Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Day 3
I'm waiting on two more videos to upload, so here's the recap of today so far:
We got up bright and early around 7:30 for breakfast again- clearly we're not ready to go back to 8AM classes because the early wakeups are getting pretty rough!! After a nice hot breakfast of eggs and toast served by the SCORE workers, we loaded up on the bus and went to the first village of the day. There, we watched some local kids practicing baseball on one of their fields, and soon started up our own games of frisbee and soccer. Tim managed to wrestle about 20 Dominican boys at one time, too. The girls everywhere love braiding our hair, and the boys also love getting rowdy no matter where we are! After some fun, everyone gathered around Coach Brunk and our helpful translators as we demonstrated how the water filters work. It was so cool to see the villagers watch Coach Brunk in amazement as he drank the clear water that came out of the bucket full of dirty, muddy water.
From there, we came back to SCORE for lunch and had an hour or two to regroup and rest before gathering together to travel to the next village. We faced some difficult travels this time as many of the roads were almost completely washed out from the rains. At the village, however, we met a really polite and courteous group of kids (they were so good at forming lines and asking nicely for things!!!) who we were able to spend some time with playing sneak around, coloring, and painting nails. We were supposed to distribute more water filters there as well, but we got hit by some terrible downpours and had to leave- or else we'd probably still be stuck there now judging from the road conditions! We arrived safely back at SCORE around 4:30 though, and are now getting ready for evening devotions.
Everyone wants to give a big shout out to Mr. McArdle for being our one official follower on blogspot :) Thanks so much!!! Also thank you to everyone who has been reading this blog and praying for us throughout. Love and miss you all!
We got up bright and early around 7:30 for breakfast again- clearly we're not ready to go back to 8AM classes because the early wakeups are getting pretty rough!! After a nice hot breakfast of eggs and toast served by the SCORE workers, we loaded up on the bus and went to the first village of the day. There, we watched some local kids practicing baseball on one of their fields, and soon started up our own games of frisbee and soccer. Tim managed to wrestle about 20 Dominican boys at one time, too. The girls everywhere love braiding our hair, and the boys also love getting rowdy no matter where we are! After some fun, everyone gathered around Coach Brunk and our helpful translators as we demonstrated how the water filters work. It was so cool to see the villagers watch Coach Brunk in amazement as he drank the clear water that came out of the bucket full of dirty, muddy water.
From there, we came back to SCORE for lunch and had an hour or two to regroup and rest before gathering together to travel to the next village. We faced some difficult travels this time as many of the roads were almost completely washed out from the rains. At the village, however, we met a really polite and courteous group of kids (they were so good at forming lines and asking nicely for things!!!) who we were able to spend some time with playing sneak around, coloring, and painting nails. We were supposed to distribute more water filters there as well, but we got hit by some terrible downpours and had to leave- or else we'd probably still be stuck there now judging from the road conditions! We arrived safely back at SCORE around 4:30 though, and are now getting ready for evening devotions.
Everyone wants to give a big shout out to Mr. McArdle for being our one official follower on blogspot :) Thanks so much!!! Also thank you to everyone who has been reading this blog and praying for us throughout. Love and miss you all!
PICTURE POST :)
As promised.... here are photos of what we've been up to in the past few days!
SCORE bathroom in the bedroom.... shower space is limited so good thing everyone in our room is under 5'6"!
Boys in the airport... can't take them anywhere
DR roomies safely arrived in Santo Domingo Saturday night!!
SCORE bedroom
SCORE bathroom in the bedroom.... shower space is limited so good thing everyone in our room is under 5'6"!
Some of the group after church on Sunday
Getting donations ready to go out to the sugarcane village
We painted fingernails in the sugarcane village :)
Coach Brunk with sugarcane village kids
Chris found a friend :)
A "BIG HIT" WITH THE KIDS :) :) :)
Ty and Coach Weaver on the bike
Dominican traffic.. it's a terrifying ordeal
This is what happens without stoplights and stop signs
The wrestler's facility
Our pool! (part of a country club in Santo Domingo)
The swimmers with one of the Dominican National team coaches!!!
The whole group in our Sawyer shirts before distributing water filters in one of the villages
Coach Brunk explaining how the filter works
Jean with her new BFF :)
Softball girls with coloring books and nail polish for the kids
Monday, August 15, 2011
Day 2!
