So I arrived back in the US early Thursday morning (5th November) and after a debrief that day I flew home on the Friday, arriving in the UK early on Saturday morning, since then I have been getting over my jet lag, making a poor attempt at unpacking and sorting things, visiting church and seeing friends.
Unfortunately this has meant I have been slow to update my blog and I apologise for this as I really want to share about my time in the Dominican Republic.
The field service component of Gateway aims to build on what we have learnt in the classroom phase. As discussed in previous posts, change of value is lasting change that brings about a change of world view and enables people to grow and develop after we have left. For this reason we partner with individuals and groups who have ongoing long-term work: our partners were Sandra in Aguas Negras and Kids Alive in Villa Ascension who I mentioned in the previous post. Alongside this work we spend time with the people in the communities, investing in relationships and demonstrating love.
The time in the DR was a time for us to put what we had learnt into action, for us to live and serve the people in a way that really seeks to empower them and bring about changes in world view that do not remove their culture, but that enable them to progress out of poverty. This is not always simple as I came to discover. Some things are different to what I am used to but they are not bad, however, some things are not conducive to lasting change and breed reliance on outside help and a culture of paternalism. It is challenging to understand which falls into which category at times.
I have a passion for teenagers and young adults as this is when I really came to know God personally. I have experienced the incredible growth that comes from having God centred advice and encouragement, and have hugely benefitted from the time and energy that people invested in me. Why am I saying this? Well for me personally it wasn't the naked children that bothered me, or the torn clothes, it was the teenagers who had no apparent direction to their lives. There were many people trying to work with the children, and Kids Alive is doing an incredible job of really bringing about lasting change by taking younger children and investing in them, and is showing remarkable success. However, it was those who hadn't had the opportunity to benefit from such a good program, who had got older and now seemed a bit lost that I found hardest.
Some of the teenagers are going to school, they do want to make something of their lives and this is brilliant, but many sit out in the village and just hang out, day in, day out. Some just end up having babies because essentially they are bored. It saddens me that they find this lifestyle unfulfilling, yet do not have any vision to better themselves. But realistically how can I blame them for this? They are living in a depressed town, fairly far away from anywhere, with no real infrastructure or economy. There is hope and progress in this town, but it is slow and it is difficult because of the poor initial development of the town. If I was living there I would I have a passion to work or to serve the community, maybe not.
Then the question is: how can you inspire these teenagers to strive for something more, to live different lives to those around them? I don't know the answer to this question, I hope that somehow we as a group were able to convey some truth to them and to show them that they do not have to carry on life in the same way that they have before.
I have a passion for teenagers and young adults as this is when I really came to know God personally. I have experienced the incredible growth that comes from having God centred advice and encouragement, and have hugely benefitted from the time and energy that people invested in me. Why am I saying this? Well for me personally it wasn't the naked children that bothered me, or the torn clothes, it was the teenagers who had no apparent direction to their lives. There were many people trying to work with the children, and Kids Alive is doing an incredible job of really bringing about lasting change by taking younger children and investing in them, and is showing remarkable success. However, it was those who hadn't had the opportunity to benefit from such a good program, who had got older and now seemed a bit lost that I found hardest.
Some of the teenagers are going to school, they do want to make something of their lives and this is brilliant, but many sit out in the village and just hang out, day in, day out. Some just end up having babies because essentially they are bored. It saddens me that they find this lifestyle unfulfilling, yet do not have any vision to better themselves. But realistically how can I blame them for this? They are living in a depressed town, fairly far away from anywhere, with no real infrastructure or economy. There is hope and progress in this town, but it is slow and it is difficult because of the poor initial development of the town. If I was living there I would I have a passion to work or to serve the community, maybe not.
Then the question is: how can you inspire these teenagers to strive for something more, to live different lives to those around them? I don't know the answer to this question, I hope that somehow we as a group were able to convey some truth to them and to show them that they do not have to carry on life in the same way that they have before.
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