Best Thanksgiving-break EVER!!!!

Wow. What a breathtaking, eye-opening, stressful, emotional, fun filled, adventerous week. This trip was way better than I had expected it to be. Seriously. The houses the people live in are not good at all. The kids there only get like one meal a day.

It was nice to make a bunch of Dominican friends, hang out by the water, take pictures, help kids get their uniforms, see the really small Christian school, give an older lady sunglasses, try new food, kiss Cortney's foot :), speak Spanish (TONS!!), paint a billion nails, give piggy back rides, share hazelnuts, try new food, be called AMERICANA AMERICANA, give out toys and candy, put shoes on peoples feet, clothe babies, have meetings by the beach, meet a Pasta Guy :), kick soccer balls with orphans, share my sunglasses with fifty girls, play pato pato ganzo (duck duck goose), play hand games, play with Grace and give out lots of food.

I wouldn't trade this week to anyone for the world!!! I wish I could've stayed longer, but I think God wants us to come home so we can tell people who weren't with us all about the heartbreaking events and trageties we saw so that we can do something bigger and better. I'll post some of my pictures later...

Much love to the Republica Dominicana. :)

Always remember.... you don't say "Your Mom." You say.... :)

Love :) Nataline

Day Five Recap

This was our last full day in the DR and after a week of hard work, we did a little sight seeing in Santo Domingo. We started in Columbus Park at the grave (much disputed) of Crisobol Colon (aka Christopher Columbus). We then did some Christmas shopping I guess to go along with Black Friday in the US.

After shopping the Mota's invited us over for a late lunch at their home in the capital. It was a nice way to finish our trip, eating delicious Dominican cuisine and getting a tour of Manny's many trophies, plaques and photos with famous baseball greats as well as a few US Presidents. He signed some baseball for all the kids at the end of our meal and we then headed back to the hotel. So, much less eventful than all my previous posts, but a nice end to a great week. We're going to gather on the beach one more time tonight at 9pm to debrief the week and all we've learned before packing and getting ready for our departure tomorrow.

See you in the USA tomorrow night. Look forward to having all the students share their stories in person!

Day Four Recap

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

I’m on the bus just having returned from our Thanksgiving Day in El Tamarindo at the Manny Mota Foundation. The kids are in the back, looking tired after having just been through the ringer once again during another incredibly intense day of activity. Here are some of today’s highlights that you’ll see in the pictures...

We got to the MMF mid-morning and the students began with some games for the kids who were already awaiting our arrival. By noon the crowd of children had swelled to about 100 and was growing with each passing minute. I so enjoyed watching our students play baseball, volleyball, and pato, pato, ganzo (duck, duck, goose) with the little ones.

About 1pm we began serving Thanksgiving dinner to the multitudes. I would estimate that we fed between 200-300 children with some of the frozen turkeys we brought. It was neat to see the kids getting a good meal, which for most would be their only meal of the day.

After lunch we went back to the field and set up stations for painting nails and faces, which has proved to be very popular. It was then that I remembered I had brought about 150 coloring pages and crayons from FCS and thought it would be a good idea to let the kids color while they waited their turn at face paining or nails. Bad idea! I no sooner got the first page out of my folder when I was mobbed by 30-40 kids all desperately trying to grab a page. I pulled in Natalie Moran to help pass out crayons and it almost cost her her life. When a fight between a few boys broke out in front of her and they almost pushed her over, I pulled her by the arm to safety and canceled coloring time!

About 2pm the Mota’s served us a semi-traditional American style Thanksgiving dinner complete with roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, rice, and an assortment of fruit. We didn’t dine around a big table, but sat in a circle in chairs and ate off our laps. I looked at the group and told them once again what an honor it was to have this meal with them in this context. A Thanksgiving dinner they’ll never forgot to be sure!

We ended up with around 200 pairs of shoes to hand out after we finished eating. This is when the absolute chaos began once again. It is hard to adequately describe in words the whole scene. It must be experienced to be believed and understood. The looks of desperation, the shouting, the pushing and shoving. It’s hard as a parent to watch other parents begging for their children, knowing that they love their kids no less than I love mine. Or as a teacher with students in my care, to watch other students the same age shouting your name and trying to get your attention to get coloring page or a pair of shoes. Makes me ever more grateful and ever more thankful for all of God’s bountiful blessings.

