We awake in San Jose de Ocoa and bring our donation bags to Sister Teani. Most of them contain supplies for the hospital, but some contain materials for their school as well. We are also able to give her a check to help their efforts in the villages, and we learn that our money will go toward creating a scholarship fund. After a long drive, our group finally arrives at another village named Los Martinez. Los Martinez is a model community for ADESJO, and a prime example of what kind of results their projects can produce. Around fifteen years ago, the community was destroyed by a horrible hurricane. After many years of ADESJO’s presence, the village now has an elaborate irrigation system, hydroelectric power, something resembling an internet café, three greenhouses for women, and a sustainable fish pond. Members from organizations like ADESJO come from all over Latin America to see how the community has developed here, and are amazed at how sustainable the projects are. ADESJO even won an award for their model community and its success.
We walk around the fish pond, and down to one of the greenhouses. To get to the greenhouse we pass a man who is carefully removing the shells from coffee beans. When we return from our walk, he has brewed us coffee with the beans he was shelling. Again, we are astounded by the incredible hospitality of the men and women we encounter.
After Los Martinez, we head to a beach where we relax and debrief for a couple hours. Sonia gives us the most amazing mango I’ve ever had in my life, and we get a chance to laugh and play in the water. The water is so blue and the beach is deserted but for our towels strewn across the sand. After a while we return to San Jose de Ocoa for our last dinner and night in the Dominican Republic.
-Meredith
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