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Today was a day the team was especially looking forward to, a return visit to the Youth Rehabilitation Center and the Days for Girls Sewing Centre in the community of Los Alcarrizos.
We were blessed to have our friend Luis Miguel, who translated for us on our first visit to Dominican Republic in 2024, join us for today’s journey.
Gillian’s morning reflection was on “Resilience”, a topic that can come up often on our trips. Gill posed the question “How do we talk about resilience without romanticizing suffering?”
Our journey began with a bit of a false start when half-way there we realized we forgot to bring our passports, i.d. is needed to enter the facility. After a brief visit with the Director of the centre, we entered the room to meet the team and 45 boys, ages 13 to 17. They weren’t much different from our boys at home; you could tell some really didn’t want to be there. We told them who we were and that each of us was a mother of boys. We shared that we knew they had made some bad decisions but that those decisions did not have to define who they were. We talked about hopes and dreams and the things they liked to do and the importance of writing those things down as a guide for their future. We brought supplies for them to make their own dream board. With felts, stickers and decorations, soon their hopes and dreams were put down on paper. These boys didn’t say much before the activity but after they were finished, they were sharing what they wanted to be, the places they wanted to go and how many children they would like to have. When we asked if they enjoyed the activity, they cheered!
Our next stop was the Days for Girls Sewing Centre. We were greeting by Fabia and eight of the volunteer sewers. After a wonderful lunch, Fabia shared her story of her beginnings and the path that led to the creation of the sewing centre. The centre’s goal is to make 100 reusable menstruation kits per day and provide 2000 to 5000 kits to girls per month.
After the presentation, we were asked to tell the ladies a little about ourselves and talk about EVE and why we were here. Soon more women were entering the sewing room and before we knew it, there were over 25 women from the community, including the Presidents of the local Neighborhood and Mother’s Group. We discussed the different types of violence and when asked about the concerns in their community, they came back with powerful statements of concern: domestic violence, marital imbalance of power, lack of parental guidance, vaping among youth, a huge problem in their community. The addiction to screen time was another concern among the youth. There was also the lack of justice and accountability for crimes committed and the lack of response and support from the authorities when reporting. When tasked with coming up with some small action plans they could implement now, they wanted to create a support group, a safe space with counseling and support for victims to receive services.
So how do we talk about resilience without romanticizing the suffering? By being present, sharing our stories, working together as a team to find solutions and support one another.
We saw resilience today in the hopeful faces of those boys at the rehabilitation centre and the strong women of the Los Alcarizzos community.
“Rock bottom was the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” – J.K. Rowling
Patty C.
