Amoebas

Hello everybody!

It's been a while since my last post; sorry about that! I'm still very much alive and well. I returned a few days ago from leading a trip out to San Pedro de Macoris. It was a ton of work, and unfortunately, the day before the group got here, I found out that the reason I had been feeling so bad lately was that I had amoebas (again!). For those of you who followed my emails last summer, I was sick a good deal of the time with these little buggers. They give you diarrhea, stomach pain, make you lose weight, throw up, and straight up exhaust you like nobody's business. The Dominicans have quite a bit of experience with these bugs, and they all make these ridiculous "remedios", which taste nasty, but apparently cure amoebas. I don't really have much confidence in them, but I always try to accept them just because it's really kind that they offer them. I tried one in San Pedro that had crazy amounts of garlic and carrot, and it straight made me throw up. I guess maybe the amoeba's are supposed to get intimidated? : )

Anyhow, after a few days on the oral parasite meds, and some failed "remedios" I wasn't feeling any better, so I ended up having to make a trip back to the capital to recieve some intraveneous meds. Fortunately, one of the other missionaries named Daniel here was able to come out for a couple of days to take care of the group while I loaded up on metronidazol and other sweet amoeba-killing drugs. After about a day and a half in the capital, I went back out to San Pedro to finish out the week.

The group experience was tough for me. . . there are a lot of things to take care of when you bring a big group of folks from the U.S. to the developing world, and I think I'm more used to being independent and self-sufficient when I'm travelling. It was trying for me to have to shift my focus from my own needs and my service to the Dominicans to the needs of the missionaries and my service to them. However, it was humbling to see how the Lord used the experience (despite my impatience and sickness) to bless the Dominicans and the missionaries on the trip as well.

While staying in San Pedro, we worked on the second story of a school which is located alongside of a church in Barrio Mexico, which is a pretty standard San Pedro neighborhood. The second story will essentially double the amount of students that can recieve an education there, so it was exciting to think about that while the group worked to build the walls of those classrooms.

Here's a sweet story about a guy I met at the church in San Pedro. His name is Victor, and he spent all week volunteering with us to work on the school. He walks with a huge limp, and I started to ask him about it, and he told me this story: He said that when he used to "be of the world", he did bad things, and he was a criminal. He drank too much, did drugs, fought, and stole things. One day, he got caught by a police officer. Criminals here don't really have any rights, and oftentimes will just be killed for their crimes right on the spot. The police officer had shot him in the leg as he ran away, and came up to him to finish the job. Right before the police officer pulled the trigger, a pastor came up and stood in between the gun and Victor, and asked the police officer to spare his life. And the police officer left. Victor now lives for the Lord, and even though he has a tough life (it's not easy for a crippled man to survive here), you can see the joy and hope in his eyes. I just wanted to share this story because I think we forget how the radical grace and mercy of the Lord can change lives. Victor doesn't even know the pastor he owes his life to, but the love of God shown to him through the actions of that pastor has changed his life.

Well, that's about all that I have to share for now. I head tomorrow to Barahona, where I will be working for ten days with a youth group from DC that will work in a very poor Haitian sugar-cane community called Batey Algodon. I spent a good deal of time there last summer, and I'm excited to see my friends again. We will be building latrines so that people have a sanitary place to go to the bathroom, instead of having to use a bucket in their house or squat in the sugar cane fields. Please pray for health and strength to continue work here even in the midst of sickness.

Peace and Blessings,

Nick

Casas de Carton

Just returned from ten days working in El Brisal. We made quite a bit of progress on the early childhood education center, which now has a roof, concrete floor, and interior stucco. It will be completed by the dominican construction workers before September so that classes and activities can start for this next calendar year.

I have come to love El Brisal and the people in it, especially the children. Although the poverty is heartbreaking, somehow kids still find a way to smile and love (not to say that they always get along. . .). They have brought me much joy over the past ten days, and I hope to be able to visit them throughout the summer. I'm quite the phenomenon as a white guy who speaks fluent spanish (albeit with a Mexican accent) and has shoulder length hair, so it didn't take long for all the kids to get to know me. Wherever I walk through the community, I have flocks of kids running up to me, yelling "Nico!", just to get a smile and a hug out of me. No matter how much I work in these communities, I always feel like I'm the one on the recieving end of things.









In addition to the construction work, we were able to patch up some of the holes in the roofs of the homes of people in the community, which was an awesome way to catch a glimpse of people's home lives and see how they live. Dominicans are among the most hospitible people I've ever been amongst, always offering the little they have, even if it's just a bit of coffee or some bread.

The next group will arrive on Tuesday night, and until then I will be making arrangements for their time in country. Please pray that all the little pieces would fall into place for the coming weeks and that the trip would be a blessing for Dominicans and Americans alike. Peace and Blessings,

Nick