wojo

Wow, what an experience this has been for these past 3 months. Looking back, it has gone by fast. Each day feels like a week, but those weeks go by faster than you can imagine. I never get bored, always something to do, and writing this blog gives me the chance sit down and process everything. Process my experience and share it with you.  This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Las Galeras. It’s on the eastern peninsula of the island the pictures I have doesn’t even begin depict how beautiful it was. Kristen and I went and after coming back on Sunday, I have never felt so relaxed, recharged, and motivated to come back to work. 

I am sure some of you are wondering about the title, ‘wojo’. Well to top the weekend off, I had a chance to talk to a friend from Regis. Her name, well, nickname, is Wojo and she & I met this last year on a alternative spring break trip with Regis to the Dominican Republic. She was a freshman, taking a dive into this trip, completely immersing herself with a people she barely knew, a new culture, and little did she know how much she was going to grow because of it. She has one of the most genuine, charasmatic, and loving attitude’s I have come across, it is 100% contagious. While we were talking, she told me something that has really stuck with me, “Madelon, how can someone with absolutely nothing, have so much care for one person? In regards to the differences between first and third worlds. She then went on and shared, regardless of which country we are in, it’s simple and very basic. “As simple as, “how are you?” how are you? Then the question is, how is there so much genuine care for someone that you met for a few days during a spring break trip?” Maintaining a relationship, staying in contact, but in reality, you never know if you’ll be able to see them again. But, the admirable thing about Wojo, is her motivation to take what she learned, and make life wherever she goes. To take and use those basic things, the questions of ‘how are you?’ and apply them into her every day life. To be the person she is because of one experience and to take that one experience with her for the rest of her life. Essentially, people come and go in our lives all the time, but for some reason, we choose to continue relationships with people, but have you ever asked yourself, “why?”  I’m not sure I can even answer that. There are so many variables, but it’s such a simple question, which then goes back to the basics of asking someone, ‘how are you?’ It was such a rich conversation and started my week of great. 

Avriel & I are now work out instructors for the Tías (caretakers for the children). We have class twice a week and it is just a riot. We shake it, move it, and the translation of, “You can do it!” Doesn’t sound as well/ cheerleader-esque in Spanish as it does in English, so we choose to say it in English. hello- YOU CAN DO IT! *clapclapbigsmile* just screams peppyness, does it not?  We have so much fun and it’s really fun to spend time with the tías while the kids are at school. 

Aside from all of that, here are some pictures since the last post. Lots of activities this weekend- We are making Donuts, which will be a huge treat since none of the boys have ever done anything remotely like it before and Saturday we are going on a bike ride to MonteCristi (nearby Batey) to play some basketball and hang out. Sunday, we are having a team (family) building day! Which I am TOTALLY stoked for. We are waking up early, going for a run, making a family breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and fresh fruit, doing team building games in the afternoon, i.e. the human knot, etc, and movie in the afternoon. My house really needs it. We have had a lot of behavioral issues and doing this, I think it will really give the boys an extra push to come together. BUT- the best part of this weekend is, the helpers in my house (2 older boys live in the house, helping the caretakers, and being an example for the boys) are leading it! They are the ones who came up with the idea, they are the ones who want to work together and become a family. I think it's great because if you think about it, I am the volunteer. They aren't going to listen to me as well as they are going to listen to the helpers. I will post pictures in the next blog, but for now, here are some pictures of everything else!!  

Enjoy the overwhelming amount of pictures!!! 

Smerlin with his masterpiece

Preparing the dough

Excited boys!!

The frying begins!!!

Samuel & I

Francisco & I

Smerlin & I 

Yoneuris, Miguel, & Smerlin

         

Sebastian & Esteban

 

Proud owners of homemade donuts!!! So messy, so fun, and it was a first for many!!! 

Sunset in Las Galeras

Kristen & I

Bluer than blue

wait...what just happened?

whaaaaaaaaaaaat is going on? weekend off, Hurricane Isaac, internet out, and Madelon goes into town to work. let's start there.


