DAY 3 in the DR

The words of group members to describe the day: amazing, intense, overwhelming... but before we get there, some history as to how we came to be where the 23 of us are today. It all began in the late 1970s based on the vision of a man named Jean Luc, a Haitian pastor living in La Romana, Dominican Republic. His incentive derived from seeing Haitians living in the Dominican Republic being refused treatment in the local hospital because they were Haitian. His goal became a quest to build a hospital that would treat anyone, regardless of their ability to pay and regardless of whether they are Haitian or Dominican. In 1990, eleven people came to the DR from Connecticut, ready to help the poor of this country. Some questioned whether donating money wouldn't be more useful to the people, rather than spending money on flights to and lodging once in the DR. Jean Luc answered this question by welcoming the 11 people and telling them that, no, the $10,000 expended in airfare, food, and lodging , although desperately needed by the people of his community, would expand significantly if they went back and spread the word of what they saw and experienced during their stay. Jean Luc was right in his vision. Today, twenty years later, over 1000 people from Connecticut have come to the DR on service trips, and millions of dollars have been raised as a result. Today, these funds provide medical treatments and food provisions to thousands of children and their families.

More on our experience on Batey 50 later tonight!