Update on Disabled Boy & Mom

One of the highlights of the recent trip was the deliver of a Hoyer Lift to a local woman whose full time job is caring for her disabled son.  The Hoyer Lift was donated by some good folks back in WI and it has the potential to change the lives of both mother and son, as she can now move him from bed to bath, and back again.

Here is a photo:

 

Update:  this week we got a chance to make a special bed for the 10 year old disabled boy.  We went over and helped her take out the old crib that was his bed, and replaced it with a good hard vinyl covered mattress from the Seminary.  We also donated some new sheets and pillow cases. 

 

We had a bucket of cement to fill in the holes in her floor and we made a ramp so the new lift can be used throughout the house!  The mom was very happy and thanked God for his mercy as we said good bye.

 

This is a wonderful story that all of our supporters can feel good about, we are trying to improve lives throughout the village of Palmar Arriba.  Praise the Lord!

Group Picture of March 2013 BLC Team

Here is the picture of the team that recently completed a visit to the Dominican Republic from March 1 to March 9, 2013.

All six members are pictured in yellow shirts:  back row left side (John, Dave, & DJ), front row left side (Ward & Nancy), and right side (Adam).

We worked side by side with this masonry team and it was really great getting to know these guys!

Teachers & Principals Visit from US

We have been enjoying a visit from four grade school principals / teachers from US, who are pictured below. 

 

They have spent the past several days mentoring the teachers from the local school, which is called Concordia Lutheran in Palmar Arriba.  They are training teachers in Love and Logic, which includes a math cirriculum and strategies for best practices in education.  They are also showing teachers how to read aloud to the students, using beautifully illustrated books (in Spanish) telling familiar bible stories!

Pictured:  Mark L'heureux (Milwaukee), Jim Breytung (Delavan), Jim VanDellman (Wauwatosa), and Bob Ziegler (Ft. Myers, FL).

Construction Updates This Week

Work is continuing on our 2 main construction projects that are well underway:  1) the construction of the group home; and 2) the bathroom addition to a neighboring widow's house.

The team from Brookfield Lutheran just left on Saturday, their presence helped to move things forward dramaticially. 

We are seeing the masonry walls continue to rise, as a local team of brick layers continues their work.  The picture above shows a continous beam that is being installed at the ceiling level to maintain strength in the walls, and tie everything together.  This is one of the keys to a well built and long lasting structure.

 

We are also nearing completion of the bathroom that has been added to our neighbor's house.  This widow had outdoor "plumbing" for years, now she is going to have one of the best bathrooms in the village, including a sink, toilet, and shower, as well as a refillable water supply that she can use.

 

Things are happening so fast, we'll keep you up to date as much as possible!

Dedication Day for the Seminary

This past Sunday, March 10, over 250 church members and supporters gathered for the dedication of the Seminary which was completed in the past year. 

It was a day of praising and thanking the LORD for his goodness.  Church members from 4 different churches traveled to Palmar Arriba for the event, which was followed by a church service in the open courtyard next to the school.

 

This was a particularly enjoyable day, because everyone got an opportunity to see the work in progress on the group home that is now well underway.

Home Safe!

We are happy to report that everyone made it home safe and sound. This was fantastic trip by all accounts. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support!

And special thanks to our super-host Brian! We'll be praying for you!

Friday = Fun Beach Day

We knew in advance that today was going to be a good time and a serious change of pace -- because we went to the beach! We balanced our work with play as 10 of us piled into a rented passenger van, and took a ride to Puerta Plata, a resort beach town on the north side of the island.

We made a brief stop at a small cigar making shop, where we observed all stages of the cigar manufacturing process. Some rooms were for drying and prepping the tobacco, while others were for cutting, rolling, finishing, and packaging. The whole place smelled like...cigars! The owner gave each of us a free cigar and some of us bought more.

From there went to the beach, where Brian had ordered a traditional DR lunch from Leo's Banana, one of many seaside shops and restaurants. It was mostly cloudy, which was probably a blessing, because we still got crispy while we swam, laid out, shopped, and took it easy.

Four of us got on an inflatable banana ride (pulled behind a boat) and we also tossed a frisbee for fun. Good times!

We got back well before dark, which was nice, because we could look down onto the job site to observe even more progress on the house. What a change in a single week. Look how high those walls are getting!

We're coming down the home stretch as we pack, clean up a bit, and get ready to head home with our alarms set for 5:30 am tomorrow. If all goes as planned, we'll be back in Milwaukee around 10:00 pm tomorrow (Saturday) night.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog as much as we have enjoyed this wonderful week. God bless and good night!

In Him,

D. J.

Thursday: More Work Completed

Today's construction activity capped off and concluded a very successful week. Since we're going to the beach tomorrow, this was our last chance to get things done.

There were 3 main things accomplished today: 1) we dug and framed the foundation of a bathroom that is being added to a local widow's house; 2) we assembled and delivered a Hoyer lift to a local woman (see separate post); and 3) we moved the last of the gigantic pile of masonry blocks into strategic locations on the job site.

Right next door to the house we are building, right next to the school, there lives a widow with her small son. Her house is corrugated metal and quite small, and she has been using an exposed, outdoor toilet for years. In the spirit of befriending our neighbor, we are putting in a terrific full bathroom by attaching a room to her house.

Earlier in the week several locals dug the hole for her septic system, today it was time to dig the 6 x 6 room which will house a toilet, sink, and tiny shower. This included digging a trench for the underground waste water pipe, and installing the PVC plumbing.

