3x5

(skip to the pictures if you please)

The John Mayer song ‘3x5’ from his first album, Room for Squares, has always rung true for me. It begins, thus--

I'm writing you to
catch you up on places I've been.
And you have this letter,
probably got excited,
but there's nothing else inside it.
Didn't have a camera by my side this time,
hoping I would see the world through both my eyes.
Maybe I will tell you all about it when I'm
in the mood to lose my way with words--

The whole song is beautiful, and like I said, true. I really admire and wish I were skilled at photography, but I’ve never been a picture-taker because I like to live what I’m experiencing. I get too wrapped up in what I’m doing and thinking to remember to capture it on film. That said, it’s a little strange that my personal project here is to create a photographic presentation of the Dominican Republic and the work of Makarios for Dominican Joe. In reconciling my photographic philosophy and my purpose here, I’ve tried to live and let my camera tag along on my experiences, remembering to actively include it from time to time.

Another thing I’ve had difficulty with, though, is trying to articulate and communicate verbally all that is happening. Like all things truly meaningful, it’s nearly indescribable, both because I could not relay the sheer volume of experiences, people, scenery, thoughts, revelations, and prayers, and because I think that perhaps some of these things weren’t meant to be understood by others. Maybe some of them are just for me, ya know?

So, those things said, below are pictures from this past week. A short caption is included under each one, and though the picture is supposed to communicate 1,000 more words, I know that it’s insufficient for what is in my heart and head. My prayer, however, is that it is precisely sufficient for what it has been purposed to accomplish.

Coffee beans.

These organic coffee beans grow high in the Central Mountain Range of the Dominian Republic on the Doulos Farm, owned by an American man and his wife, that employs Dominicans and Haitian immigrants. The farm pays employees fair wages that allow them to afford adequate housing, have access to potable water, and other goods and services. The coffee from the farm is sold to Makarios, who acts as the broker for the trade, exporting it to the United States to be bought by Dominican Joe in Austin. Proceeds from Doulos supports the Doulos School in Jarabacoa, which educates kids from kindergarten to 12th grade, promoting academics and student leadership. The profit that Makarios makes on the coffee, in selling it to Dominican Joe, helps to support Makarios' educational initiatives.

To get to the farm, we drove 40 minutes up a mountain, missed a few pot-holes/areas where the road ceased to exist, then parked on a dirt road in the middle of what appeared to be goard vineyard/village, walked 20 more minutes up the mountain, and passed over rivers by wooden bridges like this one.

Cows and horses sometimes appeared on our walk up to the Doulos Farm.

In the United States, we buy these at Wal-Mart or, if we're really in touch with nature, at the local organic nursery, and then plant them in our wooden boxes made just for flowers. In the Dominican Republic, they grow in the wild.



Paint on the side of someone's house on the mountain.

Burro at the entrance of the farm.

Vistas desde la finca.

I think I find large plant products novel (like the California Redwoods and their byproducts, namely, pine-cones). I liked this leaf.

Marissa and I hating the worst internship ever, as we like to call it.



Little Rachel enjoying herself at Literacy Camp

Front door of a house in Tamarindo.

Tamarindo.



This sweet lady lives across the street from the Makarios school and owns a colmado, which is like a convenience store in a shack-esque establishment. We talked for a few minutes, and she told me that her older son used to go to Makarios' after school program for the older children.

This is me on Cecilia's porch (courtesy of Jody--thanks Jody!). Cecilia is an older lady who lives in Tamarindo and owns a colmado. She and I have become fast friends and I look for times to sneak away from Literacy Camp to hang out with Cecilia on her porch or in her house. She tells me about raising 7 children, raising the little girl down the street now that she is vieja (old), and sometimes cooks me food. She's great, and makes me wonder why we don't sit on our porches more often, just to invite people in.

Here are some of our children eating breakfast at Literacy Camp. They love their guinaos (bananas)!

Hello! I'm sweet and love to tirar fotos and live in Tamarindo just down the dirt driveway from the Makarios School!

-
Franchesca in Chichigua last Tuesday. I went to visit for the afternoon after Literacy Camp.



Memo's head is a little smaller than mine. (Notice the sugar cane field in the background and the fence to the right--The canes in the back are where many Chichiguans used to work, back when sugar cane was more profitable and they could find jobs. The fence to the right marks the property line of the farm next to Chichigua. While I was getting my hair braided on Tuesday, the farmer came over and had a heated confrontation with some Chichiguan men about who had left the gate 0pen, which allowed his cows to escape. When I left, we still weren't sure who the culprit was, or where the cows had ended up. The entire confrontation was a little scary, as they were yelling in Creole I couldn't understand, so to take my mind off of the debate, admired the farmer's moto that has estickers (stickers) plastered on the sides. My favorites were the encouraging, glittery messages like, "¡Fantástico!", and the Canadian flag.)


