Helpful mom

My mom's still here and she's been helping us at school all week. It's time again to weigh and meaure the kids, which is always a task when there are 200 kids to be seen!

We also gave each on an de-worming pill but didn't tell them until after they had taken it. I know, it feels wrong, but it 's just that last year they found out before what they were meant to take and then it was too hard to make them take it...especially the teenage girls who were afraid that they'd then have to get rid of the worms somehow. Anyhow, they took their pills like mostly good kids and then we also have been trying to help Candace get the next sponsorship project together. I wish my mom was here ALL of the days, it's been great!

Educational

I saw this store whilst in Santo Domingo and it made me laugh a bit. It's a little ironic I thought that a store called "Kid' Stuf" is offering educational material. I think I'll keep looking...

Santo Domingo

I'm a little behind, but last weekend we went to Santo Domingo to take my dad to the airport. He left on Sunday, but we got in on Friday so we could play the full day on Saturday. We walked and walked and saw lots of old building and all things related to Columbus.

Trips around the island

Yesterday we took a drive to Rio San Juan, Laguna Gri-Gri, and Pozo Dudu. We took a boat ride through the lagoon and past a cave and beaches, then drove to a little pool of crystal clear water and ended the day at Playa Grande...one of the most beautiful beaches on the island. Ariel topped off the day by making us dinner. Don't worry, I go back to work on Monday. I tried talking my parents into staying forever, but they said something about work and bills and a house and my cat that they have to tend to...whatever that's all about!!!

Family dinner

On Tuesday we had a big family dinner with all of Ariel's family. We had Sancocho which she made over a little coal fire out back and had a good time talking with everyone having both families get to know one another.

More parent time

The good times continue with my parents here. My dad took me diving which was great...I held a jellyfish and didn't even get stung. It has been so nice showing them around and being with them in all my "normal" places. It's been better than I imagined!

Jarabacoa

We took a road trip to Jarabacoa yesterday and my parents met all the Kids Alive-ers up there and saw the other Kids Alive sites. It was a nice day to drive and hike the waterfall...we went on the lower waterfall since the previous rains had made the water muddy and rivers rise. We had a picnic at the waterfall of pastelitos and chips! It is so fun having my parents here, my two worlds are getting to know one another and, although weird at first, it has been special to share my Dominican world and my parents with each other!

Ocean World

We went to Ocean world yesterday!!! It was a treat from Ariel and his cousin and we had such a fun day!!

I touched a dolphin! To be honest, I was actually IN the dolphin show and got to play ball with them, get kissed by them both, then ride one...with everyone watching! It was an amazing experience, I still can't believe I got to do it!

It was such a fun day...

Mom and Dad

My parents are here!!! These couple days have already been so special, better than I even thought. The worst part is that it's going too fast. I seriously have the BEST family in the whole world!

Ike

Still doing fine after Ike passed...or continues passing. We got a good amount of wind and rain last night and off and on today, but it looks like the worst of it is over. I have to say it was nice sleeping with a blanket!

Hurricanes

Just to let you all know, before I get anymore hate mail for not updating, we have all been fine through these hurricanes. So far the South has been hit harder than us, we have just had a few lovely rainy days that have cooled us down and reminded us that we do like living here (sometimes you question it with so much heat!). Hurricane Hannah is apparently passing right now with Ike on the tail, so we'll keep hoping that it stays in the ocean and just graces us with nice rain.

Landlord love

We have the best landlord. He has fuzzy hair that is manicured well and wears his pants high on his waist with a belt and shirt tucked in. He always says ?Que tal? (How's it going) and waves and smiles like we haven't seen each other in years. Most times when we pay our rent he gives us gifts. But as he owns an auto-repair shop, the gifts make us laugh. We have gotten smelly car trees, key chains, and lately mangos. But yesterday we came home to find these coconuts delivered to our door and waiting for us. The only problem is that after two years, I still don't know how to open one up. What a sweet landlord we have.

Happy not to be a hen

Remember these ladies?? We got them about a year and a half ago...

They're now turning into this! Their egg production has never been that amazing and it now turns out that we're paying more for per egg than we would in the store because feed prices have increased so much. So what do we do? Eat them. Ew. They killed 10 of them yesterday and then went through the whole de-feathering-gutting process which is, not great. Some of the hens had eggs forming inside them (bottom left photo) when they were opened up. Whatever happened to just swinging past Safeway on the way home for your boneless-skinless chicken breast??!!

