Speaking to graduate students in Puerto Rico

On December 8th I was in Puerto Rico visiting friends. Winna, a professor at the University of Puerto Rico, San Juan in the graduate school of nutrition invited me to give a talk to her graduate students about our projects in the Dominican. I spoke about the important role that nutrition plays in our programs.

me speaking
Winna is responsible for getting me involved in the DR. While a graduate student at Cornell she went on a field trip to the DR. When Winna returned she asked me, then pastor of St. Catherine's, Ithaca, NY, if we could not do something to help the people there who are so poor; and so began my relationship with the DR.

graduate students listening

The Daycare Center at El Portal de Belen

The good work that the sisters do at the Daycare Center, El Portal de Belen, from which the foundations takes its name, is beyond belief. When we first became involved in the Dominican Republic some 12 years ago we started with the very first group of 50 children in Portal de Belen daycare center.

In this post I would like to introduce you to four of the children we are currently serving at El Portal de Belen.

Gordani (in the middle with his mouth open)Gordani’s father died and his mother is a prostitute who takes no care of him. He lives with an aunt. As you may know, they all love their picture taken.

IvaniaA couple of weeks ago Sr. Iris presented me with a darling little girl, Ivania, whose father, a drug dealer, was shot and killed by the police. The little one told Sr. Teresa that the police shot her father like a dog. The mother took up the family business of selling drugs, and was just released from jail. Ivania’s mother also has AIDS, as does one of her four children.

Christian (middle)Christian's father died of AIDS but his mother did not find this out until after his death. Christian’s mother works to support him. If this does not melt one's hearts, nothing will.

EnyerEnyer’s mother died days after his birth. His Father has been in prison and has not been responsible. Enyer lives with an aunt who has tuberculosis and whose husband does not have work.

Mahatma Gandhi said “For so many hungry children in the world , the face of God appears as a loaf of bread.”

Launching Project Community Banks in Don Juan in the DR, a form of micro-credit.

Committee de banks
In an article in the NY Times this past December the author wrote that there is evidence that one of the most effective tools to fight global poverty may be a savings account.
The world's poor almost never have easy access to banking, so cash that sits around gets spent, often not to the best advantage. I would add that this has been my experience here too.
Catholic Relief Services has come to the same conclusion with new programs to promote savings.
One of the ugly secrets of global poverty is that a good deal of suffering is caused by bad spending decisions.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is studying how best to promote financial services for the poor.
We have now formed a committee and hired, for one day a week, Jose Gonzales as the director of this project. The committee, Jose, and myself are now assessing the likelihood of developing community banks in Don Juan.
We are now engaged in making a quick survey of the community to see the viability of said project and the needs in Don Juan. After the survey, if there is a viable market here we will begin organizing those interested, assessing their abilities, training them, and helping them to start small enterprises. We intend to continue to offer support to community bank members in their endeavors along the way.
An integral part of the project will be the development of savings accounts. The loans made afterward will involve monies accumulated through the savings of the people themselves, as well as from outside resources.
The process is to organize, develop capabilities, and implement.
That is a very quite summary of what we hope will be a long lasting and prosperous journey for all who may become involved.

Summer travels

This summer has, as usual, seen me crisscross the USA and Latin America. During June I was in the USA and Argentina, July was spent in both the USA and Dominican Republic, and during August I spent time in the USA and Chile.
Now I am back in The Dominican Republic, I returned on the 3rd of September.

So far this week I have been involved in two funerals, and celebrated the arrival of Sr. Maria, the reason I was in Argentina.
Arrival of Sr. MariaShe is from the parish in Don Juan and recently made her first vows as a sister. Sr. Maria is home for a visit to renew her relations with her family and friends after an absence of three years in Argentina for her postulancy and novitiate.
Sr. Maria and I
During my visit to Chile I visited my close friend, Sr. Veronica, and I baptized her niece, Xaviera.
Family of Sr. Veronica and baptism of Xaviera
I also spent two day skiing in the Andes, Lo Nevado. Our Northern Hemisphere summer is their Southern Hemisphere winter.
Mountains in Chile
While in Santiago I again visited the tomb of Saint Alberto Hurtado, a Jesuit priest who died of cancer at the age of 50 on August 18th 1952.
Alter and tomb of Saint Alberto HurtadoI especially relate to Saint Alberto Hurtado because of his work with the orphans and abandoned children of Chile. He was declared a saint in 2005. His work lives on in the center he established in Santiago, for such children, women and men of the street, as well as many other projects for those abandoned and in need. It is always an inspiration to visit his tomb, especially this time because it was his feast day.
Statue of Saint Alberto Hurtado

Visit from Sacred Heart parishioners

Fifteen parishioners of Sacred Heart Parish in Auburn, NY visited from Wednesday, July 28th through the following Tuesday, August 3rd. While here in the DR, the group worked on and painted three new chapels.
Wednesday, the day of arrival, we visited a free trade zone and the company of Mustard that makes fishing hooks and sells them throughout the world.
Their facility in the DR is their distribution center. In my opinion, this is one of the better free trade zones.
Front view of the chapel at Los Lanos before repair work
You can see the results of their work on Thursday in the newly rebuilt chapel in Los Lanos. The visitors also put on a meal for the people of Los Lanos.

parishioners in Los Lanos and paint crew
Friday was painting in L'Elmo and doing crafts with the children there in the morning and crafts with the children in our school in Don Juan.
The craft project of the day was making bracelets for the children that say in Spanish, “Jesus loves you”, “Jesus te ama”.
The old chapel in L'Elmo
The Community Center in L'Elmo was the work and gift of the Sigma Chi Fraternity of the University of Rochester.
Community Center in L'Elmo
On Saturday the group moved onto the new Chapel in Peluda. Sr.Chris' Franciscan Congregation, the parishes of Sacred Heart in Auburn, and Saint Ann in Owasco had given the money to build the Chapel in Peluda as well as funding for the rebuilding of the Chapel in Los Lanos.
Chapel in Peluda
By now you will have noticed that we used the same color scheme in these three projects, economy of paint.

The El Portal de Belén Foundation meeting

June 25th P. Gregorio Santana (no relation to Maria) arrived in the USA to be present for the foundation meeting on the 6th of July. P. Gregorio is a young Dominican priest whom I am preparing for the future of the foundation when I no longer will be present. Sometime in the distant future, I hope, but death comes to all of us at one time or another.

Needless to say, P. Gregorio is a great baseball buff so we went to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Pictures of him and the DR display and Juan Marichal, first DR baseball player initiated in the Hall of Fame are also posted now.

The 6th of July I met earlier with the four-member committee that is working on redesigning our water system at the school and convent in Don Juan. The water in our well is drinkable but when it reaches the faucets it is polluted. We are trying to solve that problem with the hope that in the future we can develop a project to sell drinkable water cheaply to the people in the village of Don Juan. Right now a five-gallon jug of water costs 45 pesos or $1.23. We hope to reduce that cost by more than half. Included are pictures of the four men on this committee. We have set November 9th as the target date to accomplish the first phase of making the water drinkable on demand, as well as available on demand. With electricity off half the time, most often during the day, we must set up our own power supply, a goal for which a plan is in process. First picture is of Ed Hinchey, my cousin, Jim Gascon who has been raising the money for this project.
The second picture is Dave Kobernuss and Jim Ryders.
Also we have included a picture of most of the members of the foundation's board. In the photo of the foundation are Sally True, Tony Eisenhut, Stephen Younger, P. Gregorio, Juan Arroyo and Mike Schafer, not pictured are Peter Koch, Cathryn Obern and Greg Galvin.