hell no, we won't go.

you may or may not remember that amalio ran for union president in santiago a few months ago. he didn't win. and while i'm thankful he didn't, it bothers me why he didn't. see, everything on the island is political. you get a job if you are blessed to know someone connected. you get government benefits like bonus-cards for gasoil or food or electricity if you happen to be distantly related to someone in city hall. while we are pretty connected (and no, that's not how we've gotten our jobs), amalio decided to go with a political party that had no chance of winning anyway. this party doesn't have enough pull to be important.
but the campaign was built on that idea. see, if you vote for the union that sympathizes (for lack of a better word... they're way more entrenched than sympathizers) with the political party that is in power, can you really trust the union leaders to question those in power?

in this country you can't. if you did, you'd lose your position. and your position is far more important than the position of thousands of people around you. and so now, the adp (teachers union) is in a sticky situation - they need to stand up to the government appointed officials from their own party. and risk their position.

strikes and protests in latin america often
consist of burning tires - this tire happened
today in a suburb of santiago as students
protested the state of education. (picture
credit: gentetuya.com)

for the past few years, there has been an intense campaign to have the government approve 4% of the GDP to education. when danilo medina took office in august, the battle for the 4% was ended and everyone foresaw great changes in education.

you see. a teacher in the public school system gets paid a base salary of 8,000 dominican pesos. roughly 200 US dollars. to boost up their pay, there are incentives: having a degree (bachelors, masters, etc...), years of service, evaluations, etc...
and even in this country, nobody can have a dignified life on 8,000 pesos. and to spout out rhetoric about the importance of education and pay teachers - educated and dedicated professionals - such a low pay is the equivalent of spitting in the faces of those same teachers. and when you top that low pay with the poor treatment and working conditions, you might as well just pull an r. kelly and pee on the teachers while they're down.

teachers in barahona gathered together in a town square
to decide whether or not to strike after the education
superintendent denied yet another contract request.
(photo credit: gentetuya.com) 

since january they have been in talks, trying to demand a 100% salary increase. and while i don't agree with their demands (because the economical effects on the country would be insane), i believe that teachers deserve a raise and a contract and proper representation and people who will fight for them. they also deserve decent classrooms, less than 60 (yes, 60) students in a class, materials as simple as chalk and as complicated as science labs.

but in order to have someone fight for them, they'll need to put their big-kid pants on and fight for themselves first. does that mean a strike? maybe. does it mean marching and protesting? probably. there is no change in the future if we don't stand up in the present.

this week, i've seen little sparks. people standing up and speaking out. teachers making decisions for themselves and not following the edicts sent down from on high. schools closed. students marching. and if there are enough sparks, maybe we'll see a change.


 
 

watching them grow.

when we decided to move across the city a few years ago to be closer to amalio's job, i'll  be the first to admit that i wasn't happy with the situation. moving made my work-from-home job impossible, and for the past five years we had lived in the same neighborhood. it was nice. and comfortable.

and i don't really like to be taken too far out of my comfort zone.
(really. i don't).

but when we moved in, just a few blocks from the high school, the house was always busy in a way it hadn't been before. there was a neighborly feel that didn't exist in our prior apartment complex and because we were so close to school, students stopped by to say hello.

don't get me wrong. it got annoying a lot. who likes having a house full of teenaged boys when all you want to do is get some sleep? but it was nice to get to know the boys that society would otherwise have boxed in.

from left: me, samil, rovin, jonas, sandro (photobombed
by amely)

delinquents. druggies. trouble-makers.
poor.

yet these are the kids that show up when someone is sick. who stop by just to say hello.
they're not causing trouble. they're not doing drugs or stealing or painting graffiti on your house.

this past weekend was jonas' birthday. it's been an honor and privilege to watch this one grow-up from awkward kid to a caring young adult. to push back at the pressure that society has put upon him and refuse to conform. and rovinson who is more dedicated in his university studies than i ever would have imagined. these two have brought so many friends into our home, but they're the constants.

and i'm so excited to see where this crazy life takes them.

loves of my life.