Gira

This is Gira (Jee-ra). I know I'm not supposed to have favorites so I'll just say that I really love her. She used to have crossed eyes but was able to have surgery to fix them. During Easter Week, she got braids that were almost longer than she was tall. Her little voice makes me smile. She is best friends with Estefani and they hold hands and walk around school together. Her little brother is Melfy...yes, his name is Melfy and that makes me laugh each time I say it. I miss her and can't wait to see her this week as we enter back into classes.

Sunset

"Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths." -Etty Hillesum

Good-byes

Two of our friends from the group Makarios, who have a school here in Montellano, left this week. Weston was here for a year and Camille for two, both living in Montellano as well. They saw many changes and I'm sure go back different people...hopefully only to come back and visit us again!

More options

Another option is to donate through my name on the Kids Alive website using Paypal and direct debit. It's all become so easy, I don't know how missionaries ever did this in the "olden days"!!

Thank you

I write between my regular updates because of present needs. I want to start by thanking those who have already supported me through these past two years. It’s hard to believe that two years has gone by since first arriving on this amazing island.

This purpose of this entry is to officially ask for your support. As the years have gone by, I have been amazed to see how I have always been provided for and the amount of people willing to help in allowing me to stay here. .

For those who don’t know exactly what I do (I guess I don’t sometimes either!!) I am serving as a nurse and assistant director to a before/after school care center in the Dominican Republic. We serve both Dominicans as well as Haitians in a very poor area on the north coast of the island. As school nurse, I have plans to start a toothbrush program, daily vitamins, anti-worming, sex education, vaccinations, nutritional support and evaluation, as well as regular health assessments.

To be able to do these things, I need approximately $14,850/year to continue serving with Kids Alive. As it stands, I have a bit under half of that need coming in through monthly supporters. To continue here I would need approximately 29 people to commit to supporting me at $25/month. One-time donations are hugely appreciated as well. All money is tax-deductible when donated through Kids Alive International.

I will continue to keep you updated on what is happening in my life and with Kids Alive. There are constant changes to the Park Care Center as well as things in my own life, all of which I enjoy sharing with you.

You can send support marked for Jessi Mather to:

Kids Alive International
2507 Cumberland Drive
Valparaiso, IN 46383

With all of my heart I thank you.

Jessi

Last day

The last day of medical outreach we stayed at the school and opened the office clinic up to the families of our workers. Our construction workers have very few benefits and some are making only 250 pesos (8 dollars) a day, so we thought this would be a good way to give them something special. We found a lot of high blood pressure, did wound care, and treated coughs and colds. This was my favorite day because I got those that are normally working so hard, in a new light as they were caring for their kids and brought in their families. It really is an honor to be able to do things like this.

Beach stop

We went on Thurs night to the beach where we sang and talked about the week. It's a nice time to get everyone together and think through all that has happened over their time here.

It's also been a crash-course summer for Ariel into what my Dominican-American life is like...hopping between two worlds! I think it's been fun for him interacting with the groups, explaining what it's like to be Dominican, and trying out his English!

Candace has been busy all summer with sponsorship, talking with the groups and sharing the importance of Kids Alive continuing by sponsoring kids. She then makes sure the sponsor meets their child and even fits in a home visit if time allows.

Negro Melo

The next village we spent the day in was Negro Melo, a sweet village on the top of a hill in the middle of the sugar cane fields. We saw about 60 people in the day for baby care, sore necks and backs (which the doctor was able to adjust!), and regular check-ups. Thanks to all the donations we have received throughout the year we were able to fill prescriptions for a few days on meds that we had.

Severet

We started the medical outreach in the village of Severet where two of our teachers and some of our kids live. We saw probably 100 or so people over 2 days and treated everything from cuts and scrapes to asthma and high blood pressure.

Groups

Here's some pieces of our groups. The last group did medical outreaches in a few surrounding villages which was a big help.

Smiles

Why are these guys so sweet? Every now and again the smiles and braids and bright eyes remind me how blessed I am to get to hug on these guys everyday!

Vacation Bible School

Just some photos from VBS (EVDV in Spanish) which we had at church for a week. Apart from a fight between some big kids, the week went really smoothly for them.

Godparents

So this is little Alejandro and his family (mom, dad, big brother). Ariel and I became his Godparents a few weeks ago (or is it months now??). He was presented at church and the parents asked us to testify with them and stand alongside them in praying for him and watching him grow. Of course we said it would be and honor and privilege. He's also really cute, so that makes it easy!

