A whole revolution

(from January...)

That’s right my friends, it has been a whole year. I was reminded of the continuous course of time with my first overlap; the arrival of Randy and the St. Mary’s college team. It was a year ago that I flew down with them and got my first taste of Dominican life. With my year-ago self in mind (the naïve, shy, new, dependant American), I am moved by the grace given to me by my students, roommates (poor Sonia who had to teach me everything), families, friends, parents, and teachers. Considering where I came from 12 months ago, the learning curve has been dramatic. SO, many thanks to you all for your prayers during this year, I feel so undeserving of your remembrance, but so grateful. The Lord has blessed me so much in my time here and I pray that he will bless you beyond imagination.

Peace and Love to you all,

Erica

Rolando's World

I have nothing funny to write about this month. It seems that as I have turned the page into year two, I have become an expert in third world living. Break-ins? Fire brigade saluting and marching? Bugs in the fridge? Is this the real third world!?! My stories need some new sub-Saharan characters: crocodiles, lions, wild hippopotamuses!

But no, Africa isn’t in the plan anytime soon. I could share a number of amusing mishaps, most of which involve me, my motorcycle and looking rather ridiculous, but amusing just doesn’t cut it. So in light of having nothing earth-shattering to say, I will tell you about my funny friend Rolando (in Hawaiian red). I went to visit his house with a couple other teachers and Micah Trautwein (she’s a MK). He and his brother sure were camera shy. That’s a joke. I think every picture I have of him some how involves kungfu. His story is hard, and yet, there are even worse stories out there. His story is a reminder to pray without ceasing!

Rolando (above) is five. He is Haitian. He doesn’t have a birth certificate so he cannot go to public school. Instead, he comes to the morning ABC class. The ABC program was developed to teach Haitian kids to speak/read/write Spanish in hopes that they will be able to move into kindergarten the following year. At Rolando’s home, every day his parents wake up at 4:45am to cook some rice, if there is any, for Rolando and his two older brothers. They start walking towards the fields where they work around 6am. Once they leave, the boys are left home alone. Rolando’s 11 year old brother, Chofry, is in charge of the food for the day. The rice has to last for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Before 7am, Rolando and Chofry start walking the 3 miles through town to Anija. In winter it is still dark when they head out. Because school is so far, Chofry waits for Rolando to finish school so that they can walk home together. While his brothers are at school, the middle brother (7 years old) has spent the day alone in an empty house next to a busy street. Mom comes home around 6 or 7 and dad sometimes much later.

Nothing can really prepare you for the hard realities of some of the kids in our programs. A few weeks after school was back in January, I learned that Rolando hadn’t been attending class. It appears his family is gone; returned to Haiti after an attempt at finding a better life working the fields.

Rolando’s sad story is one of 13 others. Over the year I have seen our Haitian program grow from 5 to 13 with one kid in kindergarten and one in first grade! Kids Alive has reached out and helped so many kids just like Rolando. Although hard, stories like Rolando’s remind me that I need to be spending more time in prayer for all of our kids, whether they are doing good or bad.

So please pray with me for Rolando and his family and for provision for the millions of children like Rolando around the world.

In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

Ephesians 6:18 (message)