Neighborhood of Villa Hermosa

Three impressions of our mission/service project trip stand out for me: the neighborhood, the kids and the servant-leaders. I'll save the latter two for posts in the near future. First, a sense of the setting for the stories of these people is in order.

Day One, Sunday. Our group of 25 attended a church service in Villa Hermosa in a simple one-room building, no more than 20 feet x 20 feet. We consumed half of the real estate inside the building creating a standing-room-only scenario for the regulars. During typical weekdays, it is home to a school where six teachers share space in the school house and the back covered "patio." It was the most plain church or school building I'd seen, aside from the historical landmarks displayed by preservation societies in old towns in the U.S. But the week was young. A more primitive house of worship was yet to bless us.

Situated on a dirt road thoroughfare (a clearing that formerly served as the railway through a plantation), the property where we were to spend many of our waking hours is a ten-minute drive from the main road. But what a difference those ten (or so) minutes make. Within a few hundred yards of the main road leading from the city of Santo Domingo, the scene changes dramatically as Villa Hermosa overtakes the first-time visitor.

I would later find out that the most "affluent" families in this area live on about US$3.00 per day. Families here, many of them headed by single mothers, often stretch their budgets by eating a single meal per day. Fresh fruits or vegetables are typically limited to what can be found growing on nearby banana, coconut or citrus trees or other plants.

A vendor drives around the neighborhood in a small truck offering oranges and vegetables to those who can periodically afford them. The most substantial houses are constructed of cinder block and metal roofs. Many are built from assorted lumber scraps.

After the church service, each of the American families were invited to join a host family for lunch. Our missions coordinator had sent money ahead of us for these families to buy provisions for this meal. Otherwise, to feed one family for lunch according to our North American standards, could be about 2-3 weeks' wages for a family. 

Our meal was delicious and our hosts were very gracious as we muddled through a conversation using all 18 words of Spanish that we know. They knew even less English -- all part of the fun! Hanging sheets served as walls that divided the sleeping quarters from the cooking/eating area. The floor was partly tiled, partly dirt. Somehow, the home had electricity.

As lunch ended, a stickball game caught our attention from the muddy-dusty street outside. The boys use 1.5-inch diameter sticks or PVC pipe for bats and a cap from a 5-gallon water bottle for the ball. The pitcher had excellent control with lots of "stuff" to make the disc "ball" execute various aerial maneuvers before crossing the strike zone. How hard is that to hit?! 

These kids love baseball. It's not the national passtime; rather, it's the national passion. Some of us joined in the fun. 

(We brought 120 baseballs to hand out to the kids on Day Four...

and yours truly hit the bottle cap!)

Stay tuned at http://dominicanproject.blogspot.com/ for more about our trip.