DR Mission Team
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For the past 20 years, a local church in Wallingford, CT has been leading yearly mission/work trips down to La Romana, Dominican Republic. The first group went in 1990 with just a handful of people. This year, 85 people will board two buses on July 2nd and travel to JFK to catch a plane to spend a week down to the DR.
Let me know what you think. I added the hyperlinks in there. Not sure if you'd want to do it that way, but I think it's good to have the links so people can click on something they may find interesting.
Among the eighty-five will be me and my wife, Kayla. I have been to Haiti four times on similar trips, but this will be my first time going to the other side of the island.
The mission focuses mainly on the Haitian immigrants who are seduced by false promises of employment and wind up working for about 12 hours and only making $4.00 for their entire work day. The sugar cane harvest lasts for six months and while they are employed, the sugar cane companies provide housing for their workers, but during the off season, the workers have the option to leave and go back to Haiti or to pay rent. But since they don't even make enough money to have three meals a day, they are essentially forced into slavery where they can never pay back what they owe.
A lack of clean drinking water is a significant problem in the Dominican Republic. A few years ago, facilitated by Rotary International's local chapter, bio-sand water filters were made and started being implemented. At a cost of only $50.00 each these water filters provide clean drinking water for eighteen people for nearly twenty-five years before the sand needs to be changed. Since this program was started over 1000 filters have been rolled out to families living on the bateyes.
Many people will say, why not just send the money that you spend to be there for a week and give it to them? It's an excellent question and I've dealt with it myself in my own heart, but after taking five minutes talking to someone who lives in such poverty and hearing how grateful they are of you taking a week out of your life to come down to serve them and to help them, you won't feel the same way again. Just sending money isn't what they really want. They want people who will spend time with them listening to their stories and playing soccer with their kids; meeting them on a relationship level and not just handing them money to "fix" all their problems. As a follower of the teachings of Jesus, I know that "relationship's" is what Jesus was all about. He spent time with the outcasts of society; those who were thieves and prostitutes, lepers and cripples to show them that he loved them. Truly showing people love can't be done without taking the time to meet them on their level no matter if they're on the other side of the planet or in our own communities.
If you would like to find out more information about the mission in La Romana or the water filter project, please visitwww.drmissionteam.org.