Catching up

So it's been awhile, sorry. We've just finished our summer teams and now have a break for a few weeks. I got a little panicky cause I thought I hadn't posted photos since June, but it looks like I have. There are so many things missing though so I'll try and do some catching up, especially with photos. Thank you Julie, for conitinuing to check my blog twice daily, even when I slack!

Summer program

We've just finished our summer program on Wednesday. The kids came in for a special presentation, lunch, and awards. They learned about Fruits of the Spirit and can sing all sorts of songs about them now. It was a fast summer program and hard to believe we've already finished it!

La rana

So last night it was a frog. He saved his life though only by keeping himself on the outside of the mosquito net...but was still hanging in front on my face through it. Close call for him.

La cucaracha

I once said the worst thing was having a mosquito trapped inside the mosquito net. I would like to officially retract that comment. The worst thing is having a cockroach trapped inside the net. There were no lights when I went to bed last night but I crawled in as normal and closed my mosquito netting. Happily asleep at 1:03 am I felt something crawling across me. Yes, it was him. Him and his big body with wings and hairy legs and antennaes. I killed him. That is, after I scramled out of my net, found a shoe, flung him off the net, and trapped him. What a night.

Happy Birthday

Perla is officially 18 now! We celebrated with pizza on the beach and then went later on and had cake with everyone after VBS at church. I attempted to make a cake that looked like a lake with frogs on lily pads, but was reminded of the temperature in this country as I watched the icing melt right down and off the cake! Oh well, at least it looked more life-like with the puddles! Happy Happy Birthday, Perla!

4th of July

Our 4th of July celebrations consisted of a trip to Cabarete. The cover band for U2 apparently dresses like them and sings all their songs...I don't know, it's what they say. Anyhow, it was fun to sit on the beach and spend time with friends and listen to what mostly sounded and looked like U2. There were even some fireworks, but no smoking tanks or growing caterpillars or spinning flowers.

Photo update

Since it's been awhile since posting, thought I'd update with some photos. The above is a day-outing to Seahorse Ranch where we got to play in the pools and relax for the day. Also, a beautiful Sosua sunset.

A church trip to take part in their week-long conference...it was directed towards youth and the theme was "Dating". It's been interesing learning about Dominican dating!!

And of course, Princesa!!! She is so great and has such personality. She parrots back everything her mom says to her and has learned to do all sorts of things. One of our teacher aids, Nati, is heading to Santo Domingo to study and this was her last day at school before heading off to the big city!

It's a miracle

I've been on my computer since the wee hours of the morning. It's actually a miracle. I think I've gotten rid of the virus, and somehow been able to find all the files. Yes, this is to include all of my music and photos!!! I've had to reinstall all of the programs to manage them, but I'm still beside myself that they were somewhere hidden on my computer. I'm back to blogging folks.

Virus

I've found it. It's name is about.brontok and it's the virus that has made my computer unhappy...and me. I'm using something to remove it now so hopefully we'll be back in business soon. Why have anit-virus software if it doesn't stop the viruses???

Things are not well on the computer front...I'm still having problems and will post again someday, I promise!

Mangos

It's mango season, my favorite fruit time of the year. We were at the store tonight and came across these mangos. Now, they are ridiculous, right? I can't actually believe the size...I have helped birth babies smaller than this thing. Do you know how much it cost? 15 pesos, less than 50 cents. What a deal.

Our kids

The good news though is that we're back in school now for our summer program. The kids are more amazing than ever and I realize now just how much I missed them. Their smiles and braids and headaches and tummy aches...I love every part of it. We are still growing by the day in regards to plans and changes at the school and look forward to what awaits us.

When??

Still sorting things out on the good old computer. I promise I'll be a good blogger again someday when I can upload photos and work the programs again. Please don't stop checking. :)

itunes

So does anyone know if itunes is deleted if it's possible to ever get back all the songs that were in the library?? I fear the answer is no.

Computer

So my computer had a virus. It seems to be better now, although everything had to get deleted and reinstalled which is proving to be...fun. Anyhow, I'm back and happy that my computer was revive-able and got cleaned out.

Computer

My computer is broken. If I haven't emailed you back, now you know why. Candace is nice and is letting me borrow hers. Computer is going to the doctor today to see if it is save-able. What was that someone once said about backing-up my things? Oh, that I should do it in case my computer broke sometime...hmmm.

Basketball

Sorry for the complete lack of posting. I've been very un-interesting lately as we are on break from school and all I've been doing is boring work. We did go to a basketball game last night where a group of gringos along with some Dominicans from church played the local Montellano team. Gringos lost but it was still a fun game to be at.