Joselina is 12 years old and lives in Chichigua with her sister and mother. She loves to smile and loves to go around the batey and see what's happening. She, Franchesca, and Memo all wanted to try out my helmet. They, like my Makarios "friends", thought it was pretty funny.

This is my friend in Chichigua who braided my hair! She asked if she could, and well, I'm bad at saying no. I explained to her and her friends that the last time somebody me peinó el cabello (braided my hair), I was 12 and in Mexico, and it didn't look cute. I don't know if a ella no le importaba (she didn't care) or didn't understand that gringos generally don't braid their hair for a reason (it actually doesn't flatter us), but either way, I ended up looking like Kevin Federline and having a great conversation.

Tuesday night we killed a large spider with some bug spray and this Banana Republic shoe (sorry, Marissa!). The spider left his goodbye to the world by leaving the bug spray from his exoskeleton on the bottom of the shoe. ...It's like those handprints you make for your mom in 3rd grade art class...but not.

...thanks be to God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the aroma of his knowledge by us in every place.

I Corinthians 2:14

Increíble

Manuelito

la playa

Another week in the Dominican Republic has come to an end. I can't believe I'm halfway to being back home in Austin. I've learned and experienced so much...but it seems like it's all happened over about 4 days. I really do love it here. So, so much.

Jeson

So, to update!

This past week two groups, one from Austin Ridge Bible Church and one from the Austin Stone Community Church (holla!), were here to serve with us in the bateyes. There were around 30 of us living in the house, which was fun for me because I love living in community (that may be why it's my job at UT...). The high school girls from Austin Ridge were helpful, encouraging, and really energetic. This past week they led field days in Pancho Mateo and Tamarindo, which was like a sports day-camp sort of event. Word on the street was that it was a success; the children from the villages, during this week off of literacy camp, were able to be actively engaged with people, their bodies, and their environment, and the gringas (Americans) learned a great deal through their time in the villages with the children.

My time wasn't spent at field day, however. I worked this past week with the young adults from the Stone (several of them UT students and alumni--Hook 'Em!) in Chichigua, putting on a VBS for what was originally just the pre-schoolers (including Wilson, at left), but was then opened up to anyone who wanted to come because not a kid in Chichigua didn't want to. I served as a part-time translator, part time pato, pato, ganso (duck, duck, goose) participant, part-time jungle gym, etc. VBS was great, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the little Chichiguans and the gringas (some of whom are pictured below, and with whom I look forward to spending time in Austin this fall!); however, I think my favorite parts of the week were those times each day that I was able to take a little time away from VBS to hang out with the women in Chichigua. Part of what I really wanted in coming here was to form real relationships with the people whom Makarios serves (especially considering that my personal project involves introducing Dominican Joe patrons to these Dominicans and Hatians) and I felt really blessed to get to do that this past week.

Each one of these women is so welcoming, so inviting, and so eager to get to know you. I spent the most time with Gerda, who runs a little colmado (food shop) out of the front room of her house, which is next to the one-room church. Her house also opens up to the common area in Chichigua (where their cistern sits, pictured below), so I see her as knowing a lot of what goes on, just by default. She is incredibly generous and when I asked her a question from her window, she proceeded to invite me in for the afternoon.


We looked at the photos of her children and grandchildren, some of whom still live in Haiti, hung out with her daughter, Mercuis (who is also 21!), discussed the importance of mosquito nets, and even went through Romans 8 together (not my idea...just was lucky enough--right, "luck"--to be invited to read it with her). Her house is beautiful, a Caribbean mix of orange and blue. She has a neatly swept dirt floor, shelves neatly stocked with a modest amount of food, a dining/bedroom/living room, and a room for cooking (not quite a kitchen) in the back. She was incredibly patient with me as I fumbled over some of my Spanish, and incredibly jovial and generous with her sense of humor when I tried to make a joke that may or may not cross cultures.