Sorry for the lack of postings! We safely arrived on time Saturday night after a rather uneventful travel day, the highlight of which was definitely our 4-hour layover in Miami with the Panama team, during which Coach Brunk and Ty decided to play "sneak around" in the airport. We also learned that asking for "water with lemon" rather than just "water" will save your group about $30 in bottled water prices in airport restaurants!
Sunday morning we attended a local Dominican church. Kids were bused in from nearby and we were definitely the minority in speaking English. However, 3 out of the 4 songs that we sang were songs that I knew from church at home that just had Spanish lyrics instead of English! It was so neat to hear The Old Rugged Cross and Holiness, Holiness in Spanish. Definitely a very cool moment.
After church, we ate (lots of potatoes and rice, some chicken and other meats.... they've been putting out salad and watermelon for us but most of us don't eat it just in case) and found the beach. The Dominicans definitely love their beaches; they were swarming with people on their day of rest! A group from Santo Domingo approached us since one of their ladies spoke English decently, and soon we were singing their songs and dancing in the water with them. It was great; they were so welcoming and friendly. Not totally sure what we were singing about but... it was fun :) We also found several sea urchin reefs and Coach Brunk ate a sea slug. Ty tried eating some sort of tropical slimey marine animal, but after putting it in his mouth, it attached to his tongue and stung it, so that didn't go so well.
Some of the group rode horses after the beach, then we all walked around the area and were able to sample the local Limon Lays chips... they are, literally, Lays that taste like lemons. I don't think they would be such a big hit in America but they seem to sell well here. The area we're staying in really doesn't have much around it besides beaches and more rugged abodes, but the people are generally pretty friendly. The guards and other workers all carry shotguns and handguns, which is really strange to us, but I guess at least we're protected! They're all also very eager to have "American" things, too- today Coach Brunk traded shirts with the bus driver and almost traded his wife's plastic watch for the driver's handgun!! Besides trading talents, we've also discovered that the wrestlers are extremely talented at synchronized swimming after last night's showdown between wrestling and softball in the pool. The swimmers judged as both sports prepared a routine and were judged on creativity, aesthetics, synchronization, flamboyancy, and the wow factor. While softball did well, wrestling really brought the heat and were formally invited by swim captains Zach and Brad to be the Messiah Swimming halftime show. Can't wait!
Coach Weaver led devotions last night to get us all ready for what was to come today. We all went to a sugarcane village about 45 minutes away to play games with the kids and hand out donations. They seemed really happy to see us and really appreciated what we had to give them, both in gifts and in time spent with them. Ty and Coach Weaver got to ride one of their motorcycles, which was one of their major goals on the trip ;) Pictures are sure to follow!
After lunch back at SCORE (whose facility, by the way, is actually really nice- we are by no means living in huts or shacks!!!), we each went to "clinics" that were specific to our sports. Gathering from what everyone has been saying and from what I experienced on the swimming side, we were all drastically unprepared. I think we all had the impression that we were coming down to teach lessons, but we all ended up just competing! Sports are such a big deal down here that unless the kids are really young, they don't have much to learn, so our competitiveness is really just what they want. Coach Brunk coached alongside the wrestling coach and they had a full practice; softball played against the Dominican Junior National team; and swimming trained in a practice with the Dominican National team. IT WAS SO COOL. The swimmers spoke fantastic English (two even go to school in Connecticut), but the workouts were written in Spanish- now I know how to say "200 swim, kick, pull, choice, IM" in Spanish! Great day :)
We're all really tired, to say the least. The food has been interesting- mostly carbs, but fortunately some form of protein at lunch and dinner. The ice cream drawer here at SCORE has been looking more and more tempting though.
Tomorrow we go to two more villages to distribute the Sawyer filters. Keep checking in with us! Everyone says hi :)
Sunday morning we attended a local Dominican church. Kids were bused in from nearby and we were definitely the minority in speaking English. However, 3 out of the 4 songs that we sang were songs that I knew from church at home that just had Spanish lyrics instead of English! It was so neat to hear The Old Rugged Cross and Holiness, Holiness in Spanish. Definitely a very cool moment.
After church, we ate (lots of potatoes and rice, some chicken and other meats.... they've been putting out salad and watermelon for us but most of us don't eat it just in case) and found the beach. The Dominicans definitely love their beaches; they were swarming with people on their day of rest! A group from Santo Domingo approached us since one of their ladies spoke English decently, and soon we were singing their songs and dancing in the water with them. It was great; they were so welcoming and friendly. Not totally sure what we were singing about but... it was fun :) We also found several sea urchin reefs and Coach Brunk ate a sea slug. Ty tried eating some sort of tropical slimey marine animal, but after putting it in his mouth, it attached to his tongue and stung it, so that didn't go so well.
