XB's reflections on Orphanage Outreach

The things I want to remember about my week at Orphanage Outreach are playing with the kids, walking to school, and teaching.

I played many games with the kids at the orphanage. We played soccer, football, and lots of basketball. Even though we didn't speak the same language or know each other's names, we still had fun.



In addition to helping at the orphanage, we helped out at a public school. To get to the school we had to walk down dirt roads. When it rains, it turns the streets into treacherous mud. These days are like snow days in the U.S.A., so kids would just stay home. I am glad we have paved roads at home.



When it didn't rain we would walk to the school and teach English. One lesson was about Family. The students had to draw their family and we showed them the English words to write down. We also taught them about colors. We played "Slap-it." When a color came up on a die, the first one to slap the right word on the board wins. Teaching was fun.



This experience was amazing. I am glad it was part of our trip.

Enroute to Orphange Outreach

Yesterday we closed up Ohana, put her on a mooring ball at the marina in Boca Chica and began our journey to the orphange in Monte Cristo. Peter used his spanish and bargaining skills to get us a taxi ride to Santa Domingo where we then boarded a bus to Santiago. The taxi ride was quite an experience! With motor bikes weaving in and out of traffic, semi's with exposed engines and wobbly wheels, and horns beeping as cars merged from lane to lane without fear, it made New York driving seem civil!

We had not been outside of the protected marina zones since our arrival in the Domincan Republic and it was shocking to see the poverty. We were aware of the two very separate classes in the DR, it still did not buffer the effects of actually witnessing it. The tin roofed homes, the beggars on the streets of Santiago, the kids begging at the car windows, a mother sitting on the street with her malnurished child in her lap, was very disturbing.

The kids have not been outside the hotel yet to explore the city. Peter and I went out yesterday while they caught up on their t.v. time. So as I am writing this we are preparing to go on an walk to the park and monument which sits high on a hill in the town. I am interested to see what the kids observe and how they process the difference between the marinas and the city.

We are going to the airport at 2pm to meet the other OO volunteers. From their we head to the orphanage and begin our week of work. It will be nice to be off the boat and with others for this time.

We will be sure to post and let you know all that we are experiencing.
Thanks for your prayers for our family. It is wonderful to know that our circle of friends and family is present to support us!

Peace,
Eliza

Prayers Please

As I am sitting in here in a plaza in the Casa de Campo Marina, I am aware of how blessed I am. At the end of January I left Peter and the kids in Puerto Rico and flew to Pittsburgh to be with my mom and dad. My dad was admitted to the hospital on January 11th due to complications from his chemo on November 13th. During this period he had lost 35 pounds and was barely able to attend to the daily tasks of self care. He was discharge on January 26th and was able to share a drink with Mom to celebrate their 49th anniversary on the 27th. It was a very special moment for me to witness.

As I write this Dad is still struggling. He needs 24/7 care because he is too weak to get out of bed, to dress himself and to even do the crossword puzzle! When I was with Mom and Dad, I was able to bear witness to his struggle of figuring out how to "live a diminished life". He prayed to the Lord to take him and just let this end. It was painful to say the least to hear this from him but the conversations that he and I had about this were such a gift. I was able to move to the point of listening to him instead of being his cheerleader and with this shift he shared pieces of himself with me that I will always treasure. As our dialouge developed, I assured him that the money he spent on my MSW was paying off! He felt heard, and I was his listener.

As I was preparing to return to Puerto Rico and the Ohana crew, I contacted Fr. Ken who is the pastor at St. Scho's. He had visited Dad in the hospital and knew of his sickness and stuggle. We spoke for awhile and he validated the conversations I had been having with Dad as being helpful to him. Fr. Ken came to meet with Dad just before I left. He was able to combine the spiritual and the medical aspects of Dad's condition. As a parting gift he gave Dad a new prayer. Instead of "Lord, take me away"....it became "Into your hands O Lord, I give up my life". More of a trusting prayer than a requesting one. He led us, Mom, Dad and me, in a pray service which focused on trusting in God's choices. We all received communion and I cried throughout the entire service. It was such a relief to me that this man was a part of my parents lives. He was so caring and thoughtful, intelligent and understanding. It was awesome. Fr. Ken will continue to meet with Dad on a weekly basis and will meet with my siblings as needed.

As the snow falls heavily in Pittsburgh and the temperature in the Dominican Republic reaches 80, I am very confused about where I belong. Mom has told me since June 27, 1992 that my place is with Peter and our family, however, I am finding it hard to synch that with my life right now. My siblings in Pittsburgh are doing an amazing job. It is just difficult to not be hands on and in the immediate mix. I am aware that there is nothing that I can "do" for Dad at this point, I think it is just the selfishness of wanting more time with him.

So as I ramble on, I want to ask all of you the pray for my mom and dad. Pray that they may find a peaceful space in all of this chaos and pain. Pray that Dad finds hope and a will to live. Pray for their amazing cargiver, Frances, who is more of a blessing to our family than she will ever know.

Love and Peace,
Eliza

Underground and Up Above

To pass the time while we waited in Boqueron for Mom to return from Pittsburgh, we decided to rent a car and further explore inland Puerto Rico. Our exploring took us to the Rio Camuy Caves. These caves are huge caverns accessed by taking a tram ride down into an enormous sinkhole and following a path through a side entrance into the North Cavern. The underground river that created the caves has receded back under ground and only comes up to the surface four times, once where it starts, once in the cave, one in the sinkhole at the far end of the cave, and once in the town of Camuy where it leads to the sea. The river left behind these monstrous echoing caverns for us to wonder at. The caves are large enough to fit two jumbo jets!! Millions of stalactites drip down from the ceiling and millions of stalagmites grow from the floor. Did you know that it takes from 200 to 1,000 years for ONE cubic inch of stalactite or stalagmite to form? I sure didn't. I knew it took a long time but not that long!! The formations were amazing, they resembled ice cream cones and hills and spikes and daggers. There were even ones that had grown into columns. All these sights plus huge high ceilings and the sounds of the rushing river make these caves an experience to remember.

After touring the caves we grabbed lunch at Subway and then we headed to the Arecibo observation center, home to the largest radio telescope/satellite dish in the world. There we watched a film about the astronomy center and saw the dish. We also spent time exploring the interactive exhibits in the visitor center. An interesting display the center had set up was scale 3D map of the solar system. In the parking lot there is a gold ball on a post representing the sun and as we walked to the center we passed Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. We ran into Saturn at the observation deck by the satellite. The planet stations are to scale in distances we figured even though we missed a few of them. We all learned loads at the center.

We had an amazing day exploring inland Puerto Rico and all of us returned to the boat at least a little wiser.

-- Catherine

The Cave Entrance.

Only a matter of time before everyone is wearing one of these!

The other cave exit.

Arecibo radio telescope.