4/6/09
After the people of the Barrio Maria Montez realized we were there only to help them and wanted to spend some time getting to know them, they let us right into their community. We walked down the dusty white dirt road into the heart of the village. The children ran ahead with excitement as we were led by the community health workers. Being the photographer with the giant camera, I get some interesting reactions out of the kids. Some are shy at first while others can’t seem to get enough attention. By the end of my impromptu English-Spanish lesson making animal noises and dancing around like a fool, a group filled with energy and smiles had formed around me. I love how children are children no matter where you are. It didn’t matter that not one of them understood most of what I was saying (in either language!), they were just happy that someone cared and paid attention to them.

4/7/09
We drove to the border today, parked the car, and walked over the littered riverbed and into Haiti. The paved road quickly ended as it gave way to rubble and mud. A stream flowed down the main street in town where everyone was sitting outside. The poverty on the Dominican side of the island is staggering, but even just a stone’s throw away, it was somehow worse. Children quickly were tagging along to see what we were doing there. My first impression of the country is that is one tough place. I could see the pain and struggle these people experience in the looks I would get from them. Tomorrow we head back for a distribution that we are expecting to be overwhelming based on the amount of need we saw today. I am anxious to see the reaction we get.