Working at the local McDonald's trying to get work done, as Hurricane Isaac left us with no internet, I have my headphones in, music playing, focused, and typing away. As I'm working, I see out of the corner of my eye that a Dominican Man is approaching me. Thinking I was just going to get creeped on, I pretended nothing was happening. Well, when he gets to the table, he starts talking to me in  English. Perfect English. The conversations goes as follows,

"So what are you doing here?"
I work at an orphanage working with special projects and fundraising.
"Oh really? I really admire people like you, coming down here and helping. It's not easy, it's hard to leave your family and to make the commitment you do"
Thank you, I really appreciate that. That is very nice.
"Where are you from? The States?"
Yeah, I'm from Minnesota.
"Huh. That's cool. I was in the States for 25 years."
Oh, really! Doing what exactly?
"I was a Major League Baseball Player"
(Madelon's thoughts: um. what.)
Really?? That's awesome! What's your name?
"Julio Franco, and yours?"
Madelon Morin, it's great to meet you!
"It's great to meet you Madelon. Look, I have a friend in the government, and if it's okay with you, I would like to ask them to see if we can help you out in any way, through food."
Wow! That would be great. Just the fact that your even offering to just ask, means a lot.
"No problem."

Leaves.

Of course right when he left I googled him. Found out that he is kind of a big deal, no?

Well, while I was writing this yesterday, guess who shows up? The one and only Julio Cesar Franco and his body guards. I'm sitting at my table again, headphones in, and he comes up to me pulls up a chair and asks how things are going. I tell him, things are going well, I was going to call you to invite you to our home, to see what we are about, blah blah blah.
"When?"
Well, whenever you can! Whenever you are free.
"Let me talk to my friends and see what we can work out."
Avriel returns from running an errand, I tell her that she should really meet him, I'll introduce you.
We go up to their table, Julio, this is my friend, Avriel. She works at the orphanage with me.
"It's great to meet you, Avriel." (And we had somewhat of the same conversation on Friday)
Talking, Talking, Talking
"Are you guys heading out?"
Yes, we are, but let me know when would work for a visit.
Looks at his friends, "What are we doing right now? Can we come right now? Do you guys want a ride?"
So the next thing we know, Avriel and I hope in his big a** hummer and we roll up to the orphanage, meet with my boss, the National Director of the home, and have a long meeting about how Julio wants to get involved and help us out. His body guards are instantly on the phone with people in the government, education ministry, and THEN he says, let me talk to my friends, to see what they can do, I play golf with Tiger Woods a lot and I am really good friends with Michael Jordan (um. what.) and maybe they will want to get involved. So the rest of the time, we gave him a tour of the home, he met some of our kids, and seemed genuinely interested. So, we will see where it goes from here, but this whole thing is just kind of like, um..wait, what just happened? Very cool, but also excited to see what this brings to NPH. and it all started at the local McDonald's.... how about that?

Aside from that, I am sure everyone knows about Isaac. He, now he was just a gem, wasn't he? I hope everyone is safe in the States. We just got a lottt of rain and unreal wind, but all the kids are safe and that's what's most important.

Last Friday, 5 of my boys and I made Macaroni and Cheese. Not homemade, but Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, hello they are young and kids love that artificial, yellow, noodles or whatever. Anyway, they were SUPER confused were the cheese was coming from, because cheese is cheese, you see cheese, you eat cheese, cheese is not in a packet. So, when we poured in the cheese the kids where in awe on how it the magic happened. Anyway, they were licking their plates because they loved it. I mean, what kid doesn't?


Finally, I was helping some of the older kids with their homework last week, English homework, right. So, get this, the assignment was a word search, but you have to figure out the word first in order to search for it. So, the assignment gave a definition of the word, one of the definitions was something to keep you warm- first word that pops into mind? Blanket, right? NOPE. Duvet. DUVET. I mean, what? That is the DUMBEST word to learn maybe...EVER? 2. Something to hold while you are sleeping. Teddy Bear, maybe? WRONGGGGGG. cuddly toy. CUDDLY TOY. who learns that word? Who needs to learn that word? Are you kidding? DUMB. Whatever, it was fun nonetheless. And the older kid I was working with got a good laugh out of my reaction to the vocabulary they were learning. BAHA


Here are some pictures to sum up the past two weeks! Hope everyone had a safe labor day and happy first day of school to many!!!

Thank you older boys for encouraging Olivie to stick his tongue out. HAHA

Yoneuris & Sebastian going to play in the Batey! 

Basketball in the Batey! 

BYE EVERYONE! TALK TO YOU SOON!!!

