Math Madness

Last week, Doulos went crazy. It was Math Madness week. Students in grades 6-12 competed in contests, races, and a math bee (similar to a spelling bee, but with math problems instead- and air horns as buzzers!) to see who would be the winner. The students in the younger grades were each paired up with a team to cheer them on and each team was assigned a color. Throughout the week, you could see team spirit everywhere, from chalk writings on the sidewalk, to colorful posters on the walls, and even costumes and accessories on the kids! The activities concluded with a giant water balloon fight between the winning team and the staff.

Here are some of pictures of this week's madness!

Our MCs for the week- Mr. Plus and Mr. Minus

A wheelbarrow race to solve the math problem.

Every morning, there was an estimation station for the students to make their estimates on specific problems. This day, they were to estimate how many eggs the paper would hold before breaking and sending the eggs on some members of the school administration!

Second graders showing their purple spirit.
The teams are lined up, ready for the competition to begin.
The Math bee, held in the library.
First graders showing their green spirit.
A combination of Kindergarteners and 10th graders cheering for Orange.
Although a little hard to see due to water spots, the end of the week ended in a massive water balloon fight.

Mailing difficulties

Lately, there have been some difficulties with our mailing system. We use a company here called MFI (Missionary Flights International). This company is based in Florida and is the reason I have been able to receive mail all of this time here in the DR. They deliver mail to the airport near here every other Tuesday.

Two weeks ago, when they brought the mail, they were greeting by governmental agents saying they could not deliver their mail. Apparently there was a change in government regulation and they were no longer authorized to bring mail into the country. After keeping our mail "hostage" for 2 days, paperwork, fees, and fines were taken care of and our mail was released. However, things are still not good.

I was just informed that we will not be getting our mail this week at all. The next mailing is TENTATIVELY scheduled for May 25 (and this is a big maybe). Anything that is in the process of arriving will be held in the warehouse in Florida until it can be delivered, hopefully on May 25.

So, for now, I need to ask you not to send anything to me. Hopefully everything will work out so that the missionaries here in the DR can continue to be blessed by the services of MFI, but until then, please continue to bless me through your prayers and financial gifts, but not through letters and packages mailed to Florida.

I will be returning to Ohio in mid-June (with a trip to Oklahoma in late June or early July). I hope to be able to meet with as many people as possible, sharing all the experiences and blessings that God has given me during these last several months here in the DR!

Expedition Night

Last night was Expedition Night. This is the evening that the students have to present all that they have been doing and learning throughout the last 2 months during their expedition. Each grade had a different topic of study. While I was not able to see all of the presentations (they occurred simultaneously), I was able to catch a few.

Kindergarten presenting a skit about insects

5th graders presenting about immigration

3rd graders reincarnated from the Egyptian tombs

8th graders decorated the library to show all they learned about Freshwater Ecosystems

High Schoolers doing a skit about protecting yourself from germs

Animals in the 2nd grade Australian zoo

They worked so hard this week. Now it is time to rest!

Mission trip to Sosua with the 5th graders

Last week Friday and Saturday, I went on a mini- mission trip with the 5th grade class. They have been studying immigration, so we traveled to Sosua, about 3 hours away, to go visit and work with a community of Haitian immigrants.

The visit started out by helping to clean up a preschool for Haitian children. The rain didn't stop us from helping clean up the walls of the buildings!




We then went on a tour of a batey, a poor village made up of primarily Haitian immigrants who were promised work by the Dominican government but then did not receive enough work to make ends meet.


After the tour, the students had time to interact with the children living in the batey by playing with them. Soccer, volleyball, basketball, jumprope, and frisbee were big hits!

That night, we had a time of worship and small group devotions. During this time, one of the girls accepted Christ as her Savior!!

On Saturday, the students went to a Jewish holocaust museum to study about Jewish immigrants to the DR and then went to visit another batey. Once again, the sports were a very popular way for them to see that Haitian children are just like them.




Since we were near the coast, the trip did include lunch on the beach (with a little swim time). Overall, it was a very good trip and a positive experience for all of the students. Here a few extra photos from the trip. Enjoy!

Open the floodgates of Heaven....

Let it rain! Rainy season has begun. It has been raining a lot lately. Today, the weather couldn't decide if it was going to rain or not, so it did both. Every time I needed to go from my office to the other building, it was not raining. Right after I stepped outside, it would start to rain.

Let me give you an example of this...

When I was going to lunch today, I looked out the window. Not raining. Good. By the time I walked downstairs and to the door, it was pouring. Walked back upstairs to get the umbrella. Went back down and out the door- barely raining. By the time I got to the cafeteria (50 feet away, if that), no rain. Figures.

