Easter Sunday: Church Service and a Village Visit

 Our first full day in the DR was wonderful. We got to sleep in Sunday morning until 8:15, and enjoyed breakfast, hearing from our students that somehow, the Easter Bunny had found their hotel rooms!  Dressed in our Sunday best, we had a leisurely five-block walk from our hotel to the Catholic church in downtown Cotui, a growing city of 70,000, where trip leader Rita Severinghaus spent three years as a young teenager. We were greeted in the town square by Maria, the Director of the Altagracia School, and one of our hosts for Easter Mass.  We were guided to our seats and were in plenty of time for Mass, with a full church of 400 in attendance.  The service was wonderful.  It was energetic, full of music and call-and-response, and it mattered little that it was all in Spanish. At one point, ushers came down the aisles and generously sprinkled us with fresh-cut branches dipped into water that had just been blessed. It was truly a baptism.  Several of the group, having been raised Catholic, were planning to receive Communion.  In the process of communicating this to the worship leaders, we found that the Head Priest had invited all of us who wished to receive the Eucharist. It was a gesture of deeply hospitable welcome, and reflected the invitational culture that we have now come to expect uild lhere in Cotui.  Many of us received Communion, and were moved by it.  At the end of the service which lasted almost two hours and seemed like 45 minutes, our entire group was asked to come forward, and were introduced.  Rita gave a speech that described the work of DR projects and got a huge round of applause.  Each of us was asked to introduce ourselves. I has was asked to speak, and gave the shortest sermon in the history of the church there. But it was on point.  Then the Priest blessed us, and once again we got sprinkled.  Twice in one day!  Afterwards, the Head Priest came out and took a picture with us and warmly thanked us for out work, saying how much it meant and how much it was appreciated.  

 

We then jumped back into our trusty bus and headed literally to the hills, to the little village of Las Auyuma, high up over the massive reservoir that is a major hyrdo power supplier for the region, as well as controlling irrigation for the rice fields that surround Cotui.  Ten years ago, a group from the Norwich Congregational Church headed by Rita built a simple cinder block home for a small family of five, replacing a flimsy shack.  Since then, Anna Maria and her husband Yamari have become true local resources, working with DR projects to distribute the many donated supplies that we bring every year on our trips. Again this year, we brought suitcases full of childrens’ clothing, dental supplies, and hand sanitizer.  We know that it will be safely and fairly distributed, and know that over ten years the quality of life in the five local villages has improved as a result.  DR projects has built libraries and playgrounds at local schools, build and equipped health clinics, run health screenings, and supported local nursing homes.  Our bus carefully drove over narrow, winding  and sometimes muddy roads, passing hilly pastures with cattle grazing.  Our guides pointed out all of the trees with wild fruit growing naturally:  papaya, cashew, mango, cacao, tamarind, star fruit and bananas. This is the main food source for many of the folks who live in the area. When we arrived at the home of Anna Maria and Yamari, we received a welcome befitting  rock stars.  She and friends had prepared a wonderful meal of rice, beans, chicken, salad, vegetables, and all sorts of fruit.  We ate, we visited, and any shyness quickly disappeared.  Some of us had been there before, and were delighted to be clearly remembered (although everyone got big welcoming hugs).  We remembered them, too, but some of these kids have grown so big! I had a delightful visit with Yamari, who is pursuing a professional baseball career, and joined us for the day from the baseball academy in Santo Domingo, where he is trying to add 5 mph to his 88-mph fastball, and learn the English necessary to be a successful pro. He is in many ways the hope of that little village.  He and I had a big laugh at the photo on my camera of the two of us from six years ago, and then posed for another version of the photo.  All during and after lunch, we were offered the chance to try local fruit straight from the trees.  I peeled and ate a mango, sucked the sweet cacao seeds (and then secretly planted them out back, where they might actually sprout), drank fresh tamarind juice, and marveled at the fruit of a cashew, which grows with the nascent nut on top of it.  I don’t drink coffee, but I had a small cup that was so delicious. It’s worth mentioning that the beans were grown locally and ground up the hill by Maria’s mother.  Before long, the dancing started.  Someone brought a portable system, and everyone danced. Everyone.  We have the photos and videos, so please ask to see them when we get home.  As then afternoon wore on, all sorts of small conversation groups popped up, and it was a marvel: our kids and their kids mingled together, completely undeterred by the lack of a common language.  Several of our students who speak a little Spanish found that it was more than enough.  There was ample appreciation and common ground.  It didn’t take long for phones to pop out and group photos to be taken. The long afternoon was so relaxed, so chill, and so warm. Can it be that a busload of Americans can be so welcomed that in only a few hours we were truly a community together? The goodbyes were long and heartfelt, and the hugs plentiful. There were promises to return, with the knowledge that these promises have been kept before, and they will again.  DR Projects is sustainable, and this will not be the last trip to this sweet little village.

 

Amazingly, there was work to do Sunday night after our return.  While I write, crews are sorting through the mountain of donated items we brought, to get ready for a visit to a local health clinic in Cotui. We are also ready for our first visit to the Altagracia School.  Can’t wait.  Photos soon, internet willing.