As I mentioned, her daughter Mercuis came home and joined us while we were chatting. Mercuis told me that she had just completed typing school and then proudly showed me her certificate, printed in English. She and her mother explained that it took nearly a year to complete the course because when they didn't have money, Mercuis just didn't get to go. (This is a theme in developing countries--the inexistence of student loans--and will be the focus of my thesis this coming year.) I asked what she does now that she is finished, and she explained that she cannot find work, but would love a job as a secretary. She asked to exchange emails, eager to practice her well-earned skills. I look forward to keeping in touch with her and pray that somehow she will find work.

the cistern

The theme of joblessness here is a constant topic of conversation. The unemployment rate for Dominican citizens is around 16%, which does not include the unemployed Haitians who reside here illegally, seeking to find better opportunities than in their home country where there is a 60% unemployment rate. One Chichiguan woman this past week told me that she can only find work braiding hair, usually just a few clients weekly, which is not enough now that her brother, formerly a moto-taxi driver and primary income-earner, passed away 8 months ago. And though she is nearly destitute, constantly searching for more work and at times relying on la comida del gringo (food from a white guy she knows), she has not lost her beautiful faith or hope.

The verse that is brought to mind is Proverbs 31:8-9, which says, "Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy."

house in Chichigua

[Here is where I spare y'all the exposition on the poverty trap. While thinking of it in my own mind, somewhat hopelessly, I couldn't help but be reminded of the promise that if you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and it'll happen. ]

To conclude, I'm going to leave you with a little fact and some personal reflection-- To begin, check out the photo below:














Chichigua, a mile into the cane fields, has a beautiful view of the hills and the Atlantic ocean into which they fall. Therefore, logically, it is the perfect place to build a golfing resort. Thankfully, Chichigua has been spared and the resort is being built across the dirt road; however, in order to keep the future patrons from resting their eyes on the poverty, the wall above (which reads, no pase, propiedad privada) has been built. At first, I was disgusted and wondered at what sort of injustice the developers were commiting by keeping their patrons in ignorance, but then I (soberingly) realized that I'm just as guilty. The wall above is merely a physical manifestation of what I do by living on the West side of I-35 and vacationing at nice beaches far away from the hungry. Every single day I keep myself at a safe distance from poverty, indulging in my own desires. I may not have built a physical wall and told the poor, No pasen, but I certainly have built a wall with distance, fear, and selfishness. And until I can honestly overcome the part of me that prefers air conditioning and pleasant smells and sights to whole-heartedly, utterly, and uncomfortably serving those in need, which won't happen until I see the King of Glory face-to-face, I have no room to judge.

Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Genesis 18:14

wow

So this past week in the DR, and at home, really, has been super, super awesome but I have some sad news to start. Bad news then good news is always my preference. Goldie, our dog/my sister/my mom's roommate passed away today. It's super sad and honestly really frustrating, but in true Straus fashion, we're dealing with it with some inappropriate humor. I was RSVPing via my mom on Skype for a friend's wedding and when she asked if I was RSVPing for just myself Cody asked, "Are you sure you don't wanna bring Goldie?" Oh, man. Anyways, I'm just honestly frustrated for my mom and ask that you would pray that God would help her to grieve well and to find comfort in Him and in friends and in the remaining blessings in our lives and in the hope and faith that our suffering is not in vain.

So, now for the super awesome news not related to the DR, Cody has started walking with assistance!!! Praise God!!! When I left, there was this far-off idea that maybe he'd be walking when I got back...not at all likely but definitely hopeful. Well in the two weeks I've been gone he's started walking with help!!! Super, super, super awesome and such a miracle. So, yay.

I guess it's no coincidence that I've been reading through Genesis lately and seeing this theme of redemption over and over and over. Whether with all of mankind through Noah and the flood and the covenant...or with the tower of Babel and then the Pentecost...even though there is so much poverty in front of me and so much pain at home, I know that our God redeems. And I know that it is for His sake that we have lost all things, and we consider them rubbish compared with the surpassing worth of knowing Christ...and that He keeps his promises, even if we do not see them in this life. In Hebrews 11 it's illustrated that all the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament died not having received what was promised (v. 13), but held fast to their faith. So, we will also wait patiently in all things--trouble at home, disgustingly sad poverty in the Dominican Republic, everything--knowing that this is not what we were made for, but that we long for a heavenly home (Heb 11:15-16)...

