So this is a photo I captured on one of my very first adventures during the world race. It was my first time ever being outside of the U.S. and my first encounter with the very real poverty that exists in 3rd world countries all around the world.
We were in the Dominican Republic in a town called Cien Fuegos which translates to 100 Fires. Our ministry for the month was to teach the kids English. So every morning we would wake up, take a bucket shower, eat breakfast and get ready before taking an hour bus ride into an area where houses were nothing more than make shift shacks with thin sheets to separate the kids “room” from the parents “room”. Despite the high level of poverty these houses were home to some of the most hospitable and generous people I have ever met. My team and I would walk in and be greeted warmly as the family gave up their chairs for us to sit and sent their kids out to the little corner bodega with the little bit of money they had to buy us some soda and ice! It was an incredibly humbling experience as family after family welcomed us in.
Not everyone was nice and peaceful around there though. There were several times we saw drug dealers in nice luxury cars driving through and one day walking down the street a man chased us down to warn us not to go further because it was dangerous.
So after a few of those not so nice experiences we began to stay on the school grounds behind the locked door and barred windows where we felt safe. However the kids had something they wanted to show us so one day they decided to take us on an adventure. My team and I knew very little English but we managed to be able to translate “buena vista” into “good view”. So we walked out of our comfort zone of the safe little school building and 6 little hands grabbed onto each of our hands and they lead us out on what turned out to be one of the coolest adventures I’ve ever been on.
The kids lead us through narrow alleys and up steep hills until we eventually reached the top of the hill. We reached the ‘buena vista. This hill overlooked the entire area of Cien Fuegos from the neighboring city dump to the nearby Lajas mountains and everything in between.
Thisexperience was a complete gem and very few people outside of this neighborhood will ever experience it. Thousands of tourists visit the Dominican Republic every year but they don’t ever really get to see the country like we did that day. The families that live off just a few hundred dollars a year and the little boy that just sees no use in wearing pants or any other clothing at all really. There was much to be gained from just stepping out of our comfort zones to go spend time with the locals. To see up close the conditions and standards of living they were accustomed to. In many ways they had very little but in ways that weren’t quite so tangible it was apparent that these people were richly blessed. In joy, contentment, friends and family, love and beauty.
