Ina's Village | lauren

Hello friends,

Writing a blog post was not something I was excited about because I did not think that I would be able to fully explain just how magical this place is and how beautiful each day has been. This was how I was feeling until this past Saturday when we went to Ina’s village. Don’t get me wrong, every single day of the last two weeks had been incredible, it’s just that my experience on Saturday was one that caused me to think and fall in love with this country a little bit more, and because of this I think I can do a decent job of writing about it. Some of this is taken from my journal and other parts are just thoughts from the day. 

This past Saturday was the third one we have spent in the Dominican, and each one has been very different so far. We were supposed to have gone to Ina’s village on our second Saturday but plans changed so we explored in the city instead. I was really excited to go last week and because it was cancelled I think that made me even more excited to go this week. I really had no idea what to expect going in. All I really knew was that we would be playing games with kids and teaching them how to do crafts. This sounded exciting but didn’t honestly seem like it would be that different than teaching which I have already experienced a few times in the last two weeks. What I experienced on Saturday though, was much different and, in my opinion, better than teaching has been so far. 

We got on the bus to leave at around 1:30 after we had finished eating lunch and it took about half an hour to get there. When we drove up to where we would be getting off the bus, we saw lots of kids playing which made me even more excited than I already was. When we got off the bus, a lady who I later realized was Ina, came up to us and asked us to walk up and down the road and ask other children to come play with us. As we started walking, the children who we saw as we drove up, came with us down the road and held our hands and were just generally adorable. After about ten minutes of walking and yelling in Spanish, we had about thirty kids with us so we decided to walk back. When we got back we started right away by playing basketball and ‘Stella-ella-olla’ with the kids. At first all the boys were playing basketball and all the girls were playing ‘Stella-ella-olla’, but slowly, with some encouragement from Ina and Rachael, some of the boys joined us playing ‘Stella-ella-olla’ and some of the girls joined the basketball game. I could tell right away how loved and respected Ina is by the kids and how much she loves what she does. There were two times throughout the afternoon when I could see this very clearly.

The first was when she encouraged to kids to mix up boys and girls. There was something about how she said this and how quickly and respectfully the kids listened that was really really cool. This was a really small thing but I could really tell that she loves the kids and their families a lot and that she puts a lot of thought and love into how she runs her programs. 

I will talk about the second time later because I don’t want to ruin the magicalness of the rest of the story. So, eventually the kids started getting bored of ‘Stella-ella-olla’ so we started giving them piggybacks and having races. This lasted for awhile and then Rachael and Ina taught us and the kids a game to play. Each one of us was partnered with on of the kids and we would run in circles while Sarah would yell chair, horse, floor, monkey or piggyback and we would do these actions with our partners and try not to be last. My partner was a super adorable and shy little girl who I think was about 6 or 7. As soon as we started playing the game she took a rubber band that she had on her wrist and put it my arm. This might not seem like a big deal, but she had the biggest smile on her face when she gave it to me and it made my heart so so happy. She was very quiet throughout the whole afternoon and rarely talked but every time we made it through a round in the game by completing the action, she would give me the biggest smile and we would do our fabulous handshake that she taught me at the beginning of the game. Eventually we were eliminated from the game, so we sat off the side and took some super great pictures together and every time I showed her one of the pictures we had taken she looked so happy which made not being able to communicate with her very well suddenly not so bad. After this game ended it was time for the craft group to teach the kids their craft that they had prepared. Me and my partner stayed together for this and we worked on the craft together. Another thing about this magical afternoon that made me so so happy was, when we first started the craft and the kids were told to write their names on the paper plates, she wrote both of our names on ours. This really was just a simple little thing and she probably didn’t even think about it before she did it, but there was something about how innocently she did this and how big her smile was when she did it, made me the happiest person in the world in that magical moment. 

This brings me to the point in the story where I will mention the second reason why I think Ina and her work is so so cool. While we were working on this craft it started raining pretty hard so Ina and Rachael decided that we should leave because the roads would be a mess for our bus to get through if we waited too long. So anyways, when Ina told the kids this, they obviously were not very happy about it, but they immediately listened to what she told them to do and started cleaning up what they were working on.  This really wasn’t a big deal for either Ina or the kids but it really showed me again how good she is at what she does. So sadly, after saying goodbye and taking some last pictures with our beautiful new friends, we slowly got on the bus to go back to the base. 

The whole ride home all I could think about was how much I loved that afternoon and how excited I am to go back. It wasn’t until the next day though, when talking with Rachael that I realized how much of a good thing Ina’s village is and how much Ina has given up so that she could give her love and life to that village. I will now tell you a bit about Ina and her village based on what I learned from talking with Rachael, so that you might possible be able to share in some of the magic. 

Ina is originally from Missouri but then worked in Boston (United States) and she used to have a very high up job in the public education system. Around ten years ago, she sold everything and moved to Cercadillo (which we call Ina’s village). She decided to move here because she had visited the area on a short term missions trip and fell in love with the village. The village is mostly made up of Haitian families or descendants of Haitian families who most likely used to be cane cutters. Even though the majority of these families live with very little money, Ina never gives anything out for free as a way to make sure that these families can begin to feel like they are supporting themselves. 

Our afternoon spent in Ina’s village is my favourite thing that has happened on our trip so far, which is saying quite a lot considering how many wonderful things have happened each and every day. I didn’t realize it until the afternoon was over, but that place and those people are a fantastic example of why I signed up for this trip. I have so much respect for Ina and all that she does to bring the love of Jesus to the people of the Dominican Republic. She has done this is a huge way and has been able to reach a whole village and if I am able to at all come close to bringing this same selfless love to even one person throughout the next six weeks then I will have done what I have come to do. My goal is not to come in as a rich Canadian and save people, my goal is to bring Jesus to people by showing happiness in everything I am asked to do. I think I knew that this was my goal before I came here, but it has suddenly become much more clear after my experience on Saturday.

Thanks for reading :)

Fish craft led by the craft group

One girl, Alina, (who has hung out with iBlock groups since the first one in 2010) asked repeatedly for, "Head and Shoulders" (she said it in English). She is the one in the pink shirt. Juliana was the top choice to lead it!

"Floor!"

Ina. Classic Ina. Caught in the middle as the game begins.

The beginning of the piggyback race. Might Laura be cheating?

Piggyback race!