Non-stop awesomeness? Yes.

vrrrrrrr vrrrrrr vrrrroooooooooom. Non-stop awesomeness? yes. School started today! The kids were prepping all weekend, washing their uniforms, trying on their new shoes, and even though my boys would say, “No Magdalena, I am not excited,” they're so full of it. they totally were. They were looking pretty sharp this morning on their way down to the school. Boys at that age.... it cracks me up. I get a good chuckle every day, especially when one of them asks me something in English, for example, one of my boys came up to me and goes, “Magdalena, I want some Macaroni and Chet” apparently cheese is a hard word to pronounce. Of course I laughed, he was confused at why I was laughing, but I mean, c’mon. That’s hysterical. And on top of that, don't try and tell me that you're not excited when you totally are. Everyone gets excited for the first day of school. 

Claro que si we love soccer! 

We enjoyed our last weekend of summer before normal starts to set in again. A weekend filled with soccer, card games, and lots of smiles. But if we are being honest, I for sure broke up 2 fights. Hey, not everything is perfect as it sounds. Kids fight, but it’s a minor detail in a really great weekend. One of my boys is very strong, verbally and physically. Let me take a step back. In the DR, there is a lot of discrimination between Haitians and Dominicans. If you have light skin, you’re Dominican. Dark skin, you’re Haitian. It’s uncomfortable, especially having white skin, when you are put in a situation that you learned about in school. Rosa Parks? It’s real here. Well, one of my boys got into a fight with another in the house and he said, “Be quiet, Haitian!” Uncomfortable? Yes. However, this doesn’t work in my book. Nope, no it does not. There were about 5 boys around when this happened. My response, excuse me? We talked about it and here is what happened- 

“How am I different than you? Take your hand. Put it on your chest. Feel that? What’s under there?” 

 “A heart.”

“I have one too, just like you, just like him. What’s here?” 

 “A brain.” 

“Do you have one?” 

 “Yes.” 

 “Me too. What are these?” 

“Hands.” 

“I have them too. Your skin color doesn’t define who you are. We are all the same. So when you say, Be Quiet Hatian, it not only is mean to him, but it hurts me and everyone else as well. Look at me. I am Haitian. I am from Haiti. Did you know that? 

“No...” 

“What makes me different than you? My skin? That’s it? Look, let’s say you don’t know anything about me. Let’s say I am a criminal and I have killed a lot of people. Is that because of my skin?” 

“No...” 

“Exactly, it was a choice I made. I chose to do that. Did I choose to have white skin?” 

“No.” 

“Then what makes a Haitian and Dominican different?” 

“Their language” 

“Exactly. We are all people. We are human. We don’t have control over where we come from, what the color of our skin is, but what makes us who we are is our actions.” 

Such a powerful chat, something I am passionate about. It’s reality here. It’s hard, but it’s reality. They are fighting something that we are reading about in history books. I was talking to one of our older boys later that afternoon and I said, “Victor. I have to ask you a question and I don’t want you to get offended. What if I were to say to you, Be quiet, Haitian! How would that make you feel?” 

“Not good” 

“Why?”

“Because that has nothing to do with who I am as a person. I am a human being. Skin color is skin color. It’s not about who we are, it’s about what we do.” 

Powerful? The quote in bold gave me goosebumps. Just a concept here that is a reality. To us it’s not right. To me, it’s not right. But it’s definitely a cultural thing. It’s not right. But it’s reality. They deal with it all the time. Towards Santiago, I have seen signs saying, “Haitians stay out!” Has anyone seen or heard about Jane Elliott, a teacher in the 70s, that did an activity of racism in her class by dividing the children up by eye color? She was a 3rd or 4th grade teacher and one day she told that everyone with blue eyes was able to talk, were able to go to recess early, and weren’t allowed to talk with the people who had brown eyes. The kids were very frustrated, upset, and didn’t think it was fair. They also had no idea what was going on. The teacher later sat down with the kids and explained to them what and why she did what she did. She asked how it made the kids feel, they talked, and it was just a very powerful and emotional video. I suggest everyone take a look at it.
The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bWlTZZN3DY 


I am going to do a similar activity with my boys within the next coming weeks. I did it when I was in 7th grade and have never forgotten that day. It was so frustrating. No one knew what was going on, but then after the experiment was over, we learned so much more. Experiential learning, to an extent. It's tough. I will let you know how it goes. 

