With the blessings of our families and a personal invitation from Danilo Medina, President of the Dominican Republic, the Grannies have again arrived in Santiago, DR. (Ok, maybe not a personal invite from the Pres but they let us back in the country which is always a good thing.)
Saturday was a travel day and quite uneventful. Our biggest surprise and blessing was that we were able to take in 260 lbs of clothes without paying for any extra luggage. The items will be donated to a garage sale that the Pathway to Jesus Parents Assoc. is hosting at the end of the week.
Sunday January 27 - Day 2
After a wonderful authentic lunch of rice, beans and chicken at Eddy's parents house we decided to visit the Monumento a Los Heroes de la Restauracion. It was built in 1944 by the dictator Trujillo in his own honor and was renamed after his assassination and honors the heroes of the Dominican Restoration War. It is very tall and has a spectacular view of the city and surrounding mountains. Many Dominicans enjoy the park like setting as there aren't any parks in their DR.
While we rested on the steps we were approached by a young boy wanting to shine Eddy's shoes. While he worked Eddy asked him about his life and his family. His name is Junior and he is 12 years old. He is the oldest of three children and has been working since he was 9. His father has passed away and he helps his mom support the family. It is a two hour walk to the Monument and he comes every weekend. He asks for 15 pesos for each shoe shine (about 40 cents). Normally he makes 200 to 300 pesos in a day (between $5-8). However, on this day, Eddy was his first customer and it was already past 3 o'clock. After giving him some money for the shoe shine, Eddy gave him some food and water that we had. It was possibly his only 'meal' of the day. This is not an unusual situation and Eddy is very good at determining if the story being told is truthful or a ploy to get more money. It seemed Junior's story was true and a reflection on many children's situations in the DR.
Church is on Sunday night and we enjoyed the singing and the fellowship. We are sure the message that was delivered by Guille's brother was a blessing to all who were there but with neither of us able to speak Spanish we simply enjoyed the time together. We have a full week of work ahead and look forward to sharing our experiences with you and telling about the people we meet along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment