| Rainbow Families Foundation Newsletter - March 2006 |
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March 2006
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They do not celebrate St. Pat's Day in the DR. It is not a known holiday here -- so far. They have a "Carnival" here that is carried from city to city in the end of Feb. early March. There is lots of loud music, people in costumes and people in the street.
Do you remember the family that we donated clothes to the first trip (2000)? They had the 9 kids and now have 10. This is the family we always say are so beautiful? Well, I visit them when possible; taking tourists there in hopes they will offer support. The father of the kids left a couple years ago leaving the 32-year-old mother to raise them. The first child, a 17-year-old boy still lives at home. He has a different father from the others. The second child, a 16-year-old girl, lives with the parents of her father, a different man but she comes on occasion. The last 8 (15 to 4 years old) live with the mother. Their father is around but lives with his parents. Before I brought Anny to Boston I took a Canadian man to the village. He wanted to give the family money. I told him no, let's ask what they need. She said the kids couldn't go to school because they did not have uniforms. He asked how much it would cost and I said about 5,000 pesos. He said ok, so, five at a time, I took them to Puerto Plata to fit them for uniforms. (This was the day that Iris Ana died.) After 5,000 pesos the guy said that was nothing and asked what else he could do. The mother said the kids needed shoes. So, five at a time once again I took them to Puerto Plata to fit them for shoes. A couple months ago I went to the village with a family of 17 who was here on vacation celebrating the lives of the two adult daughters who both are recovering from cancer. They brought candy for the kids. Later a friend of theirs came with her girlfriend and I took them to the home. Their wooden shack is tethered on all four sides with only a rope holding it up. It is pitiful and a horrendous way to live. The floor is dirt and no bathroom. They have two makeshift bedrooms where the boys and girls must sleep together -- a recipe for disaster. The women were struck with tears and pain and asked me to take them to buy groceries. They spent about $100. When I went back to deliver the groceries the mother asked if I could help construct a little house of cinder block which she and her husband started part of the foundation when they were together. She said the neighbors, friends and brother-in-law would help without pay, if only she had to prepare food. I told her I couldn't since I didn't have any money, told her I could not make any promises, as I tell everyone, but said I would see what I could do. I mentioned to the ladies and they gave me $450 the day they left. They returned home to speak to the family of 17 and decided to have a bowl-a-thon and raised $1,180 more. They sent me the money and I have been busy buying materials and overseeing the construction, begging the supply stores to give me the best price. Progress is moving along, not as quickly as I prefer but can only work when help is available and when it is not raining. Here's a breakdown of what I've bought so far, in pesos. The peso has fluctuated between 32.25 and 31.75. I chase around trying to get the best rate and only change dollars when I need to buy materials.
The first volunteer guy who constructed the back wall for the bedrooms made the wall 1 1/2 feet crooked, therefore one side is 26 feet long and the opposite wall ended up 24 1/2 feet long. A friend of her neighbor was finishing up a job in Sosua and had a week or so free before his next construction project so he offered to work if we "give him something" and provide meals. He is a very skilled worker and has done a great job with very little help except on Saturday and Tuesday when the brother in law is off work and helps. So far all the walls are up. Had to rent boards to nail against the cement to fill the retaining corners and the middle of the outside retaining wall areas where the rebar is placed. The corners and middle areas were to be finished yesterday. Fill dirt has been donated to fill the low end of the house but still need to find more fill dirt. Hopefully the interior walls that divide the bedrooms, living room, kitchen and bathroom can be set this week. With what I have spent so far, about US$1,000, it seems to have gone a long way to build the basic shell. Hopefully I will be able to buy enough wood for the frame to set the tin roof and buy enough tin to cover the roof. In the meantime, we'll have to put the old tin sheets over the windows and doors for security and try to keep out the bugs, rain and intruders. The walls and floor will have to remain one side dirt and the other side rough until more donations are received. Unfortunately I have not received any more donations. The father of the medical mission offered to help 2 weeks after their departure but still have not received anything. It is raining periodically and two days last week it was very windy. I was unable to sleep thinking the wooden shack would be blown down by dawn. So I spent several days looking for a room or little house where the family can move so the wooden shack can be torn down and give them safety. Finally Friday a guy in the neighborhood offered her and 9 of the kids to move in a spare room. Remember the oldest daughter lives with her grandparents. Yesterday in the afternoon they were to move the beds and clothes into the room. They will set the refrigerator, which only the small freezer part works as a refrigerator, and the makeshift little hibachi type stove that she uses coal to cook outside with a make-shift tin roof so she can continue to cook. They have no bathroom and pee outside and go to her sister's house nearby to do #2. I have known this family 5 years and in guess it just reminds me too much of myself, growing up very poor with so many kids. However, her case is so much worse since there are no social programs to help them, other than medical care when available at the hospital. At times the mother is not in the home in the early morning when I arrive and when I would arrive in the afternoon she would be sleeping. I was worried she was prostituting to provide food for the kids. However, the youngest daughter told me she was working at the airport, sweeping and cleaning bathrooms. Perhaps her brother in law was able to get her the job to earn money to feed the kids. The father of the kids comes to help but it's obvious construction is not his forté. He is a motorcycle mechanic. I think the mother believes that if I know she is working then maybe I won't help her. To the contrary, I am doing the best I can to provide safe shelter for them. However, I never hesitate to remind her that the father of the kids has a responsibility to them as well. My hand is heavy but my heart is like a cream puff, light and sweet. The mother is not well and last week was at the hospital because her blood pressure was high. She said they gave her a nitroglycerin pill to put under her tongue. I suspect that she's getting up very early in the middle of the night to clean at the airport and returning home to prepare breakfast and get the kids ready for school. She's only 32, born 10 June 1973, but has a lot of responsibility with 9 kids under her feet, the oldest being 17. Her mother is dying of cervical cancer and she goes to her mother's home once a day if possible to bath her and help clean the house. Sounds like she is very close to her mother. She has other brothers and one sister who live with her Mom but she says the brothers are drunks and the sister is too irritable to be around. The littlest boy, Cristofer, fell and cut open his forehead and required several stitches. The youngest girl, Chichi, cut her foot on glass and required several stitches. The third youngest boy, Roman, fell and cut his head open but didn't go to the hospital. The second youngest girl was sick with fever and now her mouth and face is broken out in fever blisters, worse case I have ever seen. The Haitian clinic in their neighborhood provided medicine for 50 pesos. The second oldest girl who turns 15 in October has not started her menstruation cycle yet. I am worried and will communicate with one of the OB/GYN's that was here in January as to what we can do. |