We strategically positioned ourselves in the bleachers of Manny’s Field of Dreams and put out all the shoes. We then began to bring the children up a few at a time to receive their shoes. We had identified about 30-40 kids who lacked any footwear and made sure they came first. It was a beautiful thing to watch our students literally fitting each child with a new pair of shoes. The crowd swelled to probably 400 and in the midst of riotous conditions we gave them all out in about an hour. I’ll never forget parents literally handing their babies over the railing to our students who brought them up and fitted them with shoes (while crying) and then returned the kids to their parents. When we finally ran out and were about to leave I saw one girl standing barefoot with her dad on the other side of the rail. My Jesus moment of the day is watching one of our girls, Mary Pettygrove, looking at the girl and then without hesitation bending down and taking off her shoes and tossing them to her over the railing before walking to the bus in her socks! (I found out tonight that Nataline and Joel did the same!!)

There’s a lot of hurt in the world and a lot of cynicism about what we can really do to affect change. You can choose to look at the world that way. I don’t have all the answers and don’t how we can adequately meet all the needs, but I do know this. I know that somewhere in El Tamarindo is a young teenage girl who earlier today had no shoes and was standing with her dad with a look of desperation. And because an FCS student with a heart of compassion caught her glance and noticed her need, she now has shoes on her feet. Just another way of seeing the world. That is why I do what I do!

And how many American teenagers can say that they spent their Thanksgiving Day like that? These 12 have had such a unique opportunity. Part of why I’m so thankful for FCS and opportunities like this! May each of us count our many blessings today and with thanksgiving use those blessing to bless others. We have much to be thankful for!

A Few More Pic from the Week

I had a few minutes this morning before breakfast so I thought I'd put a few more pictures up from earlier this week. In these you'll see the gazebo that we've affectionately called "the cage" where we store our supplies and where the children come to receive our gifts. It's a bit chaotic to say the least.

You'll also see Dr. Stone caring for one little girl that Natalie found with a hurt leg. He had a small triage going on Tuesday afternoon.

In the last photo, you'll see Kelsi hanging out with some of the local girls. She's a natural and all the girls love her!

Day Three Recap

Today was a much quieter day, which was a nice break for our team after such an intense Tuesday. After another breakfast within a stones throw of the Caribbean, we boarded the bus and headed toward the town of La Romana on the east side of the island.

On our way we stopped by the Anaheim Angels Dominican Training Camp where 40+ young boys are given the opportunity to show their skills and possibly get signed to a minor league contract. While we were there one young guy had just come and we got to watch his tryout. They are given one week to impress the scouts and either get an invitation from the Angels to stay, or they are cut and go back home. For many of these kids, their families are counting on them making it to provide. A lot of pressure needless to say! We couldn't get Hunter a tryout...he just didn't look Dominican enough.

After the Angels Camp, we drove another 30 mins and had lunch at a Dominican store called Jumbo, which is kind of a cross between a Costco, Target, and Vons. We got a couple of big pizzas and some kids had Burger King. You'll see in one of the pictures what we did after lunch. The kids and parents decided to pool their money and we went shopping for shoes to give away tomorrow when we have our Thanksgiving feast back in El Tamarindo. We've been overwhelmed this year with requests for shoes from kids who have none, and Dr. Stone has even done some medical care for kids who have cuts and other feet issues. On the first day one boy without shoes split his toe open while playing in the street and Dr. Stone did a marvelous job cleaning his wound and making sure it wouldn't get infected. However, we realized that while that fixed his hurting toe, we needed to do more and so we bought about 92 pairs of multi-colored Crocks that we'll bring back and pass out tomorrow.

We ended our day at a small orphanage in La Romana. Our students had playtime, did crafts and painted faces. They then presented all of the children with new backpacks, school supplies, and a bunch of other toys including Angels rally monkeys. We also bought them a cake and served them before having to leave. The children from the orphanage prayed for us and then our kids recited a prayer for them that they had learned in Spanish class (Gracias Senora!) As I type, they've all gone off to the beach (with parents don't worry) for a quick swim before dinner. Tomorrow will be another intense day as we endeavor to serve Thanksgiving dinner to the village of El Tamarindo. Please pray for another fish and loaves miracle as we will be swamped with hundreds and hundreds of hungry children. Thanks for your prayers!