 

Aside from that, I would also like to introduce to you some of the kids we have from Haiti who stay with us because, unfortunately, they are fighting cancer. In Haiti, there is no radiation treatment available, so, we take in children from St. Damien’s Hospital (a hospital in which NPH works with and has a strong connection with also founded by NPH founder). The kids come with a guardian and stay here at the home for the duration of their treatment. Now, this next part is no way intended to ask, however, the program for these children is currently running off of no funds, which is a difficulty for us, because the program is important to our home and helping these kids get better. If you’d like to send down some things for the children to do during their treatment (coloring books, games, books), any snacks, or anything you may think would be fun for a kid who isn’t always feeling that hot, let me know! Avriel is the volunteer of this house and is very closely connected to the children. She has lots of great posts about the children and her experience at NPH as well. 

If you would like to make a monetary donation which will go towards the children’s treatment, shoot me an email and I will give you all of the details! madelonrosemorin@gmail.com

Djimica & Leo

Burman

Giggly Djimica

For more information on Casa Santa Maria or our Haiti House, check out this article: 

Some final pictures of the week! Santiago this weekend to visit the host family!  Cheers to everyone! Missing you all!!! 

Happy Birthday Av!!!

Nairobi comes for a visit! 

Holy Tarantula

Hanging with the older kids! 

Madelon

What a Week!

This past week has been filled to the max with energy, motivation, and determination. My high school was here visiting and we were on high speed the whole time. 20 students and 3 chaperones came to the home and were given the mission of painting the school. Not quite the smallest task, but, their hard work paid off and I am more than impressed with how far they got. They scraped for 2 days and painted for 2 and the work they did is beyond the words of not only myself but also fellow volunteers and employees at the home. I read this quote a while back and it more than applies to what the group accomplished,"Work for a cause, not for applause. Live life to express, not to impress. Don't Strive to make your presence noticed, just make your absence felt." I can assure you the group did just that. They worked hard, played harder, and made relationships with the kids here that touched each one of the students. Not only that, each kid received a Jack Jablonski bracelet, so it's cool to see the Jabby bracelets and t-shirts become a part of our community here in the DR. The kids know about the accident so it's cool to be sending our support from here to Minnesota.

Aside from that, I am finally starting to feel adjusted. Ready for this? Picture time!

Jimica, filled with smiles & sass. Beautiful girl!

Me & Yomelvin

Me and Marcos! We went into San Pedro as a treat for good behavior. 

Sup rainy season. Thanks for starting.

Kendy and I- Beautiful smiles. 

Lastly, this video is of Hannah and Kaki, one of our special needs children. Aside from one other, Kaki can put a smile on my face when the days here get tough. His smile, contagious laughter, and urge to just be with you is something I keep dear to my heart. It's all about the simple things here, they go a long way. 

Tim would NOT approve

This past week has been a sprint without sitting on the bench for a water break because we have been on such a HIGH since Hannah arrived. Pause, before I get into all of the fun, let me give you an explanation of the title- Tim would NOT approve- well, my Dad, Tim, is a protector of his ladies, understandably, and actually, awesome to have a Dad like Tim, however, on our adventures, there are a couple of things that Tim wouldn’t approve of, which is what Hannah and I would say to one another during the event, with an emphasis on the NOT. Obviously. Now that you know, let’s start from the beginning.


Wednesday, Hannah gets here. Avriel and I as well as a pequeña, Marileen (friend of Hannah’s) went to go get her and she was so surprised to see the visitors I brought. We got back to the home and Hannah quickly got reaquainted with the kids, playing, laughing, lots of hugs and smiles. After, we went out for dinner for a fellow volunteer’s birthday, Milena, we went to a local favorite, Paco Taco, Mexican, naturally, and it was SO good. We then go dancing in a nearby Batey MonteCristi which NPH does a lot for the community, so it is safe, we are well respected, and vice versa. Where we went dancing isn’t some fancy shmancy disco with air conditioning, waitresses and waiters, rather, it’s basically the inside of a garage, loud music (and if you have teenagers that like to blast the music, that doesn’t even get remotely close to how loud this music gets) locals coming to dance, and it is just pure culture, pure Dominican. Hannah had a blast, it was approaching 1am and of course, me, the one who loves her sleep, was ready for bedtime, when Hannah only had 2 hours of sleep the night before and had traveled all day, wanted to stay and dance because she absoLUTELY loved it. Tim would NOT approve.

