Food for a Community

Can't believe it's been so long so the last entry but life happens and then there's almost continuous drenching rain. That brings us to little or no internet connection from our condo so it becomes more difficult to communicate. Today there's sunshine and it feels very good.

As a result of both the flooding a month ago and the depressed economy, leaving people with little resources for food. So food distribution happened several times in two different communities. The Dominicans from the two church groups threw themselves into the opportunity to give to others and they did a very good job of mobilizing volunteers, purchasing and packaging the food and then identifying the neediest homes and delivering food. How uplifting to be part of the packaging and delivering. Each package contained 5 to 9 lb of rice, 1 to 2 lb of beans, some cooking oil, 2 pounds of sugar and pasta. I had the privilege of helping to babysit Garcia & Jenny's infant grandson during one distribution.

The truck filled with the food packages had to keep moving so as not to be swarmed by others who were not included in the indentified list. Obviously there is widespread need with only the neediest being assisted in this distribution. And then there were the macho young men hanging out down the lane from Garcia's, proud to receive their portion.

Condo Home

We are pretty much settled into our home in our condo. In spite of running out of gas for our stove last night in the middle of preparing supper for our Dominican friends, we have been quite happy here without the North American conveniences. Oh yeah, there were the little ants that suddenly took over the kitchen area yesterday as well, and then there was the heavy rain when we had to put out all 3 of our larger basins to catch the drips from the ceiling. But you know, the weather is perpetual summer, the people have been so friendly and welcoming and we are learning the spanish language because we want to communicate. We are happy to be here and feel this is where we need to be at this time.

Shopping

After seeing the losses people experienced with the flashflood in Maranata, we were also impressed with their resourcefulness. Even as loads of drenched mattresses were removed from the town, others were washing their's and lining them up in the sun across the street from our condo, for them to dry.

Our friends, Pastor garcia and his wife Jenny, had several feet of sewer flood water in their home and in spite of that were out helping others. They kind of cleaned their house and slept on their stained & smelly beds. Our Canadian group sent money to help replace some basic items.

So, we went with them to a larger centre, Moca, to shop for these basic items. First, we hit a music store and Garcia selected a Yamaha keyboard which he of course tested in the store. He was able to make amazing music as he is a gifted musician. To go with that, he needed to replace two speakers, and a dvd player. He & his wife Jenny couldn't contain their smiles.

Then we went on to a mattress factory. I had never been in one before so found it an interesting place. We were free to enter the work area from the show room to watch them manufacture a mattress. The workers were more than pleased to pose and delightedly looked at the images in the digital cameras. The couple found suitable mattresses, including a small crib mattress for their infant grandson who lives with them, and then the negotiating began, from prices to time, method & price of delivery. Of course the process included testing the mattresses!

We also included visiting their families while there and were treated to their hospitality. We were served a lunch of rice, fried eggs and fried platanos and even Larry was able to eat the gluten free meal. We were again touched by their acceptance of us and how they welcomed us. Each visit ended with a request that we all pray with them. It was pretty special.

warm welcome

It is beautifully warm in Sosua and humid too. Or as My brother Jake put it, "hot & sweaty"? The breeze is lovely and the sea water is so blue. What a paradise.
Our condo this year is very adequate, nicer looking than last year but does not have the hot water at the kitchen sink after all. Oh well, we are still so fortunate for the air conditioning in the bedroom. We are doing well.
Others here are not so fortunate and we feel like we hit the ground running. We have met with the local pastors and others who all express or indicate great need, though usually not asking for anything. Our hearts go out to those in Maranata & Sosua Abajo, on the outskirts of Sosua who lost so much in the flashflood last weekend. Through our Canadian group, Dominican Connections, Pastor Garcia & Jenny were able to purchase emergency food for distribution in their neighbourhood. They themselves had 2 feet of water in their house and lost much. We saw (& smelled) their hosed down mattresses today, which are back on their beds. Even their month old grandson was sleeping peacefully on a stinky, though dry, mattress. Yes, new ones are coming, thanks to others' generosity, and it is so good to see the people from other areas who do not have much share with those who have even less.

Better go catch a few rays befoe the sun disappears behind the building. After the sweaty morning assembling food hampers this will be sweet. We'll need to re-energize before our supper with the other pastor aas it is amazingly exhausting trying to communicate in spanish all day. Lovin it.

