We've witnessed a couple of things this week that will stand out in our minds for the rest of our lives, and I would like to share these memories with you, even if they are unpleasant.
Living in the developed west, we sometimes can't even imagine a society that doesn't have adequate social services and where people cannot always survive or keep their children healthy despite their best efforts.
The first sight:
Early this week we were driving home from the community to the nearby town of San Pedro de Macoris, where we stay. As we neared home, we turned a corner and the vehicle was suddenly plunged into black smoke so thick you couldn't see your hand if it was held against your face. We couldn't see, couldn't breathe, and had no idea if the car was even on the road. Luckily, we emerged from the smoke cloud after only a few seconds. Looking back, we saw a house completely engulfed in flames. It must have been burning for hours. We knew the house was abandoned, but no one seemed to be concerned with whether someone may have been inside, or with what may have started the fire. There was a building, burning to the ground in its block in the middle of a city, and no one seemed concerned. The biggest shock of all?
The fire station sits at the opposite end of the same block.
Lack of social services.
In the community, there are three social services. There is electricity that works sporadically. It goes out for hours at a time each day and is never reliable. Water is pumped into the community via two sources. The first is a government-managed water line that was installed to irrigate a government-owned farming plot in the community. It pumps water into the community once or twice a week. The second source is an aqueduct that was recently built in the center of the community. It serves only a portion of the community, and often runs too low to supply water to even these people. The aqueduct sometimes becomes dangerous because it isn't well sealed and small creatures like rats or birds get into the tank and drown. This contaminates the water. The third social service is trash pickup, which the community only recently organized.
That's it. No police, no fire station, no bank, no hospital.
The second sight:
This one broke my heart. We were coming back again today, and as we came in at the edge of town, we stopped for a funeral procession that was crossing in front of us into the cemetary on the outside of San Pedro de Macoris. As we waited for it to pass, the truck carrying the coffin and the immediate family members turned, and we had a glimpse into the back.
The coffin was two feet long. A baby.
I've never even thought about having to bury a child, but here it's a common occurance with disease and malnutrition threatening the vulnerable immune systems of little ones, and the mothers and fathers often can't afford the necessary costs.
Here the government provides citizens with national healthcare. Most of the women we work with have a government-issued card that gives them free healthcare at public hospitals. These cards are issued when the census is conducted. Many have told us, however, that while they do have free healthcare, they still worry about being able to pay the bus or motorcycle fare to the hospital, and might not be able to afford medicine if it is needed.
