More about Wednesday...

After dinner on Wednesday night, we had a presentation about the scope of the programs of the Good Samaritan Hospital. One of our interpreters, Andrea, outlined all the various ways they aim to help the batey residents, from family planning programs, literacy programs for the elderly, scholarships for students, and of course medical programs like we provide. Andrea share the story of her family: While he lived in Haiti, a friend of her father's told him that if he came to the D.R. he could go to school. When he go to the D.R., he was sent to the sugar cane fields and told to cut cane. Andrea and her 7 siblings lived on a batey until she was 12, at which point they were able to move to a one-room apartment in the city. Her parents' focus was on getting their children educated. They were able to leave the batey because her dad got a job as a gardener at a resort and her mom worked in the cigar factory. Now Andrea has a sister who is a doctor, another who is a dentist, one who is a chef and so on. It is clear: education breaks the cycle of poverty. Last year, our team sponsored one year of education for a young teacher who lives on Batey Higuera. Her name is Belkis and she is extremely sweet. Her passion is in the area of psychologie and she teaches the kids on the batey who have experienced trauma at a young age (death of a parent, or something like that). She has one year to go and we got to tell her face-to-face that we will support her until she finishes her education. It was a tearful and beautiful moment for all.