I went with a group from Wilshire Baptist, the church where I attend MOPS, to the Dominican Republic last month. We went down to work with a group called Esperanza International in a region called Puerto Plata in the Northwestern part of the country. The mission of Esperanza International is to free children and their families from poverty through initiatives that generate income, education and health, restoring self-worth and dignity to those who have lost hope. The majority of their work and what we went down there to support is their microfinance initiative. Our group from Wilshire consisted of myself and three other women, and then we were joined by six women from a church in Georgia.
A selfie in the hotel where we stayed most of the week.
The night we arrived, our group of ten from the States went to dinner with the three Esperanza workers, who accompanied us all week and were our translators. Clockwise around the table from the front left: Julianna Muchmore (Esperanza), Frances Torrance (GA), Joanne Burns (GA), Melba Burrell (GA), Patricia Gonzalez (Esperanza), me, Britt Carlson (TX), Heather Mustain (TX), Becky Humphrey (GA), Amanda Wilson (GA), Annie Ansley (Esperanza), and Kristi Reavis (TX).
The van that we rode around in had 16 seats. I wish I had a picture of all of us (14 including our driver) piled in there. Here's a pic of me, Britt, and Julianne in the back on our way to visit the first community on Tue morning.
Tuesday was our first day visiting communities. We went to two different communities that day to observe bank meetings. Each bank (usually consisting of about 20 associates) meets biweekly. They have a bible study and/or health lesson and then they are required to make their interest/principal payment. It was amazing to see their sense of community and how the banks are set up to provide support and appropriate peer pressure to assure the loans are repaid. At the end of their bank meeting, our group introduced ourselves. Here's a picture of Amanda and Heather, the two pastors coordinating our group, with the Esperanza translators. This bank met in a church building in their community.
A few houses in the first community.
Here's a picture of the second bank meeting we attended on Tuesday. We actually went back to this community Thursday morning. This bank actually meets in someone's house.
A selfie just outside the second community we visited. The island is absolutely gorgeous.
The associates use their loans to open different types of businesses from selling chicken to clothes. Here's a women from the second bank meeting we attended showing us her store.
In addition to the microfinance work, Esperanza also provides loans to Christian schools. We visited one of their schools in Puerto Plata on Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday morning, we visited this community. We spent some time just getting to know each other, and then had a short Bible study. And then we cooked them lunch. I was in charge of the cooking that day. We were pleasantly surprised with the conditions at this community. It was definitely the least impoverished of any community we visited.
We served shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches, pasta salad, watermelon salad, and puppy chow. Here's a picture of me shredding the chicken with Melba and the Dominican woman who helped me shred.
After we cooked, this woman wanted to show us how to fry plantains. They love plantains down there!
A group picture from the Wednesday morning community.
Wednesday afternoon, we visited a different community. We spent time getting to know them and then did a Bible study and a craft with them. I helped these sweet kids with their craft that day.
Thursday was a repeat of Wednesday with different communities. After the morning meeting, we cooked together. The Georgia women were in charge of this meal. Here's a picture of us all working around one of the tables.
A group picture with the Thursday morning group.
Thursday afternoon, we visited the last community. We again spent time getting to know each other, and then did a Bible study and craft. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from that community.
