Week 3 in the D.R.

Week 3 in the DR

 

March 24, Sunday

               We got up early and went with the Haws to the San Jose to Ocoa branch. We attended sacrament meeting and then the Haws presented a lesson on home gardens and chicken raising. They must have had 50 people for their presentation. After the block meetings, we drove home and had lunch. We then went with the Haws to San Gorgorio Branch to talk to their ward council about the food projects.

March 26, Tuesday

               We had an appointment at 9:30 with Dr. Carlos Zometa from the Dominican Rehabilitation Association or ADR and the humanitarian and PEF missionaries. After an hour meeting, we took a tour of the facility. ADR has facilities for all types of handicaps. The church has given them 100’s of wheel chairs to distribute throughout the DR. Last year the church helped them purchase equipment to manufacture their own wheelchairs. They have now made around 300 chairs which the church purchased and donated back to them.

Patient being fitted with new sling

March 28, Thursday

               The office was closed because of Holy Week so we went with the Ruckers and three other couples to the Banao Church camp. The camp is located about one and one-half hours from Santo Domingo. The camp is managed by a senior couple, the Morales from Puerto Rico. The camp has many individual cabins and can accommodate around 600 youth at a time. They use the camp for EFY, institute retreats, girl’s camp and young men camps. The facility was well organized and located in a jungle like area.

Banao Church Camp

March 29, Friday

               It was good Friday and the whole city was shut down. The Johnsons called and wanted to know if we wanted to go to the Faro de Colon and tour the Colonial Zone. We met them at 9:30 and spent the morning touring the Faro de Colon and the Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor, the oldest Catholic church in the Americas. The church was started in 1512 and completed in 1520. The Faro de Colon is a monument to Christopher Columbus. It is in the shape of a cross and has large lights on the roof that shine at night.

                        Jim and Joy in front of Faro de Colon                                    

March 30, Saturday

               We attended the temple with the Haws. We arrived 20 minutes early but the session was already full. We waited for the next session. It also filled up. It was great to see so many Dominican members attend the temple. We returned home and went shopping at the Bravo Market.

March 31, Sunday

               We were invited to attend church with the Haws at the Los Llanos Branch. We drove about one hour and arrived in time for Sacrament Meeting. The branch meets in a rented building and there were only about 30 members in attendance. After sacrament meeting, the Haws made a presentation on food  production. As we started to leave it began raining. We drove about a mile from town and a tree had blown down over the road. We were able to drive around it. We drove about five more miles and ran into a group of Haitians marching down the middle of the road. They were demonstrating against something. We did worry too much about the demonstration until we saw several of the men carrying large machetes. We drove through the group without problem. We arrived home safely. We had Easter dinner at the MTC with the other senior couples.