Some of the group rode horses after the beach, then we all walked around the area and were able to sample the local Limon Lays chips... they are, literally, Lays that taste like lemons. I don't think they would be such a big hit in America but they seem to sell well here. The area we're staying in really doesn't have much around it besides beaches and more rugged abodes, but the people are generally pretty friendly. The guards and other workers all carry shotguns and handguns, which is really strange to us, but I guess at least we're protected! They're all also very eager to have "American" things, too- today Coach Brunk traded shirts with the bus driver and almost traded his wife's plastic watch for the driver's handgun!! Besides trading talents, we've also discovered that the wrestlers are extremely talented at synchronized swimming after last night's showdown between wrestling and softball in the pool. The swimmers judged as both sports prepared a routine and were judged on creativity, aesthetics, synchronization, flamboyancy, and the wow factor. While softball did well, wrestling really brought the heat and were formally invited by swim captains Zach and Brad to be the Messiah Swimming halftime show. Can't wait!
Coach Weaver led devotions last night to get us all ready for what was to come today. We all went to a sugarcane village about 45 minutes away to play games with the kids and hand out donations. They seemed really happy to see us and really appreciated what we had to give them, both in gifts and in time spent with them. Ty and Coach Weaver got to ride one of their motorcycles, which was one of their major goals on the trip ;) Pictures are sure to follow!
After lunch back at SCORE (whose facility, by the way, is actually really nice- we are by no means living in huts or shacks!!!), we each went to "clinics" that were specific to our sports. Gathering from what everyone has been saying and from what I experienced on the swimming side, we were all drastically unprepared. I think we all had the impression that we were coming down to teach lessons, but we all ended up just competing! Sports are such a big deal down here that unless the kids are really young, they don't have much to learn, so our competitiveness is really just what they want. Coach Brunk coached alongside the wrestling coach and they had a full practice; softball played against the Dominican Junior National team; and swimming trained in a practice with the Dominican National team. IT WAS SO COOL. The swimmers spoke fantastic English (two even go to school in Connecticut), but the workouts were written in Spanish- now I know how to say "200 swim, kick, pull, choice, IM" in Spanish! Great day :)
We're all really tired, to say the least. The food has been interesting- mostly carbs, but fortunately some form of protein at lunch and dinner. The ice cream drawer here at SCORE has been looking more and more tempting though.
Tomorrow we go to two more villages to distribute the Sawyer filters. Keep checking in with us! Everyone says hi :)
Friday, August 12, 2011
What We've Been Up To
While we have the itinerary posted (scroll down or click here!), you might be wondering what we've been up to these past two days at training camp.
Day 1 was yesterday (Thursday), and almost all of us were able to roll in with no problems and get somewhat set up in our dorms/apartments for the fall (poor Jean and Kira misplaced their passports and had to get new ones within 24 hours- eek! All is well now though!!!). We met in the science building at 8:30 PM to get acquainted and talk about the trip before breaking off into our groups (one team is going to Panama, and we're the other team going to the DR). We were able to share testimonies with each other both to get more familiar with one another and also to prepare for when we'll get to share our own testimonies to kids at the clinics in the DR. Bedtime was early, because Day 2 started at 6:30 AM.
Day 2 (today) started off with a "team building exercise" that I don't think anyone was expecting. We met at the rec sports field below Cemetery Hill, so all parties involved were definitely dreading what was to come (surely the terrible Hill Run!). However, we were surprised to be greeted by 3 wooden, 100-pound crosses. Aaron informed us that our team building would be done by carrying each other's crosses and doing a team run with the crosses on our backs. We were allowed to carry the cross in groups and rotate out as necessary, but believe me- it was still a burden, as was the key word later. We ran the fitness trail carrying these crosses, up hills and through dirt trails and everything, stopping only twice for short devotionals from two soccer players who were there to help us keep our minds focused to the true task- remembering the burden that Jesus bore for us in order to be able to relate to us in our sufferings. We stopped a third time along the Yellow Breeches to take Communion, then sprinted the home stretch past the maintenance buildings to our starting point. After arriving back at the base of the hill, a leader asked us to lay our crosses down and remember what Christ went through that we would not, and remember that He is familiar with all of our burdens that we so often fight Him in bearing. He urged us to lay down our cross and sprint up the hill, so sprint we did. There, we were greeted by two more soccer players who led us in a short worship session. The experience of the Cross Run was a very humbling one all in all.
