Volunteers, Interns, Teachers, Hooray!

in october 2011, we started school. we had just 25 students and two teachers, a kid to sit in the office and a doorman to make sure nobody stole our precious treasures. in october of 2011, i can tell you i had no idea we'd be where we are now - i thought we'd still be struggling along with 25 kids while the rest of the world passed us by.

here we are - march 2013 - with 90 students, 5 teachers, a cook a doorman and a plethora of visitors and volunteers. it's amazing that in this short amount of time we've been blessed with the funds and support we need to make this project a reality. to offer a quality education for a super low cost and a really needy neighborhood. i. am. in. love.

it's been a hard year - i've expressed that a ton on the blog - stressful, frustrating, i-want-to-punch-you-in-the-face kind of hard. but it's been so amazing as well - we're seeing kids learn and learning to love learning (ha!), we're seeing this little flower blossoms bloom into amazingly beautiful flowers. teachers are learning new techniques and being equipped for the future.

it's insane.

and it's time to start looking into the future. our teacher jewel made it here this year on sheer "god". we connected through this blog and after throwing out ideas of other ministries that might need her, she got tugged back to us and seriously, we are so blessed. i mean, who does that? futuro lleno de esperanza had no webpage, no facebook page, nothing to show for ourselves and she took the leap and (thankfully) landed on both feet and took off running.

so. about two weeks ago, i started putting together some job descriptions and investigating where to post our "job listings." i signed up for idealist.org and christianvolunteering.org and sent out the listing to several university intern and job boards.

it's so real. we're looking for some long term volunteers / interns. esl teachers, center coordinators, bilingual educators. we're also looking for special volunteers (art, dance, karate, gym, music teachers...) for shorter time commitments.

 

Interested in spending a few months in the Dominican Republic?

Here's your chance.

 

ESL, FLE Teachers, Bilingual Teachers, anyone interested in spending time with some super-cool kids.

 

Requirements: Associates Degree (or equivalent hours) or higher. Desire to live and serve in the Dominican Republic. Heart for children. Spanish, French or Haitian Creole competency (read: you can get by) for long term, non-ESL volunteers.

 

aren't they beautiful?

Responsibilities: Plan and implement grade-level appropriate classes (according to our school curriculum). Love the students! Some community-development involvement (extra-curricular classes, family visitation, special activity days). Average hours per week: 25

 

We do offer a small living stipend to our volunteers/interns, however we encourage all international staff to raise funds to offset cost of living. There is a shared-housing option for volunteers.

 

Please send all inquiries and resumes to futurollenodeesperanza@gmail.com

powerful women.

you've heard of this, right? PODEROSA MUJER is a project that has been in the works since last december. it couples a passion for the women of the community of cienfuegos, santiago and a need for education and empowerment programs.
the idea is to find un or underemployed moms and help them create beautiful things out of repurposed or recycled materials - sell those beautiful things - and then create programs that those very same women think are necessary.
why women? an african proverb tells us if you educate a man, you educate just one person, but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation. i'm a pretty firm believer that when women are empowered, the world changes. when women are taught that they are valuable, precious and powerful, they then in turn raise up children who know that they are valuable, precious and powerful.

 

rolled beads before they've been painted

right now, PODEROSA MUJER is the "unofficial sponsor" of the pre-natal classes we offer at FUTURO LLENO DE ESPERANZA and we hope to support some literacy classes in the near future. we offer prenatal vitamins and lactation support to women in the community (whether they come to classes or not) and, of course, i will spoil your baby with hugs and kisses whenever you want.

 

it's difficult to sell our goods - which right now consists of rolled-paper-bead jewelry, and re-purposed glass pendants - because we're not in the states and what we sell here is minimal (different styles-sense, i guess).

 

so i'm appealing to you, blog readers, to help some sisters out. we've got a number of pieces available in the US right now that can be shipped out, and quite a number more waiting for a ride to philadelphia (the mail service here is a nightmare!) we accept paypal, personal checks and cash.

 

our jewels are also available in-country for mission teams who are looking for some unique souvenirs. 25% of the profit will go right back to your organization like a mini-fund raiser, and your visitors and short term missionaries will be able to support local ministries, local people AND get something way nicer than a coconut bra or a bottle opener with the DR flag.

please forgive the not-so-great quality of these pictures - they were taken with an android phone as the camera's battery is dead. all rolled  beads are coated with resin to make them a bit more water resistant - but they are paper, so we don't recommend bathing with the jewelry on!
 if you're interested in any of the pieces seen here, you can email us at melanie512@gmail.com with the number of the piece, and where to send it. paypal payments can be made through the button on the sidebar of this blog, checks and/or cash will be discussed through email.