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

let's go fly a kite...

it's that time of year in the dominican republic - beautiful, sunny, windy days.

perfect for flying a kite 

makin' money!

this semester i took four classes at the university. to be honest, it's been stressful. and long. and i'm really tired. but, i get a paycheck that is excellent, and we have some plans that we'd need some extra money to execute.

the exhaustion is... well, it's exhausting. i crawl into bed at 9pm and pull myself out of bed in the morning. i'm counting down the days until the end, and a much needed break.

but, i'm reminded every single day that i've got it easy. i go to work, sit in an office, walk around, play with kids, do some paperwork, deal with not-always-so-nice people, then go to my next job and teach semi-adults - in air conditioning! and every single day i get to see the fruits of this labor - from kids writing their own names for the first time ever, to my university students preparing amazing, deep and grammatically correct stories.

when i get in a concho and complain that it's hot and uncomfortable i see a man walking down the street, pushing a coconut cart - uphill. or an icecream salesman trying to control a rickshaw - downhill.

 

construction is pretty antiquated here. i don't know why. i don't really care, because it's pretty cool to watch buildings going up - with twigs and tree branches as support. today, we were playing at the park and i caught this guy - working on a holiday! - using a pulley to lift buckets of cement to his partner on the fifth floor of this new apartment building.

 

i saw him disappear a few times to refill - on the other side of the building - then connect the bucket and pull. teaching in air conditioning doesn't seem so hard.

 

 

toilet paper is a necessity for everyone, yes? luckily, if you happen to run out, chances are someone will walk down the street selling rolls. no lie. and if that isn't a crappy enough job, there is little to no return on toilet paper sales. a tp salesperson might, maybe, quizas make 3 dollars a day. but every morning, they grab the mega packs and start walking. taking a concho to work isnt' so bad anymore.

there are so many things to complain about, but really, i've got it good. i love my job(s). while it's stressful and frustrating at times, it's not backbreaking or low-paying. here's to focusing on the positive!

back to giving.

last year i wrote some reflections on giving during lent. i had, and still do, struggled with what was the "right way" to give. money, food, clothes.

charity.

and, to be honest, my reflection stopped just about when lent was over. and even though begging and pleading and money-jars are thrust at me every.single.day, i pushed my conflict to the back of my mind and stopped trying to figure it out.

until a few weeks ago a windshield washer, who i explicity told not to wash my windows, tried to wash my car windows. when i told him to stop, he took it personally.

"when we beg, you all hate us. when we steal, we're wrong. when we try to work for a living, you still won't help us."

the kid couldn't have been older than 16. he went on and on about how hard his life is and how difficult people make it for him.

and, it killed me. eventhough he was working to make a living, he couldn't force me to support him. my windows were clean and you can't mandate that people accept your services if they don't need them. and yes, i felt bad for him. he was out, late at night, washing windows trying to make money. no kid should have to put their life in danger to get a few bucks.

and that's what it is. no kid should have to do that.
i didn't feel bad for that particulary boy - his obstinance made me want to get out of the car and punch him in the face - but for all of the boys washing windows late at night. or shining shoes . or selling toilet paper door-to-door.

because kids should be in classrooms, not on street corners. they should be supported and loved by their families.

and sometimes. a lot of times, that's just not reality.
i could give every kid some pesos each time i see them working, but it's not going to fix their problem. it's not going to take them off of the street and into homes filled with people who have time and energy to spend with them. it's not going to make their lives any different than it already is.

the past few weeks have been packed. i'm busy, i'm tired, i'm bothered. i even landed myself in the emergency room on monday morning with shortness of breath and a good scare. and over and over again i've been faced with and reminded of the need that others around us has; pressed with how little that i, one lonely individual, can do to make it all better.

but, i've been reminded in all of this, that we are not alone. and that if we work together we can spark the motivation in others to do something as well. and just because 5 pesos seems like nothing, or my windows don't really need to be cleaned and i can't fix it all, 5 pesos might buy a snack to fill a belly, or pay for a pill that a family member needs. and my 20 minutes devoted to helping someone in need multiplied by all of the 20 minutes of everyone around us add up to a lot of time helping others.

this lenten season i've refocused and decided to meditate this all again. it's important to me. to settle my mind and look for direction with how to help, how to serve and how to share.