Sunday Church and Sunday Dinner in the Hills With Good Friends

 Our Sunday began early, with breakfast at 6:45 so that we could begin our 20-minute walk to the Immaculate Conception church in the heart of Cotui at 7:30.  A street-level stroll was just one more way to become familiar with our environs for a group with mostly first-time volunteers.  We arrived at the main doors right on time and were ushered to our seats, right in the first three rows.  Usually when we go we sit further back and more to the side, but this morning we were front and center. The mass began with announcements and our visit was mentioned in passing.  The service flowed beautifully, with beautiful choral and congregational singing and an energetic, on-point homily by the young priest.  I don’t speak Spanish but I speak fluent liturgy, and got a great deal out of the service.  After Communion, near the end of the service, we were all called to the front and received a blessing from the priest after we introduced ourselves.  Then we had a surprise for the congregation.  Sydney Johnstone, who is the Music Director for Saint Denis Catholic Church in Hanover and a superb singer, sang “Ave Maria” as an offering.  It was moving and beautifully done, and greatly appreciated by the congregation.  It was a perfect way to start our day together. We visited with a number of community members who wanted to connect with us, and then boarded our waiting bus with our ultra-reliable driver Glen, and headed out of town through the rice fields and into the foothills on the outskirts of Cotui.

 

Our first stop as we climbed into the rolling hills, surrounded by grazing land populated by cattle and their ever-present egret attendants (symbiotic relationship – free bugs!), was the little village of Hernando Alonso.  I was with DR projects groups that had worked in that community in 2017 and 2018, and this was our first time back.  In 2017 we built a library in the small Hernando Alonso School, and the following year we were back to run a local health clinic and build a basketball court and playground.  In the ensuing years, the heavy use of the playground and court had scrubbed off all of the paint, and the surface needed a lot of work.  After consulting with the school Director, Rita Severinghaus made arrangements to have the entire surface repaired with a fresh load of concrete, and as we arrived at the school the workers were just finished with the process of spreading and smoothing the concrete that we had purchased the previous week. With any luck, we will be able to return midweek and re-paint the lines.  The Director arrived and unlocked the school, and I walked into the little library for the first time in eight years.  I was thrilled to see that it was a full, vibrant, well-used learning center with full shelves, student artwork, and new little tables and chairs. It seemed to be the most exciting room in the school. It was so gratifying to start the ball rolling with our work in 2018, and see how far it had been carried forward. It was moving in many ways.

 

We then doubled back in the bus and climbed further into the hills to the little mountain village of Las Ayamas, and the home of Anna Maria and her husband Jean Marie.  Fifteen years ago DR Projects had built their sturdy little house for their growing family, and almost every year since then our groups had visited.  Anna Maria does a wonderful job every year helping distribute the many items of donated clothing for other villagers.  She also prepares a wonderful meal that feeds not only the DR Projects visitors and her extended family, but a number of neighbors as well.  Not all of the neighbors ate with us, but many of the local kids came to visit, and there were more than 40 in the group “family photo” that we took.  After a shy (on both sides) beginning, our students and the younger neighbors started connecting informally.  We tried Spanish, they tried English. There was visiting, music, and more than a little dancing.  Near the end of the afternoon, several of the younger children suggested that we take a walk, which we’ve done in years past.  We agreed and followed their lead, and were surprised when they shortly went off the road and under a loose strand of barbed wire (remember:  grazing land) and up the very steep hill across the street from Anna Maria’s house.  Several of us confessed later that we had always wanted to climb that hill. The mixed crew of adults and kids made their way carefully up to the top, which commanded an impressive view.  We lingered for a while and then carefully clambered down and returned right in time to big fond farewells. Some of us promised to be back.

 

Our final stop on the way back to Cotui was by way of the huge earthen Hatillo dam that creates the huge reservoir outside of town, the largest artificial body of water in the Caribbean region. We enjoyed the cool breeze and took yet another team picture, and then headed back to the hotel to enjoy supper and an evening of planning for a busy week ahead.