Youth Brigade Celebrates

My father´s birthday passed and I was so engrossed in the art of playing with Dominican kids that I forgot to call him from the island and wish him happy birthday. There are moments of extreme alegria (or happiness) in the Peace Corps experience and this past weekend was certainly one of them. Ask me to plan a youth camp that brings together 72 Dominincan teenagers from around the island, including those of Haitian decent, and I´d probably respond: ¨Who? What? Where? When? Why?¨ However, there are some things that are consistent in this world and one of them is that children will always want to play and learn together. Never have I felt so comfortable around Dominicans as I did in that room of 37 boys singing, sharing a sip of water, brushing our teeth, sleeping, waking up, and of course eating together. We were a brotherhood, 25 American Peace Corps Volunteers serving as fathers, mothers, counselors, and trustworthy friends to a captivated audience of vibrant youth. Perhaps the 3 day conference was more time than any of these kids had spent away from their homes and family, but I´m positive Arenayi will remember that first ever bike ride (without shoes and no breaks on the bike... the Dominican way) in the National Park Mirador Norte, and 16 year old Exeido will surely remember his fantastic presentation about the impact of humans on planet Earth´s natural environment.

I lay in my bed completely exhausted from this weekend of recreation and environemtal lessons from ¨Leave No Trace¨ to ¨Indigenous Taino Farming Methods.¨ I am here to reflect upon hom much I enjoyed this expereince. The swimming and singing the Boo-Ga-Loo were my favorites memories with those 15 years olds, followed by the talk about AIDS and self-esteem, the skits performed by animated volunteers, the pizza and home made tamarindo and wheat drink, and ohh yes, elbow tag. Sounds a lot like summer camp, yeah?!

Anyways, I realized nothing can be taken for granted when everthing is completely new to someone. The kids were filled with vigor and emotion about everything... maybe the kind of feeling you get when you ride your first roller coaster. These young dominicans certainly have a grand job in front of them to care for their environment, and clean that which has been contaminated, but they also have the spirit of firecrackers. Explosion of culture one might say. I´m glad to be back here with more of a feeling settled in than ever! This job is teaching and offering me so much. The kids are inspiring!

With the renewed heart of a kid, go out and play today.

Love,
Jared

Color Brings Life

The breeze made for a refreshing week here in Ojo de Agua. It is tonight that I will celebrate 3 weeks in the country. My good friend and fellow Peace Corps Volunteer, Kevin, from small town Indiana, just came to visit me. My plate is full of project ideas as well as mounds of ¨habichuelas and arroz¨ (beans and rice). On Good Friday every kitchen and Dona in the Dominican Republic was busy stirring together their favorite sweet ingredients to ¨Habichuelas con Dulce.¨ Four mugs were delivered to my home within a couple of hours and my stomach was more than blessed. However, perhaps the most beautiful scene thus far in my return to Ojo de Agua was the faces of 500 plus Dominicans lit by candle light the night that we celebrated Jesus´s resurrection, or Easter Sunday. Their smooth skin gleaned inside the packed church, different shades of brown, light and dark (This is a country filled with mulattos, diverse in appearance but certainly all very much sharing the same loud and happy Dominican culture). Little girls sat on the laps of their fathers fresh in their new dresses and hair straighten and neatly pulled back. Grandpa and grandmas were tightly sandwiched alongside children and children in law, perhaps uncomfortable, but they didn´t have to stand along the walls. Everyone connected through the beautiful light of God, holding candles to celebrate the bright example Jesus gave the world. I felt part of something special, part of a spiritual moment.

And then the most classic of Latin American scenes… the congregation offered water as a blessing to Christ for having given his life to teach humanity the power of the healing Spirit. Together the 500 plus Dominicans and I raised water containers above our heads furnishing a shiny sea of plastic before the crucifix. One can only imagine the dozens of different brand names displayed on the sides of the recycled and reused plastic containers. Two liter Coke-Cola bottles, 20 oz. Dasani water bottles, Clorox, Cristol Corn Oil, and Apple Juice gallon jugs raised high above the church pews. Some even furnished old tupper-wear with water, while others had nicely pealed the plastic bands glued to the sides of the bottles allowing for a more cleaned up look at church. Everyone had water or perhaps a large framed painting of Mary, but for that moment we were again united, different colors, different brand names on out containers, and different amounts of water, but still united. It was a day to colorfully celebrate one of the most admired and humble persons to walk this earth. It was a Latin American day.

The colorful ideas and desire to invent always bring fresh perspective to each and every day here.

Go celebrate with something colorful and recycled today.

Peace,

Jared