Colleen Wood is the District 7330 chair of the sand filter project. She and her husband George will tell us about this important effort and provide an on-the-ground account of helping with distribution in the Dominican Republic. Here's some information she provided in advance:
Most of the sand filters that have been set up in the Puerto Plata area of the Domincan go to Haitian refugees who live in the slum of Aquas Negras. These people live in a sort of “no man” land there. The children do not have birth certificates or legal docs of any kind, so they cannot go to school and the adults work for pennies a day. The people we work with there (Bob Hildreth has been featured in the Rotarian magazine) have set up church supported schools for these kids and Boys and Girls clubs to keep the older ones off the street.
When we were there in February, George and I bought basketballs, baseballs and gloves for the boys clubs (after all this is the land of Roberto Clemente). We did not take things with us for two reasons: 1. luggage costs and 2. by spending money locally we supported jobs and the local economy.
There is so much need for just basics in both the Dominican and Haiti that it breaks your heart when you see these kids. While we all know these children must be fed, clothed and given clean water, we sometimes forget they are still children and need to play too. |
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