Highlights and low points of a single day
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To donate The forgotten children
On my morning walk I encountered various dogs again, but was prepared with a couple of sticks, but the dogs failed to recognise they were to protect myself and yanked them out of my hands with their teeth. Well at least with a stick in their mouth they were occupied.
I had decided to catch the bus, another fun morning with people in every space. Getting off is a challenge but I know the routine now. Keep near the door, hop out and across the road to catch the bus to Urbaite !
Today, arrangements had been made to visit the families, who had received uniforms, to learn a little bit about them, their life and circumstances. Before I got that far, I encountered Alivia and her two bothers in the street. They are nephews and niece of Jose. We were chatting as I had met them in the school. Two of the children were due to go to school this afternoon, but little Ronnie said he wasn't because he had no uniform. I'm sure we can sort that out soon.
We met Hemer, then we visited our first family. After explaining why we were visiting, out came the plastic chairs and I was made welcome. I chatted to the mother, Carina, her husband is Miguel, but he wasn't there. She is 30 and her oldest child 16. At fourteen and pregnant she was cared for by a neighbour, her parents being dead and the father being absent. There is no work for income, so they live solely by fishing and working in the country. Her brother's and sisters have left. She now has 3 children from 6- 16. There is no money for school things and decisions have to be made about food. They only eat twice a day. I asked about people doing handicrafts, thinking of what I could sell, but she said there was no money, no internet, and therefore it was difficult to learn.
When we visited the second family we were met by a lot of little children and an older man. His name was Eriburto. There were some children that were his and others were the children of his daughters, and he was responsible for all of them. When I asked about food, he described how he collected wood, but as he had no land of his own he had to go far afield with collecting the firewood, then he has to find places to sell it.
In this family again, the children are a priority for food but the adults and older ones make do with bread and coffee. No real work and no income particularly in the current situation are their biggest worries. One of the joys of living on the island is access to food from the land and the lake.
The next family was that of Jose Thomas. I had met him before with his wife when we gave out tee shirts. He had three children between 12 and 17. He earns a living by fishing and selling the fish. He had a few animals but admitted to not being able to feed them much. So there are few eggs from the hens. What I thought were cattle were bulls, which are reared and kept hoping they will work for the family later. But if the family fall on hard times they sell them and therefore never get the benefit.
Uniforms and books are a challenge to buy, but food is the priority .
Amongst the things they need, he said ' oranges. He wants his children to finish their education and get a profession, but not much work is available.
En route to our next call we saw a carpenter making chairs. His work seemed more lucrative and stable.
Our final call was to a neighbour Arris. She is 31 and her husband 30. They have been lucky as her husband, a licensed teacher has just found work this term. They have three children 3,10,7. They grow rice and beans, keep animals, and sell some of these. They get food from the local shop and pay it off when they can. This appears to be common practice.
The 7 year old has a language difficulty and goes to the clinic in Santa Domingo. This appears to be run by a charity and she is collected in a bus. She has made good progress and her mother has learned to help her at home. She wants the children to get on at school.
Life has many challenges here but the family are all here. There appears to an acceptance of the way it is and no expectation that anyone should resolve it. It's as if they've just got to find their own way.
After lunch we went to visit the secondary school with a few biros, pens, pencil sharpener, pencils and exercise books, just for the staff. Marveli the headteacher gave us a warm welcome and apologised for the communication problems there had been, promising that from now on all would improve. Again the head appeared to have dropped out. Marveli described how they had arranged a little surprise. All the students were assembled outside and I was given a lovely welcome. There were poems and dancing and I was invited to speak, I tried to keep it low key as I don't want to raise expectations for yet another school, but am sure I can send some things in the containers. Before I left I was given another lunch! At least I'm not generally eating a lot and it gave me fortitude for my return journey.
To donate The forgotten children
On my morning walk I encountered various dogs again, but was prepared with a couple of sticks, but the dogs failed to recognise they were to protect myself and yanked them out of my hands with their teeth. Well at least with a stick in their mouth they were occupied.
I had decided to catch the bus, another fun morning with people in every space. Getting off is a challenge but I know the routine now. Keep near the door, hop out and across the road to catch the bus to Urbaite !
Today, arrangements had been made to visit the families, who had received uniforms, to learn a little bit about them, their life and circumstances. Before I got that far, I encountered Alivia and her two bothers in the street. They are nephews and niece of Jose. We were chatting as I had met them in the school. Two of the children were due to go to school this afternoon, but little Ronnie said he wasn't because he had no uniform. I'm sure we can sort that out soon.
We met Hemer, then we visited our first family. After explaining why we were visiting, out came the plastic chairs and I was made welcome. I chatted to the mother, Carina, her husband is Miguel, but he wasn't there. She is 30 and her oldest child 16. At fourteen and pregnant she was cared for by a neighbour, her parents being dead and the father being absent. There is no work for income, so they live solely by fishing and working in the country. Her brother's and sisters have left. She now has 3 children from 6- 16. There is no money for school things and decisions have to be made about food. They only eat twice a day. I asked about people doing handicrafts, thinking of what I could sell, but she said there was no money, no internet, and therefore it was difficult to learn.
When we visited the second family we were met by a lot of little children and an older man. His name was Eriburto. There were some children that were his and others were the children of his daughters, and he was responsible for all of them. When I asked about food, he described how he collected wood, but as he had no land of his own he had to go far afield with collecting the firewood, then he has to find places to sell it.
In this family again, the children are a priority for food but the adults and older ones make do with bread and coffee. No real work and no income particularly in the current situation are their biggest worries. One of the joys of living on the island is access to food from the land and the lake.
The next family was that of Jose Thomas. I had met him before with his wife when we gave out tee shirts. He had three children between 12 and 17. He earns a living by fishing and selling the fish. He had a few animals but admitted to not being able to feed them much. So there are few eggs from the hens. What I thought were cattle were bulls, which are reared and kept hoping they will work for the family later. But if the family fall on hard times they sell them and therefore never get the benefit.
Uniforms and books are a challenge to buy, but food is the priority .
Amongst the things they need, he said ' oranges. He wants his children to finish their education and get a profession, but not much work is available.
En route to our next call we saw a carpenter making chairs. His work seemed more lucrative and stable.
Our final call was to a neighbour Arris. She is 31 and her husband 30. They have been lucky as her husband, a licensed teacher has just found work this term. They have three children 3,10,7. They grow rice and beans, keep animals, and sell some of these. They get food from the local shop and pay it off when they can. This appears to be common practice.
The 7 year old has a language difficulty and goes to the clinic in Santa Domingo. This appears to be run by a charity and she is collected in a bus. She has made good progress and her mother has learned to help her at home. She wants the children to get on at school.
Life has many challenges here but the family are all here. There appears to an acceptance of the way it is and no expectation that anyone should resolve it. It's as if they've just got to find their own way.
After lunch we went to visit the secondary school with a few biros, pens, pencil sharpener, pencils and exercise books, just for the staff. Marveli the headteacher gave us a warm welcome and apologised for the communication problems there had been, promising that from now on all would improve. Again the head appeared to have dropped out. Marveli described how they had arranged a little surprise. All the students were assembled outside and I was given a lovely welcome. There were poems and dancing and I was invited to speak, I tried to keep it low key as I don't want to raise expectations for yet another school, but am sure I can send some things in the containers. Before I left I was given another lunch! At least I'm not generally eating a lot and it gave me fortitude for my return journey.
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