to use when there is no electric for two to four days. 

 Enough materials were gathered to fill a forty-foot container.

 Originally the container was supposed to arrive on the 18th of June, but it did not arrive until the 20^th. Luckily the driver arrived early and tired on the 20^th. The driver napped, but left the doors open, so five firemen and other volunteers, under the leadership of Ed Galka could begin to pack it.

 You have only two hours to pack a container; it is $95 for each additional hour.

 The container is now on board a ship that has sailed and is due to arrive this coming Saturday. Then the work begins of getting it through customs, unloaded, and its many blessings distributed to many, many welcoming hands.

Visit with the president of the DR

Visit of Fr. Ron and Sister Monica with the president of the DR on June 1st in his office as we seek his help to secure some property we would like.

 When the Dictator Trujillo was assassinated, the land mass he and his family had accumulated was more than 60% of the country. J F Kennedy, our president at that time, had all that land put into a trust foundation to be redistributed to the people by the government of the DR.

Our plan is to construct a softball diamond to be exchanged then for the present softball diamond in front of our school. The dream then is to construct on that property a new church, poly-technical high school, clinic and pharmacy, God willing.

Board member visit

On May 28th three members of the board, Greg Galvin, Peter Koch, and Juan Arroyo arrived with Fr.Joe Marcoux, pastor of St. Catherine's Ithaca, and Fr. Dan Mc Mullin, chaplain at Cornell University.

The group made a whirlwind, 3 day visit to the prominent projects of the foundation.

They visited the daycare at Portal de Belen, which St.Catherine's has support now for 13 years, as well as the school at Hato Nuevo, and the school and convent in Don Juan.

Also they went to the site of the new chapel and multi-use building which Cornell Hockey raised the funds for and helped raise the walls.

Cornell Hockey Team visit

Cornell hockey team members Greg, Cole, Kevin, Nick, Justin, and Andy, their coach, Mike Schafer, with his sons John and Luke and supporter, Scott Howard, arrived on May 21^st. Tony Eisenhut with his daughter Emily (who arrived a day later) and her friend Lauren also traveled to the DR at the same time to work on a project that they had raised the money to build.

 Their project was to begin construction on one building with a chapel for mass and parish events as well as a classroom/meeting room in the community of Bosque Arriba. Both of the facilities will function as hurricane shelters.

 The distance to the local school is quite far for the little ones in the area of the new chapel. Our hope is to establish preschool and 1st grade classes for them at the new facility.

 In four days they raised four walls, much to the surprise of our Dominican contractors. This group did lots of hard work in a short time.

After four days of work, the group relaxed on the beach on Saturday and Sunday, a treat which they greatly deserved.

Sigma Chi Christian Fraternity mission work

Several young men from the University of Rochester's Sigma Chi fraternity came to Don Juan the first week in January to paint the homes of very poor Dominican families. These families do not have the money to buy paint to paint their houses on their own.To maintain one's house painted and decorated is an important sense of pride for Dominican families.


Alicia Manteiga, our then volunteer from the Peace Corp, together with Fr. Brian Cool, faculty adviser of the fraternity, headed up the work detail.