With the help of some workmen, huge progress has been made, and this nice woman is going to have one of the nicest bathrooms in the village. She came to church last night for the first time in a long time, which is really quite amazing? Could our brotherly kindness be drawing her towards The Lord? Let's pray for her and find out!

The rest of the work consisted of moving bricks. Not very glamorous, but for some of us like DJ who have been moving bricks all week, finding the bottom of that pile was like crossing the finish line of a long and challenging race. It was a team effort, and now there is a vacant plot where formerly there were over 1,500 bricks.

The pictures of the job site show the progress. All of us, including our host and foreman Brian, are really juiced. We are really happy and in a celebratory mood. Thank you for your prayers, and mostly thank you God for putting us in a position to do good deeds and be a blessing to this fine community.

Local Woman Receives Donated Hoyer Lift

One of the special things we did this morning, was assemble and deliver a "Hoyer Lift" to a local woman with a mentally and physically disabled 10 year old son. The woman lives right in the village, and her circumstances are difficult to say the least. Not only has she battled her own illness, she has a full time job caring for her son, who cannot walk or talk.

It has been the goal of the mission here for some time, to find this woman a lift, to allow her to move her son from bed to bath, and back again. As he has grown, this job has become impossible for the mom, who is doing her best.

So it was a special moment for us, to deliver and demonstrate this life changing medical device. We were blessed to have our team member Adam, who was familiar with it.

A number of us crowded in her humble home as Adam showed her how it works. Then she tried it herself. With a little practice, she is going to be able to care for her son on a much higher level. Praise The Lord!

Special mention goes out to a special person and organization. When Carman Carothers found out about this specific need, she did not rest until she finally found one available for donation from Creative Living Services of WI, located in Watertown. Thank you very much, you may never know the full extent of your efforts and generosity.

This was just one part of a special day. God is good!

Local Life in Palma Arriba

We are working in a small village called Palma Arriba, which is located outside of Santiago. As you leave the city with its heavy traffic and densely packed homes and businesses, the scene changes quickly and dramatically.

The roads are made of dirt with plenty of potholes. The only stores are small cantinas that appear to sell little more than chips, soda, and produce. And the houses are a variety of structures from home made corrugated metal shacks, to nicer concrete or block houses. They are mostly small and simple.

There are children everywhere, and women who are taking care of their homes and families. What is impressive about the people here, is that they seem happy. The children are an absolute delight, enjoying simple things like exploring, flying kites, and playing baseball (with any improvised ball and bat you can imagine). They are free. There is no sense of poverty or "stranger danger" or shyness about them. They will hug a stranger with genuine affection.

The men we have been working with are strong, helpful, good natured, and hard working.

Here are a few pictures of the village. Enjoy!

Wednesday: Mucho Progresso

If our sore muscles are any measure, this week has featured "mucho progresso"! My goodness. The good Lord must be answering everyone's prayers, because one thing after another is going right on this home construction project.

The local masonry workers, led by a man they call "Pollo", is really jamming at a steady, fast pace. Pollo means chicken, and this chicken clucks non stop while he's laying block and firing orders at his team. He likes to sing too. These guys are amazing and more than anything, they're really strong, and they don't get tired like we "Americanos".

Some great mini projects got completed today by the BLC group: 1) we cleared the main alley (which we call Ward Alley in honor of Ward whose last name is Alles) by moving all kinds of rock and debris; 2) we excavated and leveled the outdoor laundry area and built 2 retaining walls out of boulders; 3) we made a front garden area, again, by moving dirt, rock, and boulders; 4) Adam spent hours applying mortar to the retaining walls; and 5) we dug some trenches and did a little concrete work inside the house.

The combination of our efforts, which really improved the landscaping of the site, and the work of the masons, made this a day of notable and substantial progress.

We are happy to be done for the day, definitely tired, yet feeling the undeniable satisfaction that goes along with giving 100% and knowing that our labor was most productive.

We're going to church tonight to the regular Wednesday service they have in the community. That will be a nice change of pace and a good chance to praise and thank the Lord, for he is good

Tuesday: We're Really Cruising Now

We just finished our 3rd day of construction and we are really getting somewhere on the construction of this group home! With a number of local masons on sight, we began to see the walls go up.

Several of our group (Nancy, John, and Dave) were busy bending and customizing conduit to stage the plumbing and electric, so that the masonry blocks would be all set up as far as that is concerned. The job site smelled like a camp fire as they needed heat to bend the PVC pipes.

The other 3 members of our team (DJ, Ward, and Adam) mostly moved a gigantic pile of bricks from point A to point B. These blocks weigh about 30 pounds each and they had to be moved with a wheel barrow and stacked all over the place. Really tiring but very important!

We also completed a little landscape construction project by adding 6-7 steps into the hillside, a heavily used path from the house we are staying in, down the hill, to the school.

The weather was nice, everyone worked very hard, and now we are happy to be home for a nice meal that is being made by John, Nancy, and Brian.

Thanks for all your prayers and support, God is certainly with us and everything is really going well.

Monday Part 2: Socializing Over Meat

Tonight we had the pleasure of hosting the majority of the missionary team that works down here in the DR. Best of all, between the Brazilian and Argentinian pastors, we had more expert grill masters than the Food Network!

Everything worked out great, good food and fellowship.

Now it's time for bed! Hasta Luego!