Second, we're going to start posting at least every two weeks. We don't want to start losing are huge fanbase.
Third, to give you a better idea of the people we work with and who we minister to we're going to start posting pictures and captions that tell more about who they are.
Lowell Troyer, his wife Cheryl and their daughter Alicia. The Troyers founded the SI ministry in the Dominican Republic almost 10 years ago. He is the director and Cheryl heads the kitchen, handles SI's finances, and many other behind the scenes things. Lowell is a visionary and always has a new ideas/projects that he's working on. To date he has not beaten me in Settlers (only a matter of time). Cheryl is the oil in the SI engine. When she leaves for the states this summer for 2 months I think we're adding 3 women to take her place. Alicia is 17 and will soon be leaving for college. She's really involved in our church and speaks nearly perfect Spanish.
Nate Slabach is the Pastoral Care leader and has been here almost as long as the Troyers. He and his wife Maggie have 5 kids but only the youngest still lives with them. We spend lots of time at the Slabach house playing games, eating Maggie's delicious cooking and showing off Booper's new tricks.
Mercedita, Araseli, and Muñeca are all attendees at the social work site. Mercedita comes pretty inconsistently and often keeps to herself. Araseli is 15 and is currently separated from her 29 year old husband. She has had a lot of health problems lately and comes to the site regularly for guidance with that. Muñeca is very, very quiet. She lives with a man who treats her poorly and she eats very little to ensure food for her daughter Yeni, who also hangs out a lot at the site.
Erika is part of an unusual, and sad, family tree. Her mom passed away and she was left to her father and his new wife, Negra. Things didn't work out with them, so they moved in with another woman named Negra (in case it wasn't confusing enough), who also lives in El Callejon. The father has 2 other children with each of the women. The 2 families live close to each other and often eat and do other things together. Sadly, stories like this are not uncommon in El Callejon.
Tule lives next store to the site and is also always around. Sometimes he comes over and I have ninja fights with him...he's tough. He also likes to help us with cleaning and maintenance around the site...but not for free, he normally charges at least 1 peso.
I posted this picture because there are a lot of things that I think are really funny about it
- Lisauri's (the boy on the far right) half smile and full bowl cut
- His bling watch (but it doesn't work)
- Shorts that say "computer" across the leg
- Lili's (far left) looking very skeptical of the camera
- The little boy (I can't remember his name) always says "Goo bi" every time he sees me. In this picture he looks like someone just told him a hilarious joke.
