Seeing Both Sides to a Rainy Day

I have been here a year now and I leave for vacation the 15^th of June. So I thought it would be appropriate to share my thoughts of this past year. Here are some things I learned…

Being exactly where God wants you is the best feeling in the world! I have never once doubted the call God has placed on my life to be here, even in the hardest of times I knew this is where I was supposed to be. It is the best feelings ever.

No budget,all creativity spirit weeks are the best!

An apology speaks more volume than a perfect person/staff member.

Bitterness makes the heart rot.

Starting over is hard…coming here and knowing no one or nothing about what I am doing was probably one of the hardest things I have done in my life. So many awkward moments…oh the good old days. It was hard at first for me to be confident in myself around people. It got really hard when friendships just were not happening . After a few months (actually almost 6) I really found some awesome community and it taught me how awesome friends are. In the meantime I learned that God knows me better than I know myself and I can cling to Him, he really became my best friend during this time.

I can cook!

How to be a good passenger on a bike!

The great lengths God will go to grab a hold of your attention.

How to live without water and electricity, separately and on some sad days at the same time.

Holidays away from home are rough.

It’s should never be about winning an argument, or getting someone to do something, power struggles will get you nothing.

I can’t change a student, I can show them a heart sold out to Christ, but it’s God’s job to bring freedom to my girls.

I am rich

I leave tomorrow for the states and I am so excited. I will be flying to Georgia, next Tuesday I will drive with my sister and her family to Indiana for a family reunion. Within the first week of July I will be in Arizona. I cannot wait to see everyone! To meet my new niece! It is my heart’s desire to sit down and chat with everyone but I know a month is short. I will probably refrain from writing until I am back in the DR. It’s been real!

This week has been the week of exercise! As I mentioned last week our school has moved into a summer program that is more active and community oriented. Here is what a day typically looks like: get up go running, go to school do Pico training (Pico is the largest mountain in the D.R. and all the students hike it taking them a total of 5 days to get to the top and back, I will be missing the actual hike due vacation) for Pico training we hike up and down crazy intense hills for an hour. Then the kids have school time, and after lunch we go to Awesome (the town I talked to you about last week) and we hike down to it then move rocks around to prep a road we will eventually help build, hike out and call it a day. By Saturday I could barley lift my legs, they just felt like lead.

On Thursday we hiked this mountain called flat top, in my opinion it was wrongfully named because the top was indeed not flat. Not sure who got to make the call on that one. It was an intense hike, unlike anything I have ever done. The climb was more like rock climbing than hiking. It was so steep that let’s just say I crab walked down the mountain because to stand while trying to walk down would have resulted in my death. When I didn’t want to crab walk I would just sit on my shoes pick up my toes and slide down! It was so much fun, insanely hard, but fun.

I have to tell you about Saturday and I know it will not be like you were there, and you will probably just think I am making this stuff up, but I am not! So the reason why Awesome is so awesome is because I have never been there when it hasn’t rained! Every afternoon so far this week a storm has rolled in! So when we went to Awesome on Saturday it was surprising that it was all blue skies when we left. About an hour or so of us being there these dark clouds came rolling it and about the time we took a break it began sprinkling. Then it began to pour, every time I thought it can’t get much harder it would! It was crazy! Then we had a staff powwow and decided that it would be better to chance it and try to make it back to the car than for it to keep getting later and later, past the time we were supposed to be back. So we ran up the mountain while water is cascading down! It was crazy. Then we make it to the top soaked to the bone, we load up the car and begin driving back. Five minutes on the road we come across a class 4 rapid that decided to cross the road! Normally a slight trickle might be going across the road but never in my life have I seen anything like this. At this point we are just watching the scene and I laugh when I notice kids throwing rocks in “helping” them damn up the river so I said to Sandy, the driver “look they are making it more fun by putting an obstacle course under water!” After they tame it down slightly we see a car pass through so that is when we decided it was ok. So with everyone in the van to hopefully weigh it down we cross. I prayed the whole way across begging that Jesus would keep us from getting swept into the river. When we made it to the other side I shouted to the students in the back “girls call up Oregon Trail we just forged a river” in later telling of the story I have added “did anyone loose an ox?” and yes a wheel almost fell off the wagon. I know that the little story I just told is enough to be crazy but that’s not the end. We came across cars backed up again so I, being the brave staff, go and evaluate the situation. I get to the crowd and see that yet again the river decided to cross the road at an inopportune time, but this time the Dominicans were working on getting it under control and had built a two foot rock wall all the way across the road to begin creating a damn. I go back to the vans and I tell them of the situation, it became evident that we weren’t going anywhere for a little while so we let the kids get out and help. It was fun working in the pouring rain helping build a damn with the Dominicans. We got the river redirected then they began breaking down the wall that was blocking the road and somehow we happened to be the first car through. With all the kids out to make the van lighter Sandy boldly moves forward, getting stuck the Dominicans try and help her and the entire back end of the van was off the ground. They literally tried to lift the 15 passenger van over the rock pile. When this wasn’t working she backed up and went for round two and made it! The other van made it as well and it was my job to gather up all the kids and get them back in the van. I am calling out names telling them to get back in, it is chaos, so many people are around and it is so loud. I look at a staff member and let them know that we have everyone, then a few seconds later I hear perfect English behind me, I turn around and one of our boys who happens to be Dominican but grew up in America just blended. I reprimanded him and told him to get in the van then announced ok I think we officially have everyone. It was craziness. We got back 30 minutes late and all looking like we went swimming in the river. Never a dull moment.