So, now for a brief synopsis (relative to its actual contents) of the last week:

It was our first week of literacy camp, wherein the children that attend pre-school throughout the year come from 9 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. to review the things they learn throughout the year. The 30 children rotate through different stations throughout the day, to different teachers and activities related to the theme letter of the hour (A, B, C, etc.). As I mentioned last Sunday, on Monday one of our teachers Robin couldn't be at camp so I taught her lessons over the letters A and B. We worked on recognizing sounds at the beginning of words, and thanks to all the prayers, communicating in Spanish wasn't a problem at all! Recognizing the beginning sounds, however, was very difficult for a lot of our kids, which was made clear later when I was helping to enter individual child assessment data, in which the teachers had indicated that nearly every child is able to recognize beginning sounds "rarely." But, the kids and Anne Boon (Host/Director) and I had a great time learning! I also got to take the kids on mini-adventuras afuera (outside adventures) where we collected leaves and balanced on logs. I'm not very authoritative, especially in Spanish, so a lot of our adventures involved us running around the yard. Oops.

The rest of the week at literacy camp I was a go-to girl, helping out at different stations, helping the kids and the teachers with different things. Below are a few photos from the week (forgive the incorrect spelling of the kids' names):

Reiley

Luis Fernando

Ambilouix (Am-bee-O-lee)

On Monday the Makarios men re-created the Alamo Drafthouse in our living room for the Makarios women and it was a blast--we had a four course meal, adult beverages, previews catered to our taste (Celine, So You Think You Can Dance, the last scene of Pride and Prejudice, and Friends) and then watched When Harry Met Sally. It was fun for me/one of the most creative and well-thought-out things I've ever experienced, but it was even more fun to see how the Makarios women who are here full time, sweating for these children daily, were able to take a night and enjoy themselves. Here are a couple of photos of the super clever menu (which included zero calorie cookies. How convenient! Those are my favorite!):

This past week Marissa and I also went to Santiago Thursday-Saturday to visit the Makarios director, Sharla, enjoy some Dominican culture, and have Bible study together. It was such a treat because Santiago is so cosmopolitan! We even experienced air conditioning and a sushi dinner during our time there. My favorite part, by far, however, was when we visited the Centro Leon Museum that had really impressive historical, photographic, and art exhibits. The museum is owned by a Santiago cigar company, so before touring the museum we got to watch Dominicans rolls cigars in the colonial building next door. It was really Ernest Hemingway. The cigar-rolling shop had beatuiful wooden floors and smelled of aged tobacco. There was a man on a stand in the front who was reading baseball stats from the newspaper in Spanish while 5 men stuffed and rolled cigars throughout the room. One was smoking a cigar. I'm sure the whole set up looked nice for tourists, but I ate it up. It was really poetic. We even got private lessons on the precise way to cut, light, smoke, and evaluate a cigar...without actually smoking one, of course. ...But if I ever do...!

Lastly, this weekend two groups, one from the Austin Stone Community Church (my church in Austin) and one from the Austin Ridge Bible Church came in to help with projects in the villages this week--Stone is putting on a VBS in Chichigua and Austin Ridge is directing a sports day camp in Pancho Mateo. We've had a great time with the 30 new guests in our house; today we went with them to church, Pancho Mateo, and (!!!) La Tienda. La Tienda is a fair trade co-op established and run by the Canadian missionary Rachel that I've mentioned. She trains women to make crafts that are then sold out of the building pictured (and I believe online, too) to groups that are brought through the village. It's such an amazing project and provides the primary source of income to nearly 25 women who would otherwise have no employment or resort to prostitution. What an amazing project and a cool thing to be a part of.


So, that's the SHORT of it. I've had such an incredible week here, am loving it so much (ha, I nearly started crying last night when I told Jody I couldn't believe I only had 4 weeks left...), and am learning so much spiritually. Right now please just pray for my mom now that she doesn't have Goldie at home. Guh. This all has a purpose. I know.

Alright, thank you all for your love and support.

OH, and praise: I have now reached full financial funding for my time here! Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone. Thank you. I can't say it enough.



...to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21

be still...

In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.

Isaiah 30:15

Un fin de semana fantástico

Hi friends,

Okay, so it seems like I've been updating this a lot lately, but that's only because I have. We've had a lot of down time since the group left Saturday, so I've just been hanging out with my housemates, exploring a little, reading a lot, etc., etc.

Tomorrow starts literacy camp at the Makarios School, for which I still don't have a particular job description, but I'm confident whatever I will be doing has been purposed!