The kids do not seem to mind the rain. Gym classes continue outdoors. Recess continues outdoors. I pray I can keep up the same enthusiasm that the kids have when I have to walk to work and spend the day all wet!

A trip to "Walmart"

I am not sure if you are aware of this, but outside of the United States, it is difficult to find a store like Walmart or Target- where you can go to one place and find just about anything. Well, yesterday, we went to the closest thing to Walmart that I have seen outside of the USA. It is called La Sirena.

Located about an hour away by car in Santiago, it was well worth the drive there. Imagine if you will a 2-story super Walmart. The top floor is all household items, clothing, shoes, hardward, sports, etc. The bottom floor is a giant grocery store (minus the frozen food section- just not available here).

While they still don't have everything you can get at Walmart or at a grocery store in the United States, it was fun finding a few things not available in Jarabacoa.

You might be wondering, if there are 2 floors, how do you get your shopping cart up to the second floor? Easy... take the escalator ramp! The shopping cart wheels lock into the ramp and the escalator part takes you up!

Having an all-day shopping experience? Getting hungry? Stop at the food court located inside the store! There is even a play area for the kids!

How to cool down on a hot day...

Hot day. Water is out in the city. No showers. No AC. No swimming pools. What do you do?? Well, this is what we did...


My roomies and I went hiking down to one of the waterfalls in the area. We hiked for about 20 minutes or so before arriving at the falls, where we entered the river and dove into the refreshingly cool water. What a wonderful way to cool down on a hot day!

My roomies goofing off on the trail.

When you live on an island in the Caribbean...

You have to take a trip to the beach every now and then! A group from Doulos headed to the beach last weekend. It is about a 2 and a half hour drive through the winding mountain roads to get to the beach- not a good trip for someone like me who gets carsick in the mountains! Besides getting sick on the way there, the trip was wonderful!

Welcome to Ellis Island!

Last week, we had a work team in from Mosaic Church in Monroe Falls, Ohio. This work team did some work up in the mountains and at a coffee plantation, then spent some time on campus at Doulos. One of the many things they did while on campus was to help in creating a simulation for the 5th graders, who are studying immigration.

The members of the work team posed as different people and stations that would have made up Ellis Island. The students then went through the entire immigration process.

First, the students boarded the boat (entered the small storage closet) were they traveled to the new world. It was a tight fit, but they managed. With the help of their Captain and First Mate, they had to fill out their paperwork on the boat and get their passports.

Upon arriving at Ellis Island, they had to go through the first of 2 registrations. The first registration checked IDs, checked passport documentation, and gave some of the kids a new "American" name.

The next registration person was checking them for general physical defects. This registration officer had them walking, jumping, balancing, etc. Some of the kids had recieved letters on their backs, meaning there was something wrong with them (E= eye problems, A= arm problmes, etc)

After the registration areas, the kids were sent to the nurses' station, where they were given a "health check". They had their heads checked for lice, their eyes and ears checked, etc. Anyone with a letter on their back was checked for specific problems and had that taken care of.

After the nurses' station, the kids went to baggage inspection. The students were told to pack the 5 most important things to them in their backpacks to bring on the trip. Two inspection officers checks their bags for items that were illegal to bring to America (or things they just wanted to confiscate for fun).

After baggage inspection, they went to currency exchange where some kids got lots of money for their currency and some got very little. So is life when exchanging money.

They then had to go to the waiting room and fill out even more paperwork. They also had to wait, and wait, and wait.

When their family name was called, they had to go to the Legal inspector. This person was someone who looked and sounded different (different culture, different language). They had a translator to translate what the inspector said. This was the final person to decide if they were allowed to enter the United States.

Throughout this whole process, some of the students failed to have their passports signed by certain inspectors or station officers. (This was done on purpose). When they were missing a signature, they were sent to the back of the line to try to get the signature of the appropriate person. Also, not all of the students made it to America. One student didn't make it past the nurses' station. He was "diseased" and had to be sent back to his homeland. He had to spend the rest of the time during the simulation in the boat. Another student was caught trying to steal money (since she didn't feel like she got enough with the exchange) and tried to smuggle the diseased immigrant into the country. She was detained and sent back to the boat. Two other students were denied entrance by the legal inspector and were sent back as well.

At one time, one of the girls had missed getting a signature on her passport. She was walking around from station to station, holding out her passport, and looking around aimlessly as she tried to figure out where she was supposed to go. This reminded me of when I enter a country for the first time; as I walk around, trying to figure out where I am supposed to go and who I am supposed to see in order to get into the country. It can be a confusing process to enter a new country, and these kids got a little taste of that for themselves as they entered the United States through Ellis Island.