Day Two Recap

Today was another terrific day to be in the Dominican Republic serving the Lord with some amazing young people and their parents. The intensity of the trip was turned up exponentially today as we were inundated with hundreds and hundreds of children and parents all in desperate need of what we had to offer. We worked overtime to try and meet all the needs and the kids once again loved with tears in their eyes as they saw such great need and often felt helpless to do anything about it. The stories are numerous and heartbreaking and I'll leave it for them to tell. We just got back from our nightly debriefing session where I asked them to summarize today in one word they used words like, overwhelming, life-changing, emotional, sad, draining, awesome, and intense. Here are some highlights from today you'll see in the pictures above...

We started the day by returning to the small Christian school we visited yesterday. They brought the entire school of 60 students, meeting in a dilapidated building about the size of my classroom if not smaller, outside to meet and greet us. We presented them with backpacks and school supplies along with a large tarp that they were going to use to shelter their 3rd grade class (about the size of a large closet). We sang for them and they sang for us and it was beautiful!

We headed back to the Foundation for lunchtime where there were probably 3-4 times as many kids as yesterday... word is traveling quickly that we're here and the needs today were even more severe. The lines for food were endless and upon running out of food one time, the kids started going into their backpacks and giving protein bars and whatever snacks they had to try and feed so many. All were eventually fed and then they played massive games of soccer, showed pictures from scrapbooks of life in the U.S. and were just kids together having fun.

We also served a lunch to about 30 senior women who came and had a great spread and were presented gift bags that the students put together. It was about time to pack up and head back to the hotel but there was a massive crowd of probably 200+ kids still waiting at the gate and needing clothes, so the students asked if they could stay late and serve these kids. They painted faces and fingernails, made craft bracelets and allowed the kids to take an FCS uniform home in a bag with some candy. By the end, we were about totally wiped out of supplies and collectively we were all emotionally and physically wiped out. I cannot adequately describe how intense these few hours were with kids yelling through the fence for things with desperation in the voices and our kids simply not being able to sufficiently meet every individual need. I guess that's why we'll be back again later this week? It was a day I know none of us will ever forget!

Tomorrow we're off to visit an orphanage on the other side of the island. I'll post more pics when the Internet goes a little faster.

Parents...your children are amazing and are all in good health and good spirits. I'm sure they miss you!

One last thing. During the bus ride this morning a couple of our girls took my computer and put down some thoughts on the trip thus far. Here is what they shared below...

"Hey guys! O my goodness! Can’t believe I’m typing from the Dominican! It’s so much different than I imagined it to be. We are definitely blessed. We’re on our way to the foundation. I’m so excited to see the kids again. Wish you guys were her e. Mucho amor. Adios!!!!!!" - Natalie Rehfeld

"Wazzup from the Dominican Republic! The island is absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking. It’s like paradise. But, seeing the kids and where they live is heartbreaking. I made a bunch of Dominican friends who don’t have anything. It was really sad to see little boys and girls who don’t have any shoes. The week is going by fast and I miss you guys. Lauren, Gabby, Sam, Laura and Jessica... miss you guys!!! Wish you were here. Lauren... I was hoping you were in my luggage.... LOL you guys are amazing... TTYL. <3 - Nataline Halladjian☺

To Cynthia

This is Marie, Alina's mom. We had the special luncheon for the senior ladies today, and it was beautiful. For those of you who do not know, last year Cynthia Karim and Michelle Andrade made a connection with two of the senior ladies from the community and have done some thoughtful things for them throughout the year. Today was our chance to do something for forty women who are often forgotten. After serving them lunch, Margarita (Alina's grandmother) gave each of the ladies a red flower, followed by our FCS team presenting each of them with a gift bag. We took several group pictures and they showered many of us with hugs, kisses, and wishes that El Señor would bless us. Cynthia, you were missed...but sweetly remembered today.

The other picture was just too cute not to post. After lunch, one of the activities was giving the little girls manicures. This is Alina with one beautiful, happy three-year-old! Is that a precious little face, or what?