On the road again

It's Halloween night and Larry & I are enroute back to the Dominican Republic after coming home only 7 months ago. Blogging has not been priority obviously since so much life happened in that period of time. We have loved spending time with our children, with our grandchildren and being in our own home a few months. The last month and a half we have lived out of suitcases a lot and were able to take my sister Nita up on her invitation to move in with her. It feels like we have been in the process of preparing to return to the DR for months, since this time we are going for 6 months.

Our hearts are drawn back to the lovely people we have gotten to know and we feel compelled to go and continue to build those relationships. We will also be involved in the projects that Dominican Connections has set in motion, such as school development among other activities. I think we'll need to take some Spanish classes this time to move beyond our current level of proficiency.

So, having enjoyed our family get together in Canmore for Thanksgiving we feel we are now ready to shift direction for a few months and hopefully we will have internet connection in our rented condo in Sosua so we can communicate regularly.

Hasta luego.

summer season

Summer is fast fading on the prairies and it's been a great season. We have enjoyed our home, garden, friends, family and sunshine in various locations. The backyard garden yielded an amazing crop of raspberries from the few bushes, the tomatoes are large and juicy and the cucumbers add that fresh taste to our salads. This year the bell peppers and jalapenos have been going crazy. We are so blessed with plenty.

We did our annual roadtrip to the Okanagan to visit Tannis and Jeremy and their busy family and again loved the family time taking in Ivy's birthday, quick trips to nearby beaches, early morning TH runs, sleeping in their guesthouse (playhouse)among many memory making times. Ella was a charming playmate and Little Ezra was keeping everyone engaged with walking him around by grasping his hands. Little cutie with big eyes.

We spent an overnight with my oldest sister and her husband in Armstrong and appreciated the warm conversations. Mark was his usual gracious and fun self and we spent an extended weekend with him in Vancouver. Of course we did the annual rollerblading around Stanley Park with him. The summer also included a quick trip to Saskatoon to a wedding where Mark joined us and a road trip to Minnesota north country, where we camped and floated down the river with our California friends who own cottage property.

Back home, we enjoyed camping with Chad and Crystal and their girls (& Izzy) at Rushing River and a day outing to Grand Beach. Marissa had surgery right after school was out and had to go easy on the sun. That did not hold back the energy she & Tyra had for sleepovers, playgrounds, baking and crafts over the summer. There were the warm evenings when we hit the BDI and Sargent Sundae for ice cream and walking. You just got to love summer.

Larry & I took advantage of warm evenings as well to stroll dowen Corydon and sit with our coffees at Second Cup patio. Millie, a fixture on Corydon, scours up & down the street picking up litter, stopping to chat with friendly strangers. She's a part of our summers too.

In the meanwhile the glads and morning glories are still blooming and the sun is shining. This calls for a mid day break and a quick stroll to TH for a coffee and bagel.

Time Passes

The glorious winter in the Dominican Republic is a fading memory with the return home to a cool slow spring in Manitoba. The transition back into life here was more difficult than anticipated, with neither of us having jobs we were returning to. I was somewhat disoriented in time forgetting totally about the annual medical appointment I had scheduled 3 months ahead for March 30th. It did cost me a $50 no show fee, so I'll hopefully remember the re-scheduled time in the middle of summer!

Larry and I have been busy replenishing the coffers by working together on several projects. We were asked to do some small reno jobs like scraping stiple off ceilings and painting, replacing bathroom & light fixtures, doing spring yardwork, etc. This is good exercise to replace all the walking we did in the Dr while earning some money to continue our wanderings.

Actually we both came back last week from spending two weeks out of town again. Larry used his time helping with spring seeding on a farm in Swan River and I travelled to the Okanagan to get reacquainted with the fast growing grandkids, spending Mothers Day with our daughter and her family. It was a special blessing.

Manitoba is coming to life after a particularly cold winter, and the lilac bush in the front yard is about to bloom. The tulips are about done but have added beautiful colour to the landscape.

We are waiting for the apple tree in the backyard to fill out and blossom. The two granddaughters living nearby helped us plant more seeds along the back fence, and we expect lovely vines to emerge this summer.

Time passes, and we see the changes it brings, whether it's the grandkids constant growth or the emergence of green leaves with spring, or our own life transitions.