Eastward to San Pedro de Macoris

We head eastward toward San Pedro de Macoris.  On the way, we stop in Santa Fe (Holy Faith) and see the Church of the Holy Cross (Santa Cruz).  The priest there is Padre Felix Incarnacion – what a name for a priest (Happiness Incarnate)!  But he has not known a life of only happiness.  His oldest son, who was much beloved, drowned last year at the age of 23.  His first wife also died of cancer, but he has remarried and feels very blessed with the two other sons from his first marriage and a child from this marriage.  This church has a good youth group, a good men’s group (which is unusual) and a Sunday attendance of more than 100 members.  Once again, it is women who are very present and involved in the running of the church.  The women who come to greet us are the head of the Episcopal Church Women and the Daughters of the King and the Senior Warden.  A man comes in who is from the Men’s Group.  The school and the church are about a block apart in the little village.  There's a big Roman Catholic church across the street – they get government funding, so as soon as we started building a school and the church started growing, the Roman Catholics expanded their church.  The Dominican Development Group folks, who are liaisons between the Diocese of the DR and their various companion dioceses, are here to begin to build a new church because it is growing.  This present building will come down and move into another building which will eventually become a technical school. 

Next, drive the rest of the way into San Pedro de Macoris and we visit Buen Pastor, Good Shepherd.  This is a little community in a barrio (neighborhood) run by the sisters of the Order of the Transfiguration out of Cinncinnatti, OH.  There are three sisters, Priscilla, Gabrielle and JoAnna.  They’ve been there for 20 years, growing the ministry into a congregation, a medical clinic and a small school (preschool through 6th grade, with 200 students).  They have very faithful financial support from a number of folks, with plans to accomplish before they each retire in the next few years.  They want to tile floors, cover the playground with a soft material, and solidify financial support for the clinic.

Then we go to San Esteban (St. Steven’s) in San Pedro, which is quite a complex.  It has a large school, the Kellogg Retreat Center, and a large clinic.  Fr. Alvaroa nd his wife Anjelina are quite a team.  They met in Columbia, their home country, when he, as a Roman Catholic priest, was coming to see her father, who was dying.  As he got to know her father, he also got to know her.  The Roman Church found out about the relationship and gave him the opportunity to move to either India or the DR.  He chose the DR because it was close.  They stayed in contact and ended up getting married.  And of course, he left the Roman  church and became an Episcopal priest.  They exude love and hospitality, which is exactly what they want to do with they ministry.  The school had major disciplinary problems before their arrival.  Enrollment had dropped to 90 students because of it.  Alvaro fired 20 of the teachers, though not all at once, and started enforcing discipline and respect and, most importantly an atmosphere of love.  It’s working.  Enrollment is back up to 325, though to be stable financially, it needs to be at least 500.  There is much to be done with the school.  But it is changing for the good.  The Kellogg Center reflects Anjelina’s loving domestic touch.  Everything is freshly painted, clean and bright.  Curtains are aqua and orange, which match the bright bed spreads in the guest rooms and also the oilcloths on the tables in the dining area.  It feels welcoming and comfortable.  They are expecting the Presiding Bishop soon for her third visit to the Dominican Republic.  We have lunch at the Kellogg Center.  Beans and rice, with the special rice – that which sticks to the pan “con con” put in a special dish, “pica pollo” pieces of chicken, fresh fruit, something like sweet potato fritters, and a plantain soufflé perhaps, containing mashed plantains with cheese on the bottom.  Everything tastes wonderful.  After lunch, we go on to the clinic.  On the way, we pass what used to be the rector’s home.  They hope to renovate it and be able to keep nine more guests there.  Right now, it’s boarded up.  The clinic, Clinica Esperanza (Hope Clinic) is in a building that supposedly was falling down.  It seems to be built like a bunker, so that’s hard to understand.  Upstairs, some of it is used (retrofitted) and some not.  It has a view of the water a hundred yards away.  In the backyard, there are chickens running around.  There’s a nice classroom with modern projection equipment.  They let community groups rent it out.  There are some offices up here.  Downstairs is a clinic that works with people with HIV/AIDS.  The beautiful young woman who runs the clinic, grew up in the school, began volunteering at age 15 as soon as the clinic opened.  She went to college and medical school and stayed here as the doctor.  She is now Dr. Louisa.  What a story.  They see about 3000 people per month, counting family members of those with HIV/AIDS, and about 32,000 patients per year, both in the clinic and through home visits.  They do a lot of education in the schools and neighborhoods.  All that she describes is amazing and impressive.  From this clinic, we go next door to the physical therapy area.  Here, we meet a woman named Kathy, who comes for 3 years at a time with SAMS missions.  She’s from Colorado.  She lives in Santa Fe, where we visited earlier in the day, and commutes here.  She is so positive.  She spends time both teaching people how to do therapy and also doing therapy.  There is also a separate pediatric therapy room for children up to age 18, though it is obviously geared for much younger.  The back porch is contains a treadmill (which doesn't work) and some other gym/therapy equipment.  Most of the rooms in the clinic and the Kellogg Center are air conditioned, which is rare.  Pretty much all of the churches and classrooms are open air with the windows have metal vents, like jalousie windows, that open for light and air flow.  Three-bladed ceiling fans are also common. 

 On the way back to Santo Domingo, we detour into Boca Chica to pick up the DDG folks who were looking at another project.  Here, we take a look at San Jose Church and school, but spend more time visiting the Bishop Isaac Home for Senior Citizens.  It is one of only 37 or so such places in the DR.  There are only eleven residents.  One has only very recently died.  There are two residents to a room; they each have twin beds.  There is a nice porch and a couple of small common areas.  The home is named after the first native-born deacon, priest & bishop of the Dominican Episcopal church.  It's been open since Spring 2007. 

We head back to Santo Domingo, engaging a lot of traffic as we go.  This evening, we wander down the El Conde, the promenade, and end up at a restaurant with a sidewalk cafe.  Most of us end up with something Italian.  It's pretty good comfort food.  It's been a good day.