Writing

I was sorting through some old boxes the other day and came across this:

Jessi Dixon
January 16, 1989

My dream is...to be a nurse and help sick people get well and work at the hospitle. I would like everybody be friends, have no rich or poor, have no hunger, have no murders, or suiside, have all smart, no teasing, hitting, kicking, punching, or in other words, no fighting. We all agree on the same Saturdy cartoons. Have all kids go to school. Have no child abuse, no anger, no crying. There would be no drugs and acahol and smoking. THE END (exact spelling and punctuation)

So who would've thought that 9 year old would someday really be a nurse after working in the hospital, would hate the differences between the rich and poor, would be working amongst hunger and need. The Saturday cartoons aren't so pertinent, but the "all kids go to school" is what we're working on. Oh the dreams of kids.

Chivo

I ate goat for the first time yesterday. Not one of the cute ones that run and jump and play though. Yah. I ate goat.

Circus!!!

That's right! Direct from Russia, the Moscow Circus made an appearance right here in Puerto Plata! We got to see a giraffe, a bear, and tigers, along with acrobats, motorcyclists in a big circle cage...and Russian mullets! It was an amazing night and I officially LOVE the circus. We didn't even know it was the final night, but the next day they were all packed up and gone. So, so happy to have been a part of the Moscow circus!

Our babies

It's been awhile since we've had a baby update! All our little ones are doing amazingly well. Princesa turned one in February and is talking and walking and has one massive personality. Suzana, whose mother died of AIDS the day after her birth, is thriving and growing so much. She is now seemingly normal size and weight for her age and has a caregiver who loves her so much, along with her 4 siblings. Jessica, who I didn't get a photo of, is also doing well. She has bigger cheeks every day and loves everyone. I can't wait to see each of these girls in school with us someday, with their little uniforms and backpacks...it'll be great!

Mother's Day

Yesterday was a special (and crazy busy!) day at the Park Care Center. The kids all came in for their last day and to share a day with their mother's for Mother's Day. They came in at noon and had a special lunch and received gift bags of clothes and candy then went home to get their moms. The entire group watched the kids perform dramas and skits and songs they have worked so hard on for weeks. Then the moms got a special snack and were accompanied home by their children who also had a special gift for them...a craft they had made in the previous weeks. It was also a testament of how much we are growing, as kids literally poured out of our cafeteria and had to set up more tables outside! All good problems to have though, we are so thankful to see each one of these guys there!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day singing by the kids...doesn't get much better than this!

And I'm back...

It is so nice to be back. Despite today being the hottest day in a long time, it's great to be here again. I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to school on Monday after I had a little taste of seeing the kids again with a quick trip to the village on Friday. We've had a fun few days here, playing at the beach at night and then went to Seahorse Ranch today for lunch and a "Glamour Shots" time! Our first summer team has just arrived which means more construction and changes are ahead for the school!

It's hot

"Feels like" temperature for today, with humidity and all is 113. What will August be like??!!!

Phoenix

I had the chance to spend 2 nights with my college roommate in Phoenix on my way back to the DR. It was such an amazing time after not seeing each other for 1.5 years. We went to the best Mexican food ever, Ajo Al's with her mom and sister-in-law, we went shopping and did more eating out...but mostly we just talked (and talked and talked). It was a special time to see her and I'm thankful I got to be there!

Friends

Got to have dinner with my girlfriends from high school tonight, Jen, Jenny, and Bethany. It's incredible that after 10 years we can still be in touch and get together like the good old days. Even with all the changes, it's nice to have someone that knows you from such a long time ago.

Soccer

We went to Salem today to watch Emily play in her soccer game. It was COLD but really fun to see her in action. It's still hard to believe that somewhere along the way she became a girl, a young lady even. We followed the game with pizza and donuts, which made braving the cold worth it!

More Oregon

Family and Spring flowers...does it get better than that?? (oh yah, and I got short hair again!)

Basil

The other best part of being home? My cat!

The family

The best part of being home? My family!

Family time

I'm safe and sound in Oregon. It's so nice to be here and to enjoy springtime and all the flowers and blossoms that I haven't seen in years...but mostly just to be with my family. I had to show them how rice was really made last night (with a plastic bag, that is). John and Rachel and the kids came up to stay the night which is always fun. Time always seems to go by so quickly though, it's already been 2 days! So many things to do still, like eating and shopping, got to take advantage of all the States has to offer!