Back to School: A Long, Positive Day

Our second day at the Altagracia school was full and successful.  We got an early start and arrived as the students were streaming in on foot, on motor scooters, and a few in cars.  No school busses here. We had the honor of being present for the daily opening ceremony.  The students lined up in the courtyard, and sang the national anthem, hands over hearts, as the flag was raised.  We then divided into our two teaching teams, each following one of the designated English teachers, Valentina and Lewis. The lesson for the fifth grade class was family and family names:  mother, father, sister and brother.  We drilled on the words, performed skits, and even had time to review some past lessons. This first class, by the way, was outdoors in the courtyard so we could divide into small groups, and also use sidewalk chalk as an additional teaching tool.  The next two classes were Lewis’ Physical Education classes, again in the courtyard.  We combined English and PE, with vigorous games of “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and “Hokey Pokey”.  Then it was time for recess, and the courtyard flooded with children, all eager to connect with los Americanos.  Our young people stepped up with all sorts of games of tag, hopscotch, basketball and fancy handshakes.  Kyle tried to dribble a soccer ball through the entire student body with limited success.  Then it was time for lunch.  We sent the students back inside reluctantly, with promises of “hasta pronto “.  We hopped onto the bus and had a quick lunch at the hotel, eager to return for the afternoon. The last class of the day for Lewis was sixth graders.  They also had the family lesson, and did a splendid job with their skits, having appreciated the example set by our students.  All too soon it was the end of the school day. We all poured out of the building together, now used to the chaos and noise of Altagracia in transition.  We had the joy of walking through a gauntlet of hugs, high fives and greetings as we boarded the bus, with promises of “hasta manana”.

Our day wasn’t done.  We left a tough part of the city for a tougher part, La Colonia, where we visited     a wonderfully successful womens’ collective, organized by Rita more than a decade ago with great support from the Norwich church.  It was moving to see Norwich Pastor Mary Brownlow see this place for the first time.  Over the years, many local women have established a successful business weaving tote bags in vivid colors out of recycled plastic bags. The business has grown to the extent that members are traveling to the U.S. to sell these high quality crafts at trade shows.  We had a warm welcomed with delicious local fruit,  beautiful bracelets that each member placed on our wrists in a way that was sacramental, introduced ourselves to each other, and danced to the music from a nearby club.  Yes, we danced.  It’s a DR thing.  We heard some stories of struggle and success, and had a chance to purchase several of the bags.  Each sale helps support local families, and lifts the entire community.

We are half way through our trip.  It’s hard to believe we have only two days left at school.  We will be sad to leave but feel wonderful that this amazing program has a strong chance of being successful (with your support) and sustainable.  We promise to make the most of every minute we have left.

Our First Day st School

Finally!  After a nearly a year of planning, scheduling, fundraising and constant communication with our counterparts in Cotuí, we brought our road show to the school.  The Centro Educativo Altagracia is a large (453 students) K-6 school in a challenging part of the city, 10 minutes from our hotel.  We ate breakfast, had a quick bus ride, and pulled through the sliding game into the walled compound surrounding the school. The school community had been planning our welcome for weeks.  Two sixth graders with very good English skills were the masters of ceremonies,  even politely telling us when to applaud.  The School Director welcomed us, and then a group of students performed a song and dance in English.  Another group of students with signs introduced us to the school’s core values. A third group of student dancers in colorful local costumes did a spirited dance number. Rita Severinghaus, feeling all of the emotion which comes with seeing a dream realized, introduced our group and then Frank Perotti, whose tireless efforts and trips on his own to the DR brought about the professional connections that allowed this school to be one of a very few selected for this pilot program. Finally we heard from Professor Juan Valdez, a superstar in the DR world of Education, and the head of a decades-long effort to bring English education to public schools in the DR.  Few schools have this, and it is truly a social justice issue.  The rich and those attending private schools have the chance to be bilingual, greatly increasing the possibilities for jobs and careers.  Professional Training Systems, the consulting firm led by Professor Valdez, has developed the curriculum to make it possible for English to be taught in underserved schools.  There is a significant cost for this, and our successful fundraising (thank you!) has already paid for all of this year and some of next. Thanks to the constant work of Rita and Frank, the Altagracia school in the city where Rita grew up was one of few selected, and it stared in December with two dedicated teachers who are in touch with Rita almost every day to share their work and receive advice and support.  Rita has also visited the school to support the program and plan our visit.  And today, 19 of us joined the effort.  After the ceremony we got right to work, splitting into two groups to work with the classes.  Each of us had the chance to work individually with small groups of students in the 4th-6th grades.  We followed the curriculum, which today had use working on words for family members, and also animals, colors and numbers.  We have brought all sorts of teaching tools and school materials, but the most important tool always will be relationship and enthusiasm for what we are doing.  The kids were excited and we were excited and the match is a good one.  Even with all of the excitement and confusion of this first day, it was clear that this program is off to a solid start and has caught the attention and imagination of the teachers and students.  They are grateful for our presence and support.  We are grateful for their trust and buy-in.  It’s a good match.  You will hear more every day about how this is unrolling, but we are so proud of the work being done by our nine students.  They are brave, flexible and dedicated to this task.  They know they are changing lives. They feel good about it.

