Thoughts on Development Work

During these first two weeks before school starts, all staff gathered in the library for our daily devotional before we began workshops and lesson planning. We went through the book of James, one chapter a day. We have had some really profound and thoughtful discussions.

One of the ideas that came up this week is why this school is so important and why we all work so hard to be here. I think that every country that is struggling has a different set of problems. There are so many people here that live without clean water, jobs, or money, but the country is so bountiful and lush that most people can find enough to eat and have family that will keep a roof over their heads. The second highest concentration of Dominicans outside of the capital is New York, New York USA. A lot of money is sent back from the states to family members still living in the DR. This has created a culture of unmotivated adults that are living off what their family members in the US send them. There is a point where handouts and aide create a culture that thinks they can’t do anything themselves. There are also a lot of mountain villages with no US connections that have no means of improving their lives and work very hard just to put food on the table. It is different for the DR’s neighbor Haiti where most people barely have enough food for one meal and all of the natural resources have been destroyed. In the DR, there are resources available to change communities for the better. What the DR needs is educated professionals who have seen better models elsewhere and can work to improve their own towns. Many of the problems in the DR come from poor quality workmanship (eg. the roads). What this country really needs is more people who have a passion for changing things for the better and have the education to do it. There is also a lot of corruption in this country that needs to be replaced by conscientious and compassionate leaders. In terms of what work can be done to help this country, educating the poor who are motivated to learn and teaching them to have compassion on their country is one of the most powerful tools for change at the moment. I’m excited to be teaching some of the most dedicated local students in hopes that they will bring needed skills and a compassionate heart to a country desperately in need of both.