Black Water

I hear the rooster crow outside my window far before I want to wake up, but the constant crowing reminds me that I better get out of bed if I want the luxary of electricity to help me find the toilet and sink in the bathroom. Maybe it would actually be better to not see the friendly little cockroaches on the floor in front of my feet! In the Dominican Republic, electricity is a luxary and is only on certain hours of the day.

Each day begins with a quick breakfast, conversation with God, and review of the plan for the day. We hop into the rental vehicle and pull onto the street in front of our hotel. We are greeted with a fresh, ocean breeze and view of the teal, blue, ocean water. Our group heads into a neighborhood of Puerto Plata, known as ¨Aguas Negras,¨ or ¨Black Water¨ ... A section of town no tourists visit, but a slum often littered with rubbish and dirty water. But nonetheless, a part of town in the process of an incredible reformation thanks to God and years of service from volunteer organizations, and Mercy Ship's crew. In a neighborhood previously viewed as destitute and hopeless there now shines a glimmer of hope. We are working with the local

¨Mother Teresa¨ of the Dominican Republic. An incredible woman of God with a passion and burden for her community and the lost. Through this woman and mentors from many volunteer agencies, there is now a club for boys and girls where they are taught life skills, to make a living, which helps them get off the street. There is a sewing business, a clinic, a church, and two schools.

We pull up to the school and there are numerous toothless grins to great us. The young milk chocolate and carmel children are our joy and focus. We have been given the gift of time to share and teach the children anything we wish. A few years ago, these children only dreamed of the opportunity to go to school. The local government refuses to enroll these children in the public schools because they have no papers, birth records, and they are extremely poor so...

¨they are none existent and not important.¨ Praise God, things have changed for these children and they are now able to attend school and learn. And more importantly, they learn the TRUTH! The school these children are attending was built by Mercy Ships!

Our assignment: teach the children about health and spiritual truths, teach in manner that the children will remember it and not only remember,¨once when I was small....some white people came to my school...¨ Easier said than done! With much thought, an infamous dental rap, in Spanish, was ressurected from the past. The main rap star, you better believe it... me... The best part, this past week, I taught 10 street boys, ages 11-14, the rap and they took over for me and were the star performers sharing the rap in the school we worked in this week! Dental and hand hygiene were topics of one teaching session, in the other sessions we focused on reminding the kids that each of them are unique and special in God's eyes. We helped the kids make little dolls out of pipe cleaners, yarn, and tongue depressors. We then shared with the kids that just like each of their dolls were created, they too were created and they are special.

For another class session, we took individual photos of each kid and printed them with colored ink and then the kids made picture frames for their photos. The kids loved all the activites! Many of my hours these past few weeks have been spent with the school children. I have hundreds of new little friends ages 4-8! The schools we worked in were very small and at times the noise level in the school was intense! Imagine twenty 3-4 year olds in a room 20x10 feet! Oh, my goodness. At one point all the little kids were screaming in Spanish and I was sitting on a little chair in the center of them. They were throwing balls at my head, singing songs, dancing, clapping, and attempting to saw my arms off with their fake chainsaw. Oh, the fun. I used some of my limited Spanish and said, "I'm scared!" The little kids would giggle and continue to "saw me apart limb-by-limb with the chainsaw." I have been up to many other things... but those stories will have to come later. For now, I enjoy the fact that my little lumberjack friends call my name and come running into my arms any time I walk into their community and cross over the cultural divide into the "Black Water."