Things lately...

Hello everyone,

So, clearly we are way overdue for an update. I wanted to wait and update when I had some cool story or something to share, but nothing has come to me so I will just catch you up on what's new. We've now been back to work for 2 weeks. Caroline continues to go to El Callejon everyday. Last week we just worked on organizing, cleaning, and planning, and this week we started back with the same schedule of Bible studies and crafts. A new big project that we'll be doing with the women this year is they will be making souvenir items (like tablecloths, purses, blankets) and selling them to American students that come down on outreaches. Everyone is really excited about this idea. But a large part of the last few weeks have been spent trying to figure out exactly what it will look like. Meaning what items would the students want to by, what items can the women make well, what is affordable to make and sell, and so on. So if this works I think this will be a really awesome thing for the women, but prayers during these beginning stages would be greatly appreciated :).

Ryan started working 3 days a weeks in Santiago with Esperanza (the already established microfinance organization that we talked about in earlier posts). Things have gone really well so far for him. He's been able to get an inside look on how the organization works and go to several meetings with women that Esperanza is working with. He plans to work with them for a few months in order to get a better idea of what works and what doesn't, and what an SI microfinance site in Jarabacoa will look like. One thing that he has discovered is that he really needs a Dominican to work with him on this. Because of the language and cultural barriers, and some of the stereotypes there are of Americans here, many people have advised him to find a Dominican to co-lead with him. So prayers for this as well are needed.

So that's short and sweet update on us. Our Spanish has improved, but continues to be a daily struggle, so this is always a prayer request. The first outreach team of 2009 comes on Saturday, and though there won't be any students at either of our sites, we are going to be able to work with them on a few other activities, which is really exciting for us. God Bless!

Enjoy some pictures....




A group of women that Esperanza gave loans to.



Ryan and Johana dancing during siesta. Not surprisingly, Ryan gets along pretty well with the 9 year olds.

Caroline and Vanesa. One of the site's "regulars"...if you will. She comes to the site to hang out as much as she can.

Another group of women at the store they have because of a loan from Esperanza.