Compassion International Visit

Two days ago I had the privilege to visit the boy I have sponsored through Compassion for more than five years now. His name is Yunior and he live with his family just north of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. I brought him a Cubs hat as a gift for him and some towels for his family.

I got a little tour of the Compassion site and saw that they have a few hundred kids who take part in their program on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. They have them divided based on age groups, and each group was very excited to see a visitor! It is nice that since I speak Spanish I was able to communicate with them. When I got to the Compassion office early that morning, I was greeted by my translator--pretty ironic because I was a translator the two days preceding that. I kindly told her in Spanish that I would not need a translator (I guess the office didn't get the email).

I think I was different than most sponsors (patrocinador in Spanish) because I am young, have lived in the DR for 3 months, and speak Spanish. I can only imagine that 90% of the sponsors who visit their children are elderly and instead of speaking Spanish just talk really loud and slow to try and fight the language barrier. "HI MY NAME IS KEVIN, WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"

Ironically the Compassion office where I needed to meet in the morning was literally two blocks from where I was staying, and in Santo Domingo, a city of around 2.25 million, that is very convenient.

After my tour we went to Yunior's home. Yunior is on the quiet side, and it took many questions for him to start talking. He is 13 and lives with his mother, her parents, his brother and cousins. They share a small house and do not own very much. His mom works from time to time as a housekeeper but at times is without work.

My conversation with Yunior's family was a little short and was mainly the Compassion guy talking with Yunior's grandfather, but it was still really good meeting the family and seeing their living situation. Yunior told me that in his free time he likes playing sports and spending time with friends. He likes to play baseball at the local baseball field which made me pleased to hear. I know that God is allowing Compassion and myself to give him an opportunity he would not normally have, and I am thankful for it.

In my time at Compassion, I told a woman that I am a volunteer with Esperanza International, and it turns out that not only does she receive a loan from us, but her bank meets in the very room we were in! I filmed a little interview with her for the video I am making, and when I am done I will post a link on my blog.

One of our loan officers at the Puerto Plata Esperanza office was a Compassion kid when she was younger and said she is so very thankful for the opportunity she had with Compassion. Compassion gave her a scholarship up through the end of high school. She is very thankful for all Compassion gave her, and she even remember her sponsor's name! I am going to help her try and contact him too.

I am very thankful that I could meet Yunior and see his family. Another plus for this trip was that I made a connection with a few Compassion workers and told them about our ministry in Puerto Plata, and they seem eager to help.

Translating onboard the USNS Comfort

I had the great opportunity to serve as a translator on the US Navy medical ship called the Comfort. I stayed two days and translated for doctors and nurses asking patients how they were feeling, where the pain was, and giving them instructions with their medications.

At first, we weren't sure that we would be able to board the boat due to bad organization and confusion caused by both DR stuff and the Navy (government inefficiencies...why I believe a small-government is the way to go. If you are reading this Barack Obama, take note).

I was stationed in a post-operation room and got to befriend some people there because in down time I would usually talk to either the doctors or the patients. I was actually woken up one night at 2am because no translators were awake and a doctor needed to see how a patient was doing.

Some highlights from my time were:

• -Learning a lot about the Navy and life at sea. We got a tour of many parts of the ship, and a Chicagoan serving in the Navy showed me where the servicemen sleep and hang out.
• -Meeting with a Navy coordinator about Esperanza and making connections
• -Getting the question asked me by a doctor, "Where did you learn your English?" Because she thought I was a native Spanish speaker because of how well i spoke. That made my time.
  
• -Having some interesting conversations with medical students we spent a decent amount of time with
• -Telling a couple of Mexican-American Navy guys that I was Domincan, and having them believe me
• -Probably speaking the best Spanish of my life (practice helps!)
  

The little girl pictured is one of the patients I translated for. She was really funny and told me there were two mice living in her little cabinet thing and wanted me to bring food for them.

A Tribute to Buddy

Buddy will be remembered as a timid momma's boy but also a very loving cat.

If you have ever seen the movie "Benchwarmers" (which isn't a good movie, so don't rush out to rent it), the character Howie (pictured below) is memorable because he is agoraphobic and scared of everything. He lived in a closet and did his business in a 2-liter bottle.

This is basically the legacy Buddy left (he used a litter box though).

So Buddy,

Thanks for a good 10+ years, and if cats can go to heaven, please come out from wherever you are hiding and say hi. I mean I wrote a whole blog entry on you, seriously.

PS Buddy forgive me for accidentally kicking you in the face that one time. It was your fault peeking out behind the chair when you did.