Hi everyone,
This email comes to you after my first full day
of activities here in the DR. The frequent and intermittent downpours
have made me very glad for the "paved" road between Pastor Cancu's house
(where I am staying) and the school.
Today was the first day of school, so there was
a lot of excitement. For the most part, I observed to get an idea of the
English proficiency of
the different grades. I also took a French class that Willy was
teaching in Spanish. Imagine that!
Altagracia (Cancu´s wife) is the ultimate host,
as most of you know, They are always kind, and Altagracia tries to see
that I have everything I need. I wear my `mission team´cross each day
to remind me that all of you are praying for us.
This afternoon Richard and I, along with a
local Peace Corp
volunteer, went to Jessica`s house to fit her braces. For those of you
who don`t know, Jessica is a local girl who has been unable to stand or
walk on her own as a result of a Guilliam Barre virus she contracted 10
years ago. She and her family feed 40 very poor children what is, for
most of them, their only meal of the day. She is a senior in high
school, and also teaches English to young children in her barrio.
Attached are a few of the photos Asahi (the peace corp worker) took. I
only wish all of you had been there first hand to experience the joy of
seeing Jessica stand on her own for the first time in 10 years. There
wasn`t a dry eye in the house. Her brother ran through the house
shouting "She´s standing! She`s standing!" Her father and mother kept
repeating that it was `God`s miracle'. The braces are such a perfect
fit that no initial adjustments with the heat gun were needed (which was
convenient since there was no electricity while we were there). Her
walker is broken almost in two, so we borrowed one from a neighbor for
today. Cancu and Richard are trying to find another for her. She
graduates this year and hopes to walk at the ceremony to receive her
diploma. I hope to attend one of her
physical therapy sessions with her in Puerta Plata to see if
there is anything else we can do for her while we are here. I will
keep all of you posted. Many thanks to all of you for the great
teamwork!
Asahi just informed me that a possible tropical
storm was forcast to hit this area but seems to have moved west of us,
so we are all safe here, just damp.
Blessings,
Sandy