Breakfast followed, then we were asked to gather up all of our clothes for the trip and bring them in trash bags to the track. There, we laid out our clothing in order to literally douse them in Sawyer's Permethrin, which will protect us from insect bites when we're in the DR. Here's some photos from this experience!
We met back in the science building to talk about Sawyer's water filtration technology and get an idea of how the installation process works. It's actually very, very simple- if you're interested, click here for a written description of the product or here for a video of the installation of the gravity filter. This video shows what the bucket filter system is like when installed.
We had the opportunity to have some more team time since then, and I urge you to read the previous post to get an idea of what to pray for, in addition to the request for open hearts and minds of the Dominicans as we strive to humbly serve them.
Day 1 was yesterday (Thursday), and almost all of us were able to roll in with no problems and get somewhat set up in our dorms/apartments for the fall (poor Jean and Kira misplaced their passports and had to get new ones within 24 hours- eek! All is well now though!!!). We met in the science building at 8:30 PM to get acquainted and talk about the trip before breaking off into our groups (one team is going to Panama, and we're the other team going to the DR). We were able to share testimonies with each other both to get more familiar with one another and also to prepare for when we'll get to share our own testimonies to kids at the clinics in the DR. Bedtime was early, because Day 2 started at 6:30 AM.
Day 2 (today) started off with a "team building exercise" that I don't think anyone was expecting. We met at the rec sports field below Cemetery Hill, so all parties involved were definitely dreading what was to come (surely the terrible Hill Run!). However, we were surprised to be greeted by 3 wooden, 100-pound crosses. Aaron informed us that our team building would be done by carrying each other's crosses and doing a team run with the crosses on our backs. We were allowed to carry the cross in groups and rotate out as necessary, but believe me- it was still a burden, as was the key word later. We ran the fitness trail carrying these crosses, up hills and through dirt trails and everything, stopping only twice for short devotionals from two soccer players who were there to help us keep our minds focused to the true task- remembering the burden that Jesus bore for us in order to be able to relate to us in our sufferings. We stopped a third time along the Yellow Breeches to take Communion, then sprinted the home stretch past the maintenance buildings to our starting point. After arriving back at the base of the hill, a leader asked us to lay our crosses down and remember what Christ went through that we would not, and remember that He is familiar with all of our burdens that we so often fight Him in bearing. He urged us to lay down our cross and sprint up the hill, so sprint we did. There, we were greeted by two more soccer players who led us in a short worship session. The experience of the Cross Run was a very humbling one all in all.
Breakfast followed, then we were asked to gather up all of our clothes for the trip and bring them in trash bags to the track. There, we laid out our clothing in order to literally douse them in Sawyer's Permethrin, which will protect us from insect bites when we're in the DR. Here's some photos from this experience!
We met back in the science building to talk about Sawyer's water filtration technology and get an idea of how the installation process works. It's actually very, very simple- if you're interested, click here for a written description of the product or here for a video of the installation of the gravity filter. This video shows what the bucket filter system is like when installed.
We had the opportunity to have some more team time since then, and I urge you to read the previous post to get an idea of what to pray for, in addition to the request for open hearts and minds of the Dominicans as we strive to humbly serve them.
Itinerary!!!!- and group meeting thoughts
We've finally managed to assemble a rough estimate of an itinerary. From what we've heard from those who've been before (the softball team has done a mission to DR before), detailed plans and any concept of "4:00 sharp" is not as crucial down there as it is here. With that being said, we might switch plans here or there, but our group seems to be just fine with going with the flow of things.
Here's what we're expecting:
Saturday:
7:30 AM Leave Messiah
8:25 PM Arrive in DR
Sunday:
7:30 AM Breakfast
9:00 AM Church
Free afternoon/evening in true "day of rest" fashion
6:00 PM Dinner
Devotions by Coach Weaver after dinner
Monday:
7:30 AM Breakfast
8:30 AM Leave for Sugarcane Village (we'll be playing games with and giving donated items to the kids of this village)
12:30 PM Lunch
Afternoon Clinics (teaching our respective sports to the local kids)
6:00 PM Dinner
Devotions by the team after dinner
Tuesday:
7:30 AM Breakfast
Ministry morning! (We'll be handing out and demonstrating the Sawyer water filters)
12:30 PM Lunch
Ministry afternoon!
