The Huron Expositor, 1999-03-31, Page 101 t -Th R MOON EXPOSITOR, taws* 31, 191118
Poverty experience teaches much.
St. Columban
girls learn
4ife lessons
in Domincan
BY MARY C RYAN
Expositor Correspondent
Andrea Flanagan is the -
daughter of Larry and Joanne
Flanagan:Kathleen Moylan
is the daughter of Don and
Rita Moylan. This is the
• story_.of their regent trip, to
the Dominican 'Republic
through a "Poverty .
-Awareness Experience"
program. .
-On Feh. 20. the plane
departed from Pearson
International Airport in
Toronto...Jo- arrive ,a few'
hours later in'Santo Domingo
in the Dominican Republic:
Earlier in the day. along with
the other travellers. relatives
and friends::.Andrea' and
Kathleen .Utended a prayer
ser ice. at St. Michael. High
School in -.Stratford, The (top)_ Andrea Flanagan. Sister Anne Nolan and Kathleen
Moylan. (below) Smiling faces found at the Battey.
prayer ser_'tce: was a lifting
• send-off. witii prayers for,
health. safety anda good trip
for the group travelling to the
Dominican Republic.
.atter theiramval at Santo
- Domingo. they travelled to
the town of Consuelo. about
an hour's bus ride to -the
south-east. This was to he
their home for,thc coming
week. Andrea and. Kathleen
estimated Consuetri to -he
about the size ot-Strattord.
hw '.vath dirt streets and
houses veru close together.
For Kathleen Moylan, this
.twos an especially exciting
adventure. This was the very
town where her great: uncle.
Scarboro Foreign Missioner.
Father Frank Moylan spent
29" years., serving the people
of Consuelo.
Kathleen and Andrea
stayed -with the- family of
Marganta- and Juan VatQuez,
.l muddle aged couple. who.
welcomed them.: with tpenL__
arms. accepted them and-
treated them -as one of their
own. 0f. their faintly of tive
,grown` daughters and one
sin: two.ot the daughters.
\(addic Anti Deleti>a. and the
only son. Johnny. lived at
home. Home was the upper
halt of a building above a ..
shod store. Mr. VasQuez
worked in the small town of
San Pedro. -a twenty minute •
drive from-Cunsuciri. and
was home only tin weekends.
Their home was always tilled
with family members and
l-- �`fttiilt'ett�Fh�-tuva�oung—
women relate:- '`Every
gunning we•would wake up
to a new face
The •huspita_ ity of_ the
family was excellent.. The
tood,,:onststcd mainly -of nee
and kidney beans;
.umctltnt:S with chieken.
They ust; ::nluved `.t 'rile uh
billed .thece cooked ona
waffle iron. Kathleen .and
Andrea didn't know any
Spanish. while one of t'he
daughters spokc.•a' little
English. .o m'si-.1if the
communication was done be
gesturing.. The young women
-learned a little Spanish while,
they were there, . ' •
There is, no running water.
.A -cistern on the family's
back balcony collected and
saved rainwater for use as
wash water. Drinking and-
.00kirig .water came in big
huriTe �1171`hatN-to. br--
purchased. Nets were put up
. over the beds while they
slept to keep- insects away. A
hucket of .water was used for
sponge bathing and also to
!lush the toilets. Laundry was
also done in a bucket, then
hung in the open air to dry.
The family has. electricity
and possessed a fridge and
• Stove. However, the hydro
there its organized. Fot,
eramplc: if the cane mill.
starts up. all the hydro is
used there. w everyone else
is shut down. The young
women relate going to a
baseball game in Consuelo;
the rest of the town was in
darkness so therewas light,
- for the game.
In the part' of Consuelo
where they stayed, the streets
are dirt streets., The primary
means of transportation is a
motoreoncho.. which is like: a
moped. There are only a few
cars, There are no signs.
When you ,:.)me to an
intersection. you .linpl. 'teen
.the hom.
Andrea and Kathleen
descnhe the school there as
very plain hut ;:xtremely Well
kept. Even the• nursery .school
students wear uniforms. The •
.school library consisted of ;O
hooks. none of which .;:ri¢
he taken .out. Schen is letti
high esteem. la spite of .in
extreme tack Of supplies lr
materials, the'students are
eager and possess a hunter to
learn..
The Locus of the "Poerty
Awareness Experience trip
is to experience what life :s„
like for these people. to learn
about their: customs and
lifestyle. Dominican youth.
who are .high school and
university students. ore the'
co-ordinators ;or•iie vicek.
They arc about he same use
as the young teoptc n • he
grllup_w_ho have travelled o
the Dominican Rcnunitc.
These. Dominican - uutn stet
as translators and .-.how the
travellers around.The
country 'and 'itestyie s seed•
through their . yes.
` Kathleen • .tau Anurca saw
the. extremes of economic
conditions. In Santo
Domingo. on -one ,quare
kilometer of land. -he ...cry
Wealthy would. have •i . ante.
huge house'. with fine !awns
and gardens: In the nuur
barrios. on the .tame amount
,if land. :here would he
.100.000 psi plc )lying.
.Family anti .:xtendeuiamb
as many is J) people. !night
he crushed nu) a small
shack. ()tar 'young %vnrnen
relate ':+sttih t idge
building in (:onsueto. it .vas
originaily .t 'igll(nort.c .It
.i rts. '. )iw .1 rinlluinent
:lousing the 'lone, ')1
Christopher t: nutnhu•..