The adults try to keep up, surrounded by noise, energy and synergy. We’re resting now, getting ready for three more days of intense engagement.  We already have many new friends.  One of our students already has a love letter, sent to the subject of his admiration by two female friends.  It was written in excellent English.

Photos From Carnival!

Church, Village, Carnival!

Sunday was another very full day!  We are an early breakfast and walked four blocks from the hotel to the Catholic Church on the town square.  We were warmly welcomed and seated up front.  The service was spirited and moving.  Before Communion, a number of people processed down the center  aisle to receive a blessing. We were in front, and two by two received a personal blessing.  Rita, Mary, Mandy and Rob were all invited to speak and offered greetings, thanks and blessings.  At the end, we all pulled out the sheet music for the hymn “Tu Has Venido a la Orilla”. (You have Come Down to the Lakeshore).  Straight out of the New Century Hymnal.  Their choir knew it, the congregation knew it, and we stood in front of the church and faced the choir in the back and sang to the choir, and they back to us.  Moving.

The bus and our amazing driver Glen were waiting outside, and after a quick team photo we hopped on board and drove 40 minutes into the mountains to the village of Las Auyamas.  Rita and her DR projects trips have been there many times.  Six years ago a group from the Norwich UCC church built a house for a local community activist, Anna Maria, and her family.  We have visited every year since, and joined Anna Maria and her family for a lunch of rice, local beans, chicken, salad and pineapple.  Her kids have grown so much!  Many neighbors dropped by to visit,  see old ones, make new ones, and show off babies.  Before long, our students and theirs were dancing.  We dropped off many gifts, including a new sewing machine, exchange many hugs, and headed back to Cotui for Carnival.

Words cannot describe this wonderful chaotic mashup of Mardi Gras and Halloween.  Music was blasting from many locations.  It was deafening enough to drive several of our adults indoors.  The rest of us took it all in from a third floor balcony overlooking the parade route.  Parades at Cotui Carnival are not linear.  Hundreds of people in elaborate, amazing costumes cruised up and down, some formed into groups and doing dance numbers. Carnival is a huge civic event, and Rura’s careful planning allowed us to have a singular cultural experience.  The ringing in our ears has almost abated.

Now we’re back at the hotel sorting teaching supplies and gifts for students and teachers.  We start our service work in earnest tomorrow.  This day has been a long time coming, and is the culmination of so much planning, fundraising and collaboration.  We are ready!

Bonus! More photos from Saturday!

Our First Day is A Full One!

Please forgive the brevity and possible lack of photos!  I am experiencing laptop issues and am trying to post via my phone. Oh, and the WiFi st our hotel was down for six hours.  But we have had a great day!  We ate a breakfast heavy in local fruit and fruit juice, and then boarded our bus for the two-hour trip to Cotui.  We were thrilled to be welcomed to the hotel by a group of the teachers we will be working with, complete with a huge welcome sign!  Hugs and air kisses all around.  After moving in, we had lunch and a siesta, and then took a bus tour of Cotui, seeing the Alta Garcia school and the site of tomorrow ‘s City-wide Carnivsl celebration.  We then went to the cathedral and met with the new Priest.  He welcomed us warmly and is reserving front row seart for us.  We will be sharing a hymn that we brought with us that has words in both Spanish and English.  The Priest says his congregation knows it!  We had time for a brief ice cream stop, and then drove to the huge reservoir outside of the city, parking on top of the dam to see the view and catch the breeze.  We’ll mee tonight to organize (I’m writing at supper time while the kids are off their phones and the band width is free).
Bid day ahead tomorrow.  We are all well and happy and feeling like a team!

We're Arrived in Santiago!

We had a smooth day of travel in every respect, and are safely tucked into the SANA "Secret Garden" on the outskirts of the city.  Our bus trip from Hanover to JFK was effortless, and the flight was on time.  We landed to great applause from the crowded plane cabin, and soon were winding our way through customs and baggage claim.  Before long, we walked into the warm (80) evening and were met by Rita, her cousin Luis, and our faithful bus driver Glen.  We (once again) loaded the bus and made the short trip to SANA.  We had a wonderful snack of fresh bread and pineapple, and will be heading to bed soon (It's an hour later here).  Tomorrow we'll make the trip to Cotui, check into our hotel, and soon be about the business of preparing for a busy week ahead.  Stay tuned!