Second Time Around

Hello All,

I love the Dominican Republic. I can't wait for the days ahead, but at the same time I don't want the days and nights to end.

Sincerely,

Liz

Sunday 2/28/10 Kerry

Today we went to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. Having been there before, the streets and buildings were not new to me. What was new to me was the museo that claimed to have the remains of Christopher Columbus and Tres Ojos. The Museo was interesting but Tres Ojos was amazing!! There were three giant caves "ojos" filled with water. The second "eye" was beautiful and we took a boat to get into the cave. This was no ordinary boat, it was all operated by ropes that stretched to one end of the cave to the other. There were even bats!!! The water was bright blue because of minerals from the rock. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

Tomorrow will be our first day with the boys. I know were are all looking forward to it. I am very excited to see what boys are there from last year. I am hoping to see some familiar faces tomorrow and some new ones to. I hope that all the boys are excelling and doing well. I cant wait to see their progress.

Sabado @ Accion Callejera

We started our day with a nice breakfast at the hotel before walking down the street to Accion Callejera for our orientation and tour of the building..

Several members of the staff explained the purpose of each room individually. We were able to tour the upstairs, which we did not get to do last year. It is here where some of the kids learn to cut hair as an alternative to working on the street, and it is also the work area for making candles to sell.

After the orientation we had lunch in the cafeteria, followed by a cup of Dominican coffee and an optional cerveza (Presidente porsupuesto!).

Later we went out to the monument and ate at "The Meat Arm" (El Brazo Carne) before going to the Piano Bar for some awesome and entertaining dancing....

Everyday we continue to grow as a group

We arrived in one piece, and with many a suitcase

Yesterday:

No problems with the flight into Santiago.

Over 45 suitcases and 21 bodies were squeezed into our medium size bus Dominican style... so we were crushed every time we turned a corner...

Today:

We met at the organization (AC) based in the city and took a bus ride to a beautiful farm owned by the director of AC... Here we took part in several team building exercises with some of the children and most of the staff, ate some fresh native fruit and coconuts, and ended the day with reflections.

An excellent day

Just Some Shocking, but Realistic, Information...

Hey Everybody,
I just wanted to show you an excerpt from an article I was reading online...:

"Minors at work in Santiago
A group of civic organizations have released a study on child labor in Santiago and the results did not make for easy reading. The report was released at a meeting between the Ministry of Labor, Accion Callejera (Street Action), the municipality, the Association of Evangelical Pastors and the Women's Support Nucleus where an agreement was signed in support of the World Day against Child Labor. The final report says that 76,000 minors are at work in Santiago, and most of them are either sexually exploited, work on farms or in domestic settings. Nearly one thousand of them are reported to work as "divers" scavenging at the Rafey garbage dump. According to the report put together by the Center for Urban Studies of the PUCMM in Santiago, 450,000 minors are being used for labor, sometimes in the worst way. Of these, 19% are in Santiago. Local efforts include Accion Callejera and its programs at three different centeers (http://dr1.com/articles/street_kids.shtml)."

Accion Callejera is one of the two organizations we will be working with this week and it's good to see that they are working hard to eliminate and overcome such a, seemingly, oeverwhelming situation. Thank you all for your continued support of our group and, by extension, the groups we work with in the D.R.

Abrazos,
Ann-Marie

Countdown till February 25th and Our Trip to the DR

Last Monday was our last meeting before our trip to Santiago. Debbie cooked up some mac and cheese for all of us before we plunged into the packing of the suitcases for the two programs we work with: Accion and Ninos con Esperanza.

From school supplies to clothing to shoes to baseballs....we separated into various rooms and did the packing. Carlos made a long distance phone call to Pablo to sort out final details of his requirements. He spoke with Pablo's wife and was giving her Tom's email address figuring out all sorts of ways to say T stands for, etc. Carlos drew a blank on the 'g' in FGCU. A-M was beside his side furiously drafting other questions to add to our draft of questions.

The room was bustling with activity and excitement of our upcoming trip. Please follow us and comment on our adventures from your perspective.

Hasta luego!!

The fearless co-advisors: Erik Carlson and Sheila Bolduc-Simpson

(Erik is holding the scale to weigh the bags.)

School supplies crew Jennifer, Dana, Kristen, and Alexa

Here is Tom, our logistics guru who is hard at work making sure that all is in place.

This looks like the inventory crew of Jenna, Lindsay, and Alexa. Got to make sure that everything goes to the right place.

"Oh dear! Are we going to get everything in these suitcases," says Sheila, Liz, Nicole, Vanessa, and Lindsay

In another room are David, Nicole, and Phillip.

Let's not forget our community members Debbie and Barbara who are trying desperately to close that suitcase.

Lots more to pack........

Come on Jake....there's more to do. Wake up!!

Get off that mound of stuff and get to work, Jake!! You think you are a superstar model!!

So much to do and so little time.

"So many school supplies and we have to count them," exclaims Kristen.

"Hey, we are almost done," says Kerry, "and we are ready to hit the D.R."

(meanwhile Ann-Marie and Carlos are busy behind the scenes with the communications)

Dodgeball Tournament Fundraiser

(photo by Brian Tiez)

NAPLES DAILY NEWS ARTICLE

By Charlie Whitehead

02.14.10



FORT MYERS — DROPping the ball is a bad thing in dodgeball.

But on Saturday on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus, DROP was the whole idea.

DROP is an acronym for the Dominican Republic Outreach Program.



Founded 10 years ago, DROP is a service group of FGCU students, two faculty members and a handful of local residents who head to Santiago in the Dominican Republic in the summer. There, they work with at-risk kids, and for them.“We try to show them that they still matter,” said Ann-Marie Navidomskis, a 21-year-old junior from Orlando who is president of DROP.



A dodgeball tournament and fundraiser Saturday drew 55 players on 10 teams in the rare Southwest Florida chill. Each was willing to pay $5 for a chance at relative glory and to boost a good cause.

“I love dodgeball,” said Stephen Caserta, a 19-year-old freshman and member of Team Doo Doo, who despite a gallant effort departed the tournament in the second round. “I’m not very competitive, but we’re raising money. I was going to play intramurals but it’s on Tuesday and I have church on Tuesday night.”

The Ninjas beat Evak to take the title. Evak pulled double-duty though. They’re also a local band that played gratis for the cause, along with Ford the forgiver.



“We’ve done benefits for them in the past,” said Casey Gartland, a 2008 FGCU graduate and energetic lead singer for Evak. He said the group, all FGCU alumni, has played benefits for Relay for Life in Estero, at FGCU and for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation in North Fort Myers.Gartland and Evak fought their way to the finals but couldn’t get past the Ninjas.



DROP member Jake Proudfoot, a 20-year-old sophomore, officiated. “I’ve read a manual or two somewhere,” he said. “I got a few complaints. It’s all in good fun, though.”



And that was hardly the point. Navidomskis described a school that the group visits in Santiago, built quite literally atop the city dump. “These people are invisible,” she said. “They don’t matter to the government down there.”The man who runs the school built it himself, Navidomskis said. Other groups have visited. “We’re the only group that’s ever gone back,” she said.



Other teams included Hippo Affair, TKO (Total Knock Out, team member and DROP vice president Liz Brewer said) and ROFL, or Rolling on the Floor Laughing.Brewer said the tourney itself raised $275, and a raffle of prizes (the drawing is Monday) raised another $1,000.



“DROP is my thing,” Navidomskis said. “My whole life revolves around it.”

PHOTOS BY BRIAN TIEZ