A Boy Named Domingo

The following was written by Sarah in August of 2009. She is one of a team of 6 doing work in the DR and Haiti for three weeks. She and her team spent a day working with Liz and learning more about the work that Dove Missions does.

Everyday keeps getting better, and is accompanied with undescribable feelings. Today was no exception. Today we met and worked with Liz, who is simply an incredible person.( Her organization - http://www.dovemissions.com/). She runs a club for street boys in Puerto Plata, in an attempt to teach them basic life skills so they can make an alternate living for themselves. The club is being expanded to accept girls as well, which means moving to a new building. We were supposed to be helping her move into the new place, but because of renovations we had a change of plans. Liz, along with five of the street boys, took us to a couple different areas of Puerto Plata, showing us some of their houses, and ways of life. Throughout the day, we got to know the boys a little better and they are absolute cuties! Many of them were from the pedophile ring that was broken up last year, and I would bet my life they have seen things that our parents pray we never will. I try not to play favorites, but Domingo was definitely a little gentleman! Throughout our "tour" we were introduced to Agua Negra, or the "black water", a river that we in Canada would not consider a river at all. It is nothing but black water, stained by garbage, sewage, and other pollution. The stench of it was magnified tenfold by the Caribbean sun. Can you imagine even dipping your foot in? And yet some Dominicans use it as their bathing, washing, and sometimes even drinking water.
Next we went to Playa Oesta, a beach that is nothing but garbage and murky water, but the kids that live there can brighten any day! Everyone is so welcoming here, they invite you into their homes and make sure you get a chair to sit on. Even the children give up their seats. It's truly eye-opening.
After our tour, we had lunch at a restaurant with Liz and the boys, then decided to go have some fun! So we headed to a park/beach area for a quick walk, and followed it up with a visit to an ice-cream store - my favorite food! On the way to the ice-cream store, Liz brought Danielle Chatman and I (who had leftovers from lunch) to the town centre. She called a few of the street boys by name and they immediately ran to her with wide arms. After talking to them for a minute, Danielle and I gave them our leftovers to eat, and I've never seen such big smiles. (I wonder how that would go over in Canada.) I can tell you first hand that the feeling of directly feeding a child in need instead of a garbage can is indescribable.
After a cold ice-cream, we ran to Liz's house for a few minutes to grab some baby formula, then headed out to make a few house visits to drop it off to the mommas. All I can say is Dominican babies are unbelievably adorable! The visits were quick, and by then it was time for us to get back to the apartment. We said our goodbyes to our new friends and drove home for a short dip in the pool.