Walking With the Poor - Notes From the Field

Rekindling memories of earlier days

The Dominican Republic is the second largest nation in the West Indies, and makes up the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola (Haiti makes up one-third). Sugarcane is the leading crop.

We were met at Las Americas Airport in Santo Domingo by Project Coordinator Nelson Figueroa and Jose Santos, going on his third year with CFCA Santo Domingo. As Jose Santos drives the coastal road towards downtown Santo Domingo, the sounds and scents of the breaking waves bring back memories of our first CFCA exploratory trips to this island. My late brother and CFCA co-founder Jim Hentzen stands out in those memories. I recall with admiration and gratitude Padre Francisco Cordero and the great youth group and people of Cristo Rey Parish—so poor it seemed that the creatures at the nearby zoo had much better accommodations than the poor living in the Hoyo de Chulin.

   CFCA/Claudia Stapeley

   Smiling CFCA ambassadors from Los Corales,

   a neighborhood in Santo Domingo.

A mother struggles to raise children alone

On Sunday morning, Feb.18, at a borrowed Jesuit facility dedicated to the rights of immigrants, we celebrated a very meaningful gathering of all the sponsored children with sponsors and subproject teams. In the afternoon, I was privileged to visit the family of Roberto, sponsored by Ernest and Anita Philipp. The children’s father emmigrated to Italy with the oldest boy. Ramona, the mother, is basically trying to raise four small children on her own, working full time as a street sweeper, bringing home considerably less that $100 per month. The front room of the tiny house was reasonably straightened up. The back section was rough.

The Dominican trip team did a fine job of preparing and presenting a Power Point overview of CFCA in República Dominicana. “Our ideal is that the family can produce its own food or a good portion thereof,” said Nelson. Sponsored families learn organic gardening.

   Photo courtesy of Ernest Philipp

   Sponsors Ernest and Anita Philipp meet their

   sponsored child's family.

Voices of CFCA community reverberate in

colonial cathedral

In the afternoon, we had several hours to visit some of the historical sites of colonial Santo Domingo. We learned of the four journeys of Columbus to these islands and visited the Fortress of Santo Domingo, constructed in 1502.

Imagine a beautiful colonial cathedral filled with sponsored children, parents, staff and sponsors. Father Lara Santos from the CFCA subprojects in Constanza celebrated our Sunday Mass in Spanish. In spite of the language, the sponsors seemed to feel the spirit and the love of this CFCA family. In his homily, Father Lara thanked the sponsors and CFCA for all they are doing for the sponsored families and for his country. As we were leaving the cathedral, we met a vacationing family of five from Albany, N.Y., who sponsor a child at the Hermano Pedro project in Guatemala.

'You sponsors are like roses in our garden'

On Monday, Feb.1, the trip team divided us into several subgroups of two or three people in order to visit the maximum number of sponsored families.

Our group visited Alicia, who had her first baby at age 15. She has three boys, but her first “companion” took the oldest boy of 8 with him when he left with a younger woman, as if Alicia were already old at 23. With a third grade education, Alicia keeps her small rented home nice and neat. The $50 rent provides her and her two likeable boys with a cement floor, painted walls and a good padlock on the door.

Hijas de los Sagrados Corazones de Jesús y María

(Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary) is the name of the largely Colombian order that manages the subproject in Barrio Los Corrales. After two years, 87

   Photo courtesy of Ernest Philipp

   Participants in CFCA’s 2007 mission awareness

   trip to the Dominican Republic.

children are sponsored. Seems like all of them werepresent this morning…and then some. One of the phrasesI heard, “You sponsors are like roses in our garden”. A sponsored Adventist family of four gave a beautiful and prayerful testimony about family life and what the CFCA program means to them.

Late in the afternoon, we were privileged to spend several hours with the CFCA community in Barrios Los Angeles and Pedalejos. CFCA has been present in these barrios since 1993, and 187 children and youth are now sponsored and six students are making great progress as CFCA scholars. Passionist Sisters do the coordinating here. Sister Maria de los Angeles knows all the sponsored families and almost everyone else in the neighborhood. Smiling, confident children put on a great show of talent and had us all up at least pretending to dance merengue and mambolina.      

The southern region and the plight of Haitian immigrants

According to CFCA staff, the southern region of Barahona, about three hours south of Santo Domingo, is the most depressed area of the country. The average age for girls to marry is 13-16. The land is soil-depleted and agriculturally challenged. Work is very hard to find, partly due to cronyism among employers. Many Haitian sugarcane workers live in inhospitable bateys (sugarcane plantations). CFCA serves 870 sponsored children, 190 aging and 15 scholars here. CFCA efforts involve literacy training in the poor barrios.

The Paraiso subproject serves 320 children of Haitian rural workers living in the surrounding mountains, forgotten by authorities. Prejudice and tensions regarding their presence are strong. The Duverge subproject serves 146 children. The importance of the sponsor visit here has been likened to an encounter with God.

   CFCA/Pedro & Carolyn Ferradas

   Sponsor Stephen Mosca surrounded by children

   in Duverge, a subproject of Barahona.

The CFCA center here is simple, well-organized and inviting. Our Barahona team includes Coordinator Santo Moreta Reyes, with us for six years, Social Worker Franklin Ramirez, Accountant Jose Brito, with us for nine years, and Correspondence Specialist Aura. Franklin spends three days per week visiting sponsored families and keeps records of these visits. Aura, now 22, is about to finish her studies as a biologist and lab analyst. Sponsored since age 9, she now works eight hours at the office before going to school.

I am privileged to accompany a group of CFCA travelers on the next mission awareness trip to Kenya and Tanzania on Feb. 23. Thank you for traveling with us in solidarity and prayer.

I wish you God’s blessings.

Bob Hentzen
Republica Dominicana
Feb. 21, 2007