 

 



beads made from green, cardboard
box, black accent beads. double
strand, clasp-style closing. #001: $10 USD

beads made from yellow, cardboard box, white accent
beads. double, elastic strand. #002: $9 USD

1 inch colorful cardboard bead earring. #003: $5USD

pink, paper-bead necklace with pink and black
accent beads. clasp-style closing. #004: $14USD

 



colorful, paper-bead necklace with clear colored accent beads. clasp-style closing. #005: $14USD

black, paper-bead Anglican Prayer-beads* with black, glass accent beads.
#006: $20USD 

1 inch, purple-toned beads rolled from cardboard. #007: $5USD

green toned, beads rolled from cardboard with wooden accent beads.
elastic style strand. #008: $8USD

long, green paper-rolled beads with black and white accent beads. triple strand,
clasp-style closing. #009: $12USD

purple beads rolled from cardboard and painted with a glittery paint,
white accent beads. triple strand, clasp-style closing. #010: $12USD

simple, purple colored beads rolled from cardboard with white accent
beads. elastic style strand. #011: $8 USD

1 inch, purple toned-bead earring. #012: $5USD

natural seed, chunky bracelet. (seeds found on La Entrada Beach, Nagua, Dominican Republic).
thick elastic strand. #013: $15USD

don't forget to like us on facebook!

*Anglican prayer beads, also known as the Anglican rosary or Christian prayer beads, are a loop of strung beads which Anglicans, as well as Christians of other denominations, use to order their prayer. This particular way of using prayer beads was developed in the mid-1980s by Episcopalians in the United States participating in a study group dealing with methods of prayer - learn more here

i want to be korean.

these past two weeks have been a lot of scurrying about trying to get our students information in order - we have a shot at joining part of our program to a much larger international organization and in order for it to happen, we need data. who are our kids, where they come from, why donors might be called to help pay for their education.

at the last minute (i'm a slacker) i had to bring all of the folders home and finish the data sheets for the kids i hadn't gotten around to. except, when we got home, we discovered that a horrible virus had deleted everything on the memory stick and left us some trash called "porn" and "sexy". nice.

it was a long saturday - and thanks to the help of jewel - it all got done, just in the nick of time.

sometimes, when the pressure is on like that, i lose the fact that these are children - not data. it becomes a rush to get things together and type things in and answer all the right questions, it's no longer about forming relationships and getting to know our kids so that we can answer the questions.

in the transfer from the computer i wasn't just left with lovely porn apps and erased files, i had lost most of the heights and weights we had taken and the "dreams" of our kids. so i got to do it again - and i'm so glad that i did.

in the three-year old room, the kids want to be lightning mcqueen and "trucks" and some of the girls want to be mommies. their dreams are the dreams of so many others - not really understanding what it means when you ask them what they want to be when they are "big." a little guy told me, "but i am big. i take care of my baby sister."

the four-year old room was similar - i want to be a car. i want to be a truck.

and then it got sad. a kindergardener told me she wanted to be a prostitute, mouthing the word with no sound and then changed her mind and told me, "no no, i'd rather be a teacher." one of the boys told me nothing. when i dug a little deeper he said he doesn't want to work, he'd rather stay at home all day long. he lives with a dad and an aunt and mom sends money from some foreign country to maintain them all - just barely not-in-poverty.

the little girl who wants to be a nurse that gives needles and the boy who want to work in a skateboard shop were overshadowed for a minute by those dreams. we want these children to know their potential - and while that might not mean becoming a doctor, it's not impossible. and if the girls want to be mommies, that is more than fine.

my favorite response was from one of my favorite students (i know we're not supposed to have favorites but....) he's been with us for two years now, and we've been able to see such an amazing transformation in not just him, but his family as well. where dad was only semi-present before, he is involved now in many processes of this boys life - from paying for school and doing homework in the evening. mom stops by to chat. and the interest they've re-taken in their son has made all of the difference. but, this sweet boy has an identity conflict - his mom is haitian and his dad is dominican, and he just doens't know where he fits into all of that. he explodes when the other kids call him haitian at one moment and defends his haitian roots at others. he tells me he can't get a birth certificate because no country wants him (it's really way more complicated than that, but that's what a child sees).

so, when i asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up, i had to suppress a laugh when he responded, "coreano." he wants to be korean. what? he says that it would be better for him - he'd know where he was from and that he could help kids like him, just like the koreans have helped him so much.

on the list of things we want to be when we grow up, that has to be the most profound. this child who doesn't know where he belongs, knows that he wants to help other kids who don't belong.

not data. children. with dreams.