6:00 PM Dinner
7:30 PM Devotions by the SCORE staff
Wednesday:
8:00 AM Breakfast
9:00 AM Leave for La Romana Orphanage (We'll be spending the morning playing with the children at the orphanage)
12:30 PM Lunch
Afternoon clinics
6:00 PM Dinner
Devotions by the team after dinner
Thursday:
7:30 AM Breakfast
8:30 AM Leave for Santo Domingo (We'll be shopping and sightseeing at a straw market!)
12:30 PM Lunch
Afternoon clinics
6:00 PM Dinner
7:30 PM Devotions by the SCORE staff
Friday:
7:30 AM Breakfast
Free day at Catalina Island! (Beach day... check out this picture!)
6:00 PM Dinner
Devotions by the team after dinner
Saturday:
7:30 AM Breakfast
1:00 PM Leave for the airport
After discussing the schedule as a group, there were a few things everyone seemed to be nervous about so here are some things to pray about that we're specifically concerned about:
I should be able to have computer access through the SCORE office in the DR, so hopefully there will be more updates to follow! In the meantime, here is a picture of our group- Messiah wrestling, swimming, and softball representatives [except Jean... she was having passport issues and couldn't make the photo :( ].
Here's what we're expecting:
Saturday:
7:30 AM Leave Messiah
8:25 PM Arrive in DR
Sunday:
7:30 AM Breakfast
9:00 AM Church
Free afternoon/evening in true "day of rest" fashion
6:00 PM Dinner
Devotions by Coach Weaver after dinner
Monday:
7:30 AM Breakfast
8:30 AM Leave for Sugarcane Village (we'll be playing games with and giving donated items to the kids of this village)
12:30 PM Lunch
Afternoon Clinics (teaching our respective sports to the local kids)
6:00 PM Dinner
Devotions by the team after dinner
Tuesday:
7:30 AM Breakfast
Ministry morning! (We'll be handing out and demonstrating the Sawyer water filters)
12:30 PM Lunch
Ministry afternoon!
6:00 PM Dinner
7:30 PM Devotions by the SCORE staff
Wednesday:
8:00 AM Breakfast
9:00 AM Leave for La Romana Orphanage (We'll be spending the morning playing with the children at the orphanage)
12:30 PM Lunch
Afternoon clinics
6:00 PM Dinner
Devotions by the team after dinner
Thursday:
7:30 AM Breakfast
8:30 AM Leave for Santo Domingo (We'll be shopping and sightseeing at a straw market!)
12:30 PM Lunch
Afternoon clinics
6:00 PM Dinner
7:30 PM Devotions by the SCORE staff
Friday:
7:30 AM Breakfast
Free day at Catalina Island! (Beach day... check out this picture!)
6:00 PM Dinner
Devotions by the team after dinner
Saturday:
7:30 AM Breakfast
1:00 PM Leave for the airport
After discussing the schedule as a group, there were a few things everyone seemed to be nervous about so here are some things to pray about that we're specifically concerned about:
- Local food... and potential sickness to follow. We've heard that if it looks questionable, it probably is, but there's always that aspect of wanting to be adventurous. Please pray for good discernment as well as relatively harmful bacteria-free food selection.
- Local drivers! This may sound silly, but after hearing stories from those who've been before, I think we all got a little bit nervous about our rides from the airport to the SCORE facility and vice versa. Apparently many drivers are very, very reckless and we all would like to stay safe :)
- Language barriers. Obviously, there is some level of love that can be transmitted without words, but we would still so appreciate prayer for this nonverbal aspect of our trip to go smoothly, and for our translator to be blessed throughout the trip.
- Emotions. Many of us don't know what to expect, and realize that seeing orphanages and villages is going to drastically change our perspective. We know that our eyes are certainly going to be opened, and there is surely an emotional aspect of this to follow.
I should be able to have computer access through the SCORE office in the DR, so hopefully there will be more updates to follow! In the meantime, here is a picture of our group- Messiah wrestling, swimming, and softball representatives [except Jean... she was having passport issues and couldn't make the photo :( ].
Team pictured left to right:
Coaches (back row): Derek (swimming), Amy (softball), Bryan (wrestling)
Guys (middle row): Chris (wrestling), Zach (swimming), Matt (wrestling), Tim (wrestling), Ty (wrestling), and Brad (swimming)
Ladies (front row): Taylor (softball), Jacki (softball), Abi (softball), Katie (swimming)
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