A Lost Childhood

August 13, 2009



The morning started with an early bumpy car ride over a long dirt road. We then parked the car and walked across a river into a village called Ascension. Ascension is a village that has been built by the El Samaritano organization and is similar to Nazaret. However, Ascension is unique as there is a mixture of both Haitians and Dominicans living together in the village. We were working with Jim and Sue (http://www.dominicanministry.com/) who are a couple from Britain that runs a baby and food ministry in Ascension. Todays task was feeding a couple hundred people beans, rice and pork... nothing big! There are a few ladies in the village that began cooking the food before we arrived. The children began with a bible lesson in another room as we began feeding some of the elders. Then we began feeding the children... smallest to oldest. Three of us were put on crowd control and would allow 10 kids at a time to leave the room where the bible lesson was taking place and bring them to where they could eat the food. 2 of us were put on food and water duty while the other was put on dishes duty. They do not have enough dishes to feed everyone so we have to rewash and reuse the dishes over and over. Each of us were kept busy running around serving, washing, carrying, etc. From what I heard the girls that were on crowd control saw some pretty intense things as they saw firsthand the desperation for food that some of the people had. After the food had run out we had to turn away the others. One can't even begin to imagine the difficulty of turning a hungry person away. We then spent the remainder of our time there cleaning everything up and hearing some of Jim and Sue's experiences as missionaries. Last night during debriefing we talked about faith and it was amazing to hear someone speak of how their life is based on faith and how God continues to provide. We returned mid-afternoon to the apartment where we ate a late lunch. I then brought the girls to a nearby town called Cabarete, which has a beautiful beach that is one of the best places to kitesurf in the world. Seeing all the kites over the water is certainly a site to see!



Today I was reminded that no matter how many times I return to the DR... and see the things that I see, I still have so much to learn and so many stories to hear. With each story comes a new realization and a new wave of emotions. Today I had the honor of meeting a beautiful young girl who was 13 years old. She had a little sister that was about 18 months old. We were told that their mother died just two days after the baby was born and this young girl, at the age of 11, was left to take care of her sister. Also, today as I passed bowls of food to some of the children, I couldn't help but notice that some of them, with their little bodies, were holding and caring for an even smaller body. Somehow these children were left to care and feed their younger siblings. As I watched a young boy, probably about 8 years old, trying to eat his food while holding a baby. Then in the midst of him eating he began feeding the baby. My eyes began to fill with tears as the lost of a childhood, the lost of innocence and the gain of a great responsibility was revealed before me. In the Dominican Republic and most other countries around the world, complete generations of people are being wiped out by hunger, AIDS and other illnesses. Left behind are hundreds of children left in the care of aging grandparents or even other children. A child can no longer be a child. Instead, at the rightful age of 8,9, 10 or 11, a child has to take on the role of the caregiver or breadwinner in the family. The child has been robbed of thier childhood. My hope is that someday my generation will somehow be able to return their lost childhood to them. However, until then, I hope that in the small quiet moments of teaching a child a new game or colouring with a child they can escape their responsibilities and be themselves.... just simply a child... even for just a day.

Rana (Hi mom and dad... see you in a few days!!)