Marileen & Hannah

Cheese!

  

Batey Dancing

Clare- Brewer's training camp is right by NPH

Thursday, at 4pm, our travels to Santiago began. We traveled to visit the stomping grounds where my Dominican adventure began with Regis. We left at 4pm and got up to Santiago at 9pm. Get to our hotel and we were so fortunate to get the penthouse suite, rooftop to ourselves, incredible views, and pure bliss. Okay, not so much a penthouse suite, we stayed in the cheapest room, aka, old maid quarters, costed $2.50 per person for the night, hi. volunteer stipend, and instead of having the luxury of an automatic locking door, we got to padlock ourselves into the room!  Tim would NOT approve.  We then meet up with a couple of friends, Antonio and Rafael, to go out, dance, and just hang. It was so fun! 

reading stories

Best $2.50 I have spent in my life

Friday, we head to Antonio and Rafael’s Batey. (I have been to this community a number of times with Regis and the word nice, doesn’t even begin to describe the people in the community). We only stay for an hour, say hi, show everyone around, and then have to head out. Avriel, Kristen, and I are going back in a couple of weeks to do a day camp with the kids there.

Hannah in Batey Libertad

After the Batey, we start heading towards the campo, which is where my host family, again, Regis connection,  The campo is tucked away in the mountains of the Dominican Republic, so, how did we get up there? Well, let me tell you. We take a public bus to the base of the mountain. Now the bus isn’t one like in the states, rather it’s a beat up old mini van, usually the steering wheel is crooked, no carpeting, holes in the metal, you know, normal.  Anyway, a normal seat usually fits 3 people and that’s even squished, right? here, it’s 4 people to one bench. and there are 4 benches, 16 people, GROWN people, children on laps, Tim would NOT approve. We make it to the base of the mountain, so how did we get up? Motorcycles. a 40 minute ride to the campo. 

What do you think Tim?

Actually one of the MOST beautiful rides because it overlooks Santiago and the view is just unreal. Tim would NOT approve. We get to my host family, and my host mom, Miguelina, is filled with joy to see us. She has 6 kids and only 2 boys live at the house, so she was so excited to have girls and by the end of our stay, which was less than 24 hours, she started referring to us as her daughters. I have never met any one who could be more genuine. 

Host Brothers (Henry and Samuel) with the Sisters!

Campo

Host Mom's kitchen

There are 70 people in the community, it's small, quaint, and quiet. After a delicious meal on Friday night, we head over to my first host family's house to have a small prayer service, which was super cool to share and be apart of, and then celebrated the birthday of my host sister, Yolenney, who just turned 17, married, and has a 10 month old baby. Can you imagine?

Kristen with Jazmin

Before I continue with the adventures, I want to extend a HUGE thank you to all of the people who donated birthday supplies. They came in great use over the weekend and will be awesome to use over the next year, especially the sprinkles! Seriously, cannot find them here. I truly appreciate everything, as will the children. It is something that they will feel special and not just another kid at an orphanage. Rather, it is a day to celebrate them, their life, and their presence, which is a HUGE tribute to everyone who contributed to the birthday donations. Thank you! 

On Saturday Morning, we woke up around 6am to watch the sun rise in the mountains- unreal. Around 8am, we walked about a mile to get to a HUGE cave, where we went inside, sunk into the mud, climbed up and down, Tim would NOT approve. It was pitch black, the kids who came with us made homemade torches and got a huge kick out of us because we kept falling. They are pros at this. They do it as a past time, so naturally they don't fall at all. It was muddy, we got dirty, and everyone was laughing to the point of tears. Memories for a lifetime.

Unreal

Daniel- Insurance smile goes international

We returned back to the home Saturday evening, wanting to stay longer, but had to work on Sunday because is was Family day. A day full of emotions and it was important we were there to support the children. 

My high school, Benilde- St. Margaret's (BSM), is here. I am in charge of planning, making sure they are doing okay, and everything is under control. With that, I should probably go check on them. Next blog I will go into more detail about their time here. 

Thanks for reading!