Life in the D.R.

Makarios is beginning to take shape. IN the form of helping schools and helping children that cannot attend school for for reason of citizenship or money. Helping the schools consists of programs that go into school on school times and provide educational supplies and instruction for the students in grades 1 to 6. This program is ongoing in a batey called Severe and is in the works in another batey called Caraballo.
The part about helping children who cannot go to school is already in 3 bateys, 2 days a week. This program is designed to teach basic skills so in the future the children can attend school and not be far behind. The public schools are overcrowded and underfunded so a few days a week of solid education can keep up with the education some are recieving on the schools. For example i have come into contact with a number of students up to the third grade who cannot write their name.
On a lighter note, i have to be culturally sensitive about the projects I am doing. I was doing a number activity and needed things to count and they also needed to be inexpensive. So I chose beans. Well, everyone got 10 beans and by the time the activity started about 1/4 of the students have eaten at least a few beans. The beans were hard and uncooked but I guess if you have a bean in your hand you should probably eat it. So we went on with the activity and i told them that the beans were school beans not eating beans.
Continue to pray for the Dominican Republic and Haiti as well as makarios.