Check Us Out. (pretty please?

if you follow this blog, you'll have noticed that 2012 has been a year of transitions and changes.

amalio completed his masters (in applied linguistics) - he actually graduates the 19th of this month. while i'm super proud of him, any grad-school wife will agree, i'm extremely happy we're past this.

i began teaching pre-natal classes and became more interested in women's health and just women's situation in general. the dominican republic has an intense rate of "feminicide" - women being killed by men - usually husbands or boyfriends, but often fathers. my heart was changed and i needed to do something to help.

and lastly, i was offered my dream job - working in a mission school that offers quality education to children who otherwise have little possibility to study. of our 92 students, 30 are undocumented - which means they wouldn't be able to study in a formal school.

i'm tired. really. but it's that good kind of tired of doing something that you love and really trying to make it work.

 our school, futuro lleno de espeanza, is located in cienfuegos, santiago. we have 90+ students from 3years to second grade. it's been a rocky start for sure, but we're working hard to make it work. you can check us out on facebook to see more about our foundation (in general) and our school (in particular).

and! poderosa mujer- powerful woman.
during the fall semester i worked with a wonderful woman named rebecca. she and her family are here in the dominican republic as representatives of their bahai'i faith (you can read more about that on her blog). together we came up with the idea to equip women with some skills, sell their handiwork and use the profits to a) pay the women and b) offer services of necessity to their communities. 

from here on, the pre-natal and community health classes will be under the name of poderosa mujer along with crafting workshops, literacy classes and more!

check us out on facebook. we have some "start up" jewelry in the states right now waiting to be purchased and shipped. 

the thigns that have happened.

on august 20th, we opened our doors to 85 bright and eager students in cienfuegos. a few days later, our "love" school opened for the first time - offering education to 85 haitian children who had never ever studied before. big things have been happening in our neck of the woods.

i knew we'd have some run-ins but i never thought it would be these. 

- a five year old who is well down the road to being expelled. his dad has already been called in twice, and his mother was called to pick him up early today. he's thrown stones and kicked and punched. on tuesday he used a pretty big rock to hit another kid and today dragged a kid through the gravel. sadly, the parents don't seem interested at all in fixing the situation - and when i called his school from last year, the principal told me that they had all kinds of problems, too.

- a three year old who is so aggressive the other kids automatically put up their fists when he comes around.

- parents who are extremely concerned that we're not allowing their kids to take notebooks home. but when we sent them, at least four of those concerned parents didn't bother to make sure they came back. exactly why they aren't allowed to take them home!

- a four year old who was mistaken for a girl for 4 days - his parents have his hair in a ponytail and send him with a pink backpack. it wasn't until the teacher walked in on him in the boys bathroom that we knew for sure he was a boy! when i told his mom she needed to cut his hair, she says she can't, because the father "made a promise" on the boys hair. (more on this ridiculousness in another post).

- a second grade girl slapped across the face by her mother and scratched with her nails. poor girl was then bullied because of it.

Pregnancy Education Success

it seems like so long ago that i started this crazy journey into cienfuegos, santiago - one of the most rumored neighborhoods of the city - to work in futuro lleno de esperanza's educational center. it's really only been a few short months -but my heart has been changed, softened and opened to this community, the people in it and its future. the doors started to open in so many ways, and in ways that already spoke to me. i've taken classes and read books and been supported in a way i had never imagined possible. me, the internet skeptic, has made friends online that encourage me and lift up this ministry in prayer. 

 six weeks ago i began, timidly, a class for pregnant women in the community. i walked and walked - knocking on doors and following paths, not sure what i would find. we had 7 women for our first class. i was sure they wouldn't come back. but they did. and we grew from 7 women to 12 women, all eager and ready to learn about their bodies, how to protect themselves and how to care for the babies growing inside of them. 

we had new mommies and experienced mommies. together we formed a community of support - sharing our fears and desires and hopes - not just for the babies, but for the neighborhood, for our lives and the futures of those around us.

it was a rocky class - i wasn't exactly sure what i was doing, trying to compensate for cultural beliefs and bizarre pre-natal practices here while informing and empowering these women to take care of themselves and their babies throughout pregnancy and childbirth. 

but, i'm counting it a success.

these women want to continue! they want more information. they want more power. 

we'll be continuing our "group" in september, along with a new 6-week preparation class for more pregnant mamas.