Prayer requests: this is my last week working with my students before vacation, so please pray that I will have a great week with them. Pray for one of my girls who is going home this week, that she will have a great transition. This girl is a true success story that God can change lives. She came here as probably one of the worst behaviorally we have seen in a while and through much prayer on the staffs part one day God got a hold of her. She tells the story that she knew she was being terrible but there was nothing she could do to stop herself, one day she asked Jesus to take care of it He did, she had a rough time getting back on her feet and letting go of her past but when she did it was all God. It is really cool to hear her talk about the change God has made in her life and to see it genuinely lived out. Pray for the ministry as we are in transition right now with many people coming on our team as well as leaving it. Pray that God would show up and send revival at my school and in the hearts of all students and staff. Thanks for your prayers!

This last week was our second week out of school and it got a little crazy. We run a very structured program, where every second of every day is planned and these last two weeks have been a pretty loose schedule. It has been really hard. It was fun though most of the work time was spent in the coffee fields macheting the weeds down around the trees. The cool part was these trees were on the side of a cliff so you would crawl up and slide down; I got pretty crafty and would wedge my food into the base of a coffee tree to have a foothold so that I wouldn’t slide down the mountain. When we initially walked down the cliff it was intense I basically slid with style and would fall all over the place. This is fine with me except when I have a just sharpened machete in my hand, and then it gets a little tricky. So my solution was to throw my machete down where there were no people but by something so I can find it. So I called down to one of my students and told her I was going to throw my machete by her water jug. With her eyes on me I threw it down and I have amazing target skills because I hit her water jug right on! Slicing it wide open and the water went everywhere. Her response “nice one Ms Donohue!” it was fun telling that story to the house father.

I got to machete in some really cool places, one was at this beautiful garden! After we had been hacking away at what was to be used for goat feed for a while we got to tour the place. It turns out it was a lab where they were genetically engineering the plants. They formed a new kind of strawberry that now only they have the patent on. We saw the process from the lab all the way to the garden. They are trying to get the surrounding community to jump on the strawberry band wagon, because it turns out that they can get more money from 1 acre of strawberries than 100 acres of beans. Sadly they export the strawberries and sell them for way expensive here. I really miss strawberries. That day I was working with the boys and they had fun showing me how to machete, but it was really nice to hear “oh I guess Ms. Donohue does have skills, dang I really wanted to show her up and teach her!” we also had a much different conversation than I ever have with the girls, things like if we were to eat someone who would be the best and most tasty. It was a really fun morning.

On the last day we went to the town that the kids will be serving this summer. I would attempt to spell it but I am sure it’s not on any map, you can’t even drive there you have to hike there, and I would just butcher it for you so I will just refer to it as Awesome. So we went to Awesome and it was really spectacular for a few reasons. They are the acts two church. Everyone helps everyone, they often have community meals, and they share everything. They are pretty advanced, the entire little village runs on hydroelectric power, and they have found a way to convert methane gas from animal and human waste and use that for heating. Their main crop is tomatoes and around harvest time the entire village comes together to help out. They have made this swinging bridge that is super shady; it was pretty huge, high and had massive holes in it. My friend and I were very cautiously crossing, her in front and I in the back, scared out of our minds. She hears a big splash and says Heather are you still there? I can’t hear so I don’t respond and she says oh gosh and keeps walking! Gets to the end of the bridge and says oh I am so glad to see you and tells me the story. I thought it was pretty funny.

This summer the kids will be doing school a little different. In the morning they will be learning Spanish and taking Dominican Studies. In Dominican studies they will learn history and culture, in the afternoons they will go out and practice what they learned! Many days they will be doing service projects in Awesome, other days they will go see the history they learned about. I think it is going to be a good summer. Please pray that I will continue to minister well to my students. Pray that I will push though my homesickness and enjoy my last couple of weeks before vacation. Thank you for your prayers!

