What’s the point?

By Kim Cavallero

A typical home in Batey Lecheria.

When I landed in the Dominican Republic last Saturday to visit the mission site that the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus founded in 1995, I thought I knew what to expect. It would be hot, there would not always be running water (and when there was it would be cold), and the electricity would go on and off in the convent where I’m staying. (To say I was a little apprehensive about this trip would simply be a gross understatement.) What I didn’t expect was the joy, meaning, and deep inspiration I would find in people living in the worst kind of poverty I have ever experienced.

First Glimpse
Yesterday began early, as I awoke to the clucking and crowing of the chickens and roosters who wander freely through the streets—what an alarm clock they are. They wake early and like to make sure you do too! By 7:30, I was walking with Sister Kathleen King and Sister Ann-Joyce Peters to meet Tony, who drove us to Batey Lecheria, where the mission site is located. Riding in the back of an old pick-up truck and driving just under three miles to Batey Lecheria, paved roads became dirt roads and houses made of concrete turned to houses made of rotted wood and rusted siding.

Students at the school the Sisters of the Holy Child founded in the Dominican Republic recite prayers and songs as they begin their day.

Jumping out of the back of the pick-up truck, I had my first glimpse of the medical clinic and school the Sisters of the Holy Child have begun. The area is enclosed with a fence and it stands strong among a community of worn-down shacks where the people live. Upon first glance, the community appears dismal. But then you begin to see more than 100 children who go to the school, reciting songs and prayers. Like children anywhere, they are smiling and laughing—and some are even causing trouble! When they see my camera, they quickly begin posing and asking to have their “foto” taken. They seem oblivious to the environment in which they live—of course it is all they have ever known.

In talking with Sister Mary Alice Minogue, who is the director of the school, I learn that many of the children do not go to school beyond the age of 12 or 13 and many will regress at that point. I begin to struggle to make sense of all the work the Sisters do here and the fact that they are not likely to see the kind of results for which we Americans strive.

Tapping Wisdom

Residents of the batey stand outside their house and talk with the volunteers from St. Luke

There is a group of parishioners from St. Luke’s parish in Charlotte, NC visiting this week to do a mission project (more about them later this week). They have come for several years and talking with them is reassuring. They share that the work the Sisters do is “shelter from the storm” for the people of Batey Lecheria. And they also begin to share the progress they have seen. For example, when they first started coming to Batey Lecheria, the women would not work together, but rather, they competed with one another. Now the women can sit at a table and work together as they make dolls and jewelry that are sold in the United States (the profits are returned to the women—more about that also later this week.).

Another of the missioners says that every time he comes here, he feels there is so much that needs to be done and that he always has to remind himself that everything that God wants done will be done by the time he leaves Batey Lecheria at the end of the week. One of the lay volunteers from the United States who is doing a year of service teaching in the school as a Holy Child Volunteer says that she had to become comfortable with knowing that she probably will not see the results of her work here within her lifetime. Another volunteer shares what Sister Ann-Joyce says, “Something is something.”

I soon realize that I am trying to impose my American ideals on Batey Lecheria. My American ideal of progress is not accurate. The work the Sisters are doing here is slow and often painstaking, but it’s essential. The Sisters and the lay partners who work with them are building a community among the people. That’s the first step. It will not happen overnight, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth building. In fact, that makes it even more essential. It will happen in God’s time. Faith is essential here. The Sisters are ensuring that the people of Batey Lecheria—who seem to have been forgotten by the rest of society and the world—know that they matter.

I knew I would be challenged by this journey, but I was naïve in thinking I knew how. I will admit that not having a hot shower and constant electricity is challenging, but trying to reconcile the reality of life in Batey Lecheria is even more so. Read Kim’s second and third blog posts.

Kim Cavallero is the Director of Communications for the Society of the Holy Child Jesus – American Province.