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| Our New Haitian Friends with Manuel the expert técnico |
Our
listing information for the Hidalgo de Parral project has been sent by our
field supervisor from Salt Lake to those in FamilySearch who determine whether
or not to accept the project. Our
supervisor, Tim Law and technical operator, Manuel have been here with us all
this week to train us and two young men from Haiti on “dCamX.net” a new,
upgraded software for digital imaging.
He told us that FamilySearch needs more descriptive information on the
exact types of documents that are in Parral and if they would be of interest to
those seeking ancestral information.
Carlos is busy right now writing about what is exactly there. If the project is accepted, we then have to
request a visa for Mexico. So now the
timeline looks like we would go there around April. We shall see.
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Our Field Supervisor, Tim Law
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Our
training has been fun. The two young men
from Haiti, Dalmisa and Bernardo are employees of the government
archive there and they, of course, speak French. Dalmisa speaks some English. Manual, from
Canada speaks fluent French, Spanish and English. He is originally from Chile. His family moved to Montreal, Canada when he
was 15 where he has lived for the past 30 years. That’s where he learned French and
English. It was fun watching interaction in three languages going on. We have been going out to lunch every day
this week, all of us. So it has been
quite different from our usual schedule.
On a regular week we work from 9:00 to 3:30 or 4:00 and bring our
lunch.
I continue to be dismayed at the extreme poverty here. The average income is about 200 dollars a
month. Families double and triple up in
homes to make ends meet however the homes aren’t anywhere near the quality of
homes that poor people double and triple up in in the US. There was an article in the paper about the
men who clean the sewers. They call them macos.
In the article you
learn that these men make 5000 pesos a month.
That’s about 125 dollars. They
crawl down in the sewers with just their regular clothes. They are not provided sanitary gear to
protect themselves, no gloves or masks.
They clean out the trash the unthinking citizens throw on the ground and
end up in the drains, animal parts, feces, and are exposed to dangerous
chemicals, germs and bacteria. I can’t imagine such a
life.
SANTO DOMINGO. Si existe un modelo de vida infrahumano, la profesión
debe ser la de "Maco" del Ayuntamiento del Distrito Nacional (ADN).
Por cinco mil pesos al mes Luciano Lara, Martín Pimentel Doñé, Juan Antonio
Suárez, Luis Catalino Arias, Gerónimo Mateo Mateo, Martín
Rosario
Batista e Hipólito Reyes Vargas se sumergen dentro de los pozos filtrantes del
sistema de drenaje pluvial capitalino a extraer los desperdicios de los
inconscientes ciudadanos que son arrastrados durante las lluvias. Lo
hacen armados de picos, palas y cubetas. Vestidos de camisas, pantalones cortos,
botas de goma y una gorra, sin guantes ni mascarillas, ni traje especial. Allí
se enfrentan a plásticos, cartones y papeles. Pero también heces fecales y
pedazos de animales, agua del drenaje sanitario, químicos que expiden negocios
y compañías, y todas las bacterias y parásitos que pudieran existir en la
superficie, pero concentrado en un ambiente húmedo en el que proliferan.
We
are so blessed to be able to live in the United States. When we get back, however, Carlos is going to
have to learn to drive all over again.
LOL He has turned into a genuine
Dominican driver. He can now execute with ease left turns from the right lane
cutting in front of everyone and is an expert at nosing the car in just enough
to get everyone to stop so he can drive into the lane of traffic. I do very well at sticking my arm out the
window begging permission from someone on our right to let us in the lane of
traffic. His reaction time is that of a
20-year-old ready to stop in a split second when someone cuts in front of him
or stops suddenly. What I like about
driving here is that no one gets upset at anyone. There’s
no road rage. Love it!!
Update
on Josefa’s house. The picture on the left is the original house that flooded
with 12 inches of water with every heavy rain storm. Below is the new
house. To the right is the inside of the
house. Carlos has been picking up wood
from shipping crates. A carpenter
fashioned this wall separating the kitchen from the living room. Notice the louvered window. Nice work. Below left you can see part of the inside wall
separating the two bedrooms.
We continue our work in Ingenio Quisqueya with the members
of the church and interested community members.
Self-reliance is the goal but it is a long, slow process.
I continue to enjoy experimenting with cocina
Dominicana cooking finding ways to get good flavor from the food that is
available in the grocery stores. The
meat is a challenge but have been having success by adding bouillon cubes that
are much more flavorful here than at home.
I think I will try to bring a large box home if it doesn’t make my suitcase weigh too much LOL. I’ve made some great soups and guisados. Mexican albondigas come out quite
nicely. There is a Dominican recipe for
albondigas that is also very good. I
have been baking bread every week for our lunches and other meals. We haven’t found any tasty bread here. When we have found something that seems
pretty good it is completely different the next time we buy it. Their products here aren’t consistent, poor
quality control I guess but the cost is high.
The prices are the same as the US and some things are higher like pinto
beans, a dollar a pound. The poor eat a
lot of rice, plantains (sliced and fried) and a little chicken if they are
lucky.
Well, we finished our training yesterday (Friday) and look
forward to being beta testers for the new software. Should be interesting.
I miss all our family and friends and look forward to seeing
everyone again very soon, about 7 months.
The time has been going very fast and we have been VERY blessed. We have witnessed many miracles.