I will start with yesterday first! I went with the house to 27 waterfalls; I am attempting to describe something that is indescribable. I knew it was going to be awesome when they gave us life jackets and helmets, the Dominican is not well known for taking safety precautions. We hiked around to the 27^th waterfall and then jumped/slid down the waterfalls to the first one. I tried to make sure there were 27 of them and I and one of my students were on a mission to count them but between walking through pretty intense terrain and jumping off incredible heights I lost count, so I will just have to take their word for it. We got to slide down some of the waterfalls and it was intense! One was in the shape of an L and I was certain my body was not going to make it through that rushing water but it did with ease. I was totally expecting them to count little trickles of water as a water fall so they would have a cooler name, but every waterfall I saw was breath taking and beautiful. It was so much fun and I would recommend it to anyone who comes to visit me J

This week was work week as I mentioned last blog and I had a good time hanging out with my students outside of my classroom. They laughed at me as I tried to machete and it was great fun. On the days I was not out to work with my students I was bored out of my mind. When I don’t have a classroom full and am constantly getting interrupted, suddenly I become a procrastinator, but this was ok because I really had pretty much nothing to get done. I had one day where I was supervising two students who are pretty great and really just needed someone in the room and I got really bored. After about an hour and a half I made them take a break so that we could walk around. They laughed at me and said wow Ms. Donohue this is the first break we have taken all week (it was Friday). While on our break my boss asked me to look over the diplomas and make sure they were perfect. He laughed when I noticed the tiniest smudge or any hint of a printer wheel rolled on the beautiful diplomas. He called me and asked me if I would have the chance to do something else for him and I was like let me see if I have the time…of course maybe I didn’t make it clear earlier but I am bored out of my mind! I kind of can’t wait to have the chaos back so I can be productive again.

This week was graduation and it was so awesome to see four of my girls graduate! We had a beautiful little ceremony and then that night I went to the graduate dinner with some staff and their families. The most rewarding moment was when one of my girl’s dads stood up with tears in his eyes and thanked the staff for what we have done in her life. It was a good night.

Prayer requests: I have been challenged lately while I am on a down swing of my students attitudes about me (they go through ups and downs about me and so I am kind of on a down) about how I can improve, how I can give more to them. Please pray for me while I figure this out. Keep praying for more passion and joy over me. Pray for awesome conversations with my students while I am working with them. Thank you for your prayers!

Much of this week was a blur due to awesome over the counter antibiotics and cold medicine. I caught a terrible head cold that has been going around campus. Every time someone saw me blow my nose I would hear “oh man I had that”, and then they would begin describing it, and sure enough they had caught this nasty monstrosity and defeated it shortly before it wrapped its nasty hands around my immune system. Tuesday I should not have gone to work, but thinking it would just get better as the day progressed I went anyway, and who wants to spend a day off sick? I still have the sickness but it is on its way out praise the Lord! Today I tried to go running, turns out I wasn’t quite ready to take that leap and I almost died because of lack of oxygen. Hopefully later this week I will get back into my routine.

This week was election weekend and it was crazy. It was cool to learn about it! Everyone has to go back to the place they were born so we had A LOT of extra people in Jarabacoa. They vote by colors so if you happen to wear a red shirt suddenly you think you are popular when everyone waves at you until you remember that they think you are representing their party. Voting took place yesterday and we got to talk to a Dominican about it. He told us that they don’t vote on issues just for people, so it’s kind of a big deal. Today there was much celebration when the purple party one, many people were making as much noise as possible in celebration.

I had an ok week with my students; it was a really stressful one for them and for me. Being the end of the semester the students need to turn in all of their school work to get credit for it, what is not turned in gets a zero. I am pleased to say many of my students were in a great place and this came with ease, however it was still stressful to maintain the normal craziness on top of the added stress. Saturday was a bad day, long story short I cried and the house father totally had my back. All I know is when I went to church on Sunday some girls from his house said some of the most meaningful things I have heard while I was here. They apologized and poured compliments on me. It’s all better now but it was probably one of the hardest days since I have been here.

I am going to move into prayer requests. I don’t know if it has been because I am sick, or because Sandy is on vacation but I got nothing for ya. I am lame and will work on being a tad more adventurous so I don’t lose my fan base (that’s a shout out for you grandma! Thanks for reading!) In all, three of my girls have graduated high school! It has been such an honor to get to know them and I am so proud of them. Please pray for them as they transition and figure out what they want to do with their lives. This week is a break from school and a week we do some hard labor alongside the kids, pray for safety and good conversations.