Dominican Mission 2012-Day 1

On Day 1 we drove about an hour and a half to a city called Los Casabe. We set up the dental clinic inside the church there (it was so beautiful, in a simple sort of way) and did VBS behind the church on the playground. The people there were so very friendly. The children were very outgoing, loved interaction, and especially enjoyed having their picture taken. I'm not sure that they get their picture taken a lot, and they LOVED looking at the back of my camera to see the picture preview of themselves. They would just smile and laugh, and the older children would nudge each other....I'm sure teasing each other about how they looked, just as our children would do. Of course, the language barrier (very few speak English there.....just all Spanish) made it hard to completely understand, but you would be amazed at how easy it was to communicate using hand motions, etc. The Dominican people use their hands A LOT when they communicate. Anyway, I have lots of pictures from this day because it was day 1 and I was picture happy! So, there will be several posts just from the city of Los Casabe. An interesting note.......I wasn't sure what to expect developmentally from the children. These kids have amazing small motor skills!! They go to school three hours a day (the younger ones in the morning, and the older ones in the afternoon). There was no explanation needed when you handed them crayons, or even scissors for that matter (although we did visit another city where the children were a little less developmentally able). The children have seen and know how to use these things, they just don't have them at home. Interestingly, the kids loved to color, but the teenagers and young moms loved it even more. I'm guessing that, when they were young, there may not have been opportunity to use such things. These ladies and even teenage boys sat for hours coloring. Such a simple thing that our children bore with so easily.

The second picture here was the VBS set up. In the back are the people waiting their turn in the dental clinic (set up inside the church). ***I just noticed that you can see the crack of the lady in the corner. It's a universal thing, so forgive me and focus on the purpose of the picture :). These boys in the next picture were not so sure about joining the activity. Lastly, the picture at the bottom is of the missionary Cindy introducing all of the American kids to the Dominican kids. Bay about died having to introduce himself in Spanish. "Hola Bay!"