My first full weekend here has been one of the most restful weekends I’ve had in ages. Friday was the Austin Stone youth group’s last day here so they took a trip out to Cabarete (“the beach”) to swim, hang out at LAX, a coffee house on the sand, and eat dinner/break bread (oh, Christian lingo) for the last time. Marissa, Katy (which I like to pronounce Cot-E, the Dominican way), and I took a gua-gua (aforementioned Dominican mini-bus/large van that squeezes in an average of 20 passengers) met up with the group around 2:00. The gua-gua that picked us up at the front of our neighborhood appeared to be full, but the driver’s assistant, the man who arranges us just so in order to pack us in and then collects our pesos, assured us that we could sit on one another’s laps. The gua-gua rides are always fun because you make around 7 stops before reaching your destination, at each one shifting around to a completely new seat so that the newest puzzle piece can occupy its optimum position. Anywho, the ride there was fine, got a great accidental picture of the man below riding his moto the opposite direction. I meant to take a picture of the fence behind him, but he sped on into the frame just in time. Look how he’ stylin’!

The beach was fun—buried some high school kids in the sand, got buried to look like I was being eaten by a sand fish (not pictured), learned how to float on my back, bought a coconut from a lady with a gold tooth in her mouth and a basket of fruit on her head, and saw some live sand dollars. We all ate together Friday evening at Casanova where Marissa and I had some nasty pizza. Lesson learned! (We’re making a list of things to remember not to get next time.)

Saturday, those of us who are left in the house were supposed to take a trip out to 27 Waterfalls, a local place wherein you climb up and slide down 27 waterfalls (genius). However, it has been raining every day so we figured it may be safer to leave it for another Saturday. Instead, we slept in a little, I did some leisurely reading, and then Marissa and I each took a little jog down the malecón (boardwalk). The malecón is a red brick sidewalk that runs in front of our neighborhood on the autopista, and if you just keep following it (much like the yellow brick road), it takes you to paradise/the Atlantic Ocean (pictured below). During my lengthy walk/jog I took a few photos of the ocean, a man painting the red brick road, etc. It was awesome. I ended up at La Sirena (Puerto Plata’s closest thing to a Target), was unsuccessful in finding what I was looking for, and ended up just taking public back home (by that time I was sweaty and tired…and hungry). After Marissa and I got back and Riley woke up from his nap the 5 of us went to lunch at Cafesíto, a local restaurant owned by a Canadian man and his wife, which serves American food (yummy!). THEN (yes, there’s more) the rest of the afternoon and evening the five of us hung out with/watched tv and a movie on the computer and projector with some other Makarios staff and a cool art co-op creator/missionary from Canada named Rachel and her foster son, Jonathan.

Sunday morning we went to Dominican church, where I took communion with wine for the first time, did some worshipping and listening to a sermon en español, and met some awesome people. This afternoon the 5 of us housemates have just been relaxing, sitting in our sweat, doing laundry (wherein we have to dry it on lines outside with clothespins, which is cool/borderline enchanting for me because I haven’t had to use a clothespin for anything but a craft since I was like 5), reading, updating friends and family, etc. I got to talk to mom and Cody and Sarah on Skype!!!! :D :D :D It was so fabulous. Cody has been doin’ a little assisted walking, which is SO exciting! I also just got to have a really good conversation with him. It’s so obvious every time I go a while without seeing him, and now without talking to him, the progress that he makes in the meantime. God is so faithful at continuing to heal his mind, body, and most importantly, his soul.

So, between starting and finishing this entry, I got a phone call from one of the teachers, Robin, who needs to be with a friend in the hospital tomorrow, asking if I could take over her responsibilities at literacy camp tomorrow. Yikes! Bikes! (That was for you, Molly.) Please pray that my Spanish will suffice. Though I’m not confident in myself or my abilities, I’m for sure confident in what God can do through me. Example of his faithfulness: I’ve been praying that my time here would not be in vain, and then this morning I was read these verses in Philippians (Phil 2:16) where Paul says to “hold fast to the word of life so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.” Did I take that as an answer to my prayer? Yes. Kinda like last summer when I had the same prayer and my Zambian partner Morgan told me on day 1, without me having said anything about wanting my time to have not been spent in vain, “Audrey, as long as we are working in the Spirit, our work is not in vain.” So, priase God for answering this prayer so obviously two summers in a row.

Alright, I’m gonna stop apologizing for making this so long all the time because if you don’t wanna read the whole thing, you can do a little thing that I like to do: skim.

Below are pictures of the Coca-Cola sign that marks the front of our neighborhood (you tell the gua-gua drivers "Coca-Cola" in order to get home) and a man reading a book on a horse in our neighborhood.












Our neighborhood sign








The main road in our neighborhood.

















Our street <3











I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings…Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect…But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:7-14