Thirty thou.anu :ievpie .vers
moved out :o -1(1110 tht.•
monument. The :nicht .vas u
have a museum lilted sun
artifacts from all leer the
world. It was never wile
realized. and the hulloing
seems to contains very little
other • than many rooms
empty except for a writing
desk. Our young ladies found
this rather mind boggling.
The group alsovisited- the
Battey pronounced ha-tay t..
These are the villages where
the sugar- {:l ule..yetutkurx_ and
their families live. -The.
.Batteys are isolated from the
other areas and are more like
a slum area. While • the
hurricane did Considerable
damage to the: factories .and
equipment, it was seen by the
lot:ai people as 'an. excuse 1w
the government nut to.Cut •he
cane... This is the .ofIt.
livelihood of. the people on
the Battey. Thi: workers have
not been paid in a year.
white stip or voucher has Iu
be redeemed at .the
government store for
supplies.
The group. also met Sister
Anne NoJan, formerly of the
Seaforth area. Andrea and
Kathleen describe her as
"truly amazing." They were
deeply impressed and
inspired by her. Sister Anne
Nolan has lived in Consuelo
and served the people there
for' 60 years.' She and Sister
Lenore Gibb. from Windsor.
work in cducaticin and health
.are. ._Currently. i `,ie
Iiiailding , is ander
construction io accommodate
art students from the high
school, to have ..oncerts and
perform school plays.. •
The whole atmosphere of
she place ;s 'rtendly. and
,men. hilt the
cont
,toor: ou are right. ort
he ,trees. Soineone :vnuid
ust dart .lancing vith you in.
he sirect to, he muga
,coming from ;:': crvone .
. °louse. The Music :s called-
nerengie meh-wren-Lav
and is described: as .o
Caribbean type of music with
drums. Xylophone. and
tttariri>ha • st>tinds. The
lancing -:S .r tiuta type .11
dancing.. acme mostty •vlth
she hips.
T'te !roup :s inentailr
nrcparetl -mead ,0 one :tor
hr ciot erty twarcne:.>
:expenence:
:\} Retreat for -' he travellers
-is Meld netorc :inn -atter the
trip,: time is ..pent ,:very
• venins together with the
_roup..while they tre_:n -he
Dominican Repuhiic. to talk -
about 'hear=xpertenccs inn
-tee:mgt.. `tttnuueh .14.x:irate
anti thorough .1reparatiun is
.lone mead . tt tine to ,)reparc
'or he :conolmr.. ,octal tnd-
allurui .inferences. -c:uus-
itts •viten 'he Omni. darts o
'ive .vtth the ;)euple ind .ce
ile through 'heir sVes.• •
\ndrea •ays this top wasn '
about _tt,nlg •o . the
mntnrt;in---Rcnuhisc as_
- cavil)urs"..or :0 ',ring r- (it
of hater1.11 !kinds :';;r;t.
.ionated 'lent 'rum
Curumfan :UtnlnUlllt\ vcre
taken atony; .ind :Ivcn -u Inc
S::;trt)oro F.)rcigo
vii•siunariu> .v_ nu .hen
.1i'trt i'ute the
needed. •
•Kathicen • .ii; nr
Dolniin...in
themsetvc, •sue utU.tll‘ rte
-teachers.. They have •o ouch
to teach • '.0 shout real
- happiness ..he aid.
Relationships are ki :he
uttnusi Importance, oat one
doesn't.need material • htngs
to he happy, Bothdung
•women 'were ovcrwhelMed
by the. openness .ind the
generosity ut the people.
•They have nothing, hut otter •
it all.
The group is kitten asked
upon rhea' return, "Did vtfu
help' 'Did you. build
churches', hospitals..
schools,'" Both young,
women. --answer in-nttsoh.
"No. We lust went gnu nared
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their life with them.-
. At the Battey., the well was
damaged from' the hurricane.
Once every two weeks. water
is brought in. but must be
conserved because it is only
enough for the entire villagc
for two days. (t will cost
S5.000 to repair the well.
.Andrera and Kathleen said
the group is told hetore they "
go not to offer or give
anything Co the children; "
because there isn't enough to
offer everyone the same. One
of their group had a bottle of
water 'which one of the
Dominicans asked for. The
person.invotved shared the
Difficult realization with the
group. She said. -1 had the
water, but (couldn't give it to
them: 1 am going hack home
to a place with a plentitill
supply of 'water, hut- I can't
give that to them."
Tremendous frustration and
Kurt- '.vat experienced at
having -so much.and-not
being able to share.
The. group asked the
Dominican natives it they
;•el.t hey were being
.cruliniled. wa'tchcri,
intruded upon. In their lives
.viih their amval. Dte answer •
vas 1 resounding " No..( m
hack home and ..tette
,iwarcness of:what it is really
like for us here.'` •
Tlie adjustment coming
dome :vas difficult.
\ndrea and .Kathleen are
both err aware if ±raying
water .vith the 'urn :a a tap.
.inu !ettinC 1p :mom t meat
with 1.'0 stomach. •
The 'calazatton flits :tome
'hat .n our cciuntrv.` we are
actually Isolated :n our
plenty. We don know what
t .s really like or many
ether people in our world..A
poverty .iwarcness
cxperiencc •
has •changu -hat
for. Andrea and:Kathleen. .
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