as soon as i convince my friend katie to help me (hi, katie!) we'll be offering class in Futuro Lleno De Esperanza's other centers that serve haitian communities.

during our last class we learned what will happen in the hospital and how to swaddle newborns.

we also re-touched the subject of lactation.

aurisleyda will have her baby girl at the end of august. 

swaddling.

diana is having her third baby - via c-section. she's been a blessing to the group with her knowledge of local herbs that increase milk supply.

as a present to the women in our class, i printed out a belly-picture. photos are not common here, nor is the celebration of pregnancy in lower-income communities. i wanted these women to have a reminder of their beautiful, power bodies!

i dug into my stash of craft supplies, and with help from my friend rebecca (thanks, rebecca) each woman made a picture frame for their photo. thanks aunt lisa for supplying with so much great paper and supplies!!!

swim, anyone?

 there's this really nasty, dirty, polluted, contaminated, infested, gross canal in cienfuegos. (if you're from philly, imagine the manayunk canal 18 years ago when they fished dead bodies out of it). it's beyond my vocabulary to explain this body of water.

it's not in my commute, but walking through the neighborhood usually leads me to pass by fairly frequently. the sector is very much urban - yet, at the same time, it's not. it's slum. the streets are not paved, and most pathways are really just footpaths behind houses and across property lines (as if property lines exist). there is little electricity and even less running water. 

i see women washing clothes in the dirty water, men peeing into it. americans with ministries go blue in the face telling the kids not to swim in it. but it's a waste of breath - these kids are often bathing in it. and on these hot days, with little respite from the carribean sun, you need a calculator to add up the number of kids in the water.

 on saturday, we were driving by and saw these kids swimming in the canal - with their mom on the banks cheering them on. this little guy had three bottles tied around his waist with a rope to keep him afloat.

i've said it once, and i'll say it again - necessity is the mother of invention - and dominican people sure can invent something from nothing.

he jumped in a few times and bobbed along, jumped out again so we could take some pictures (shameless,i know!). his older brothers were swimming with floats as well - but the rope was longer and the bottle bobbed around - if they got too far away, mama could easily grab onto their bottle and pull them to safety.

here we are spending money on new floaties - when a few empty bottles would do the trick!

pre-natal classes.

life is so full right now. it's overflowing with work and busy-ness and amazingly good things that have been a long time in the workings. when i moved to this country, i had no idea what was in store for me - and my first experiences were disastrous. i knew that i wanted to work in education and that i wanted to work in impoverished communities. what did that look like? no idea.

over the years, i started to pinpoint where my strengths and interests were and made plans. oh, did i make plans. but it wasn't time yet. but, in the past few months, things have started to come together and this time in our lives has been amazing. there's not enough hours in the days for everything, but it seems like nobody in our family is lacking - we have priorities and strategies to make sure we don't stray too far from what we think is important to us.

in a month, i'll begin a commitment with a school offering education in a neighborhood where many children don't even have birth certificates. and i've been working with the midwives, and there's another project in the works to create employment and skills-training for women. it's intense. but so fulfilling.

just two weeks ago, i started pre-natal education class in the neighborhood. soon i'll give all my faithful readers some of the socio-economic information from the area (but right now we're still surveying). money is pretty-tight/non-existent. but that doesn't mean that women are not entitled to know what is happening to thier bodies, what to expect from labor and delivery or how to care for their newborns. we saw a need, and are working to fill it. we want women educated about their bodies and how to best care for them.

we had six ladies at the first class, where we talked mostly about nutrition - anemia is rampant, so we wanted to talk about how to combat that.

the average age of the women was 19. the minors (under 18) were "first time moms" but the other three had already given birth to at least one other child.

the average gestational age was 6 months - and in the second class, where we had 10 ladies, 7 were 5 months pregnant, but one was just waiting to go into labor.

these mamas are excited. but they're scared as well. nobody has ever really told them what happens during birth. and no one could really explain why c-sections were so prevalent here (especially in the private clinics).

when we looked at pictures of uterus' and vaginas, they were like kids in a candy store. they had never been shown what their "lady parts" look like. they were in awe of how it all works together to grow and birth a baby.

all of these women are planning to exclusively breastfeed. we are out of the area of women who can afford a can or two of milk a week and believe that breastfeeding is a nuisance but are in a population that understands their economic situation could kill a child if it weren't for breastmilk.

i've been really inspired by the mujeres so far. for having little to no education about themselves and how their bodies work, they are doing their best to keep these bellies healthy - and i have high hopes that they were do their best to keep the babies healthy outside of the womb as well.