santo domingo

Tuesday night I hopped on public and headed to the White's house in Santiago. They had planned a trip to the capital with a college group for the next day and since Cristina moved there, I tagged along with them to be able to go and see her!

Wednesday morning I set off with Jim and Teresa and 8 college students from APU in California for Santo Domingo. We met Cristina and Claudio once we got to the city. It was so good to get to see her again! They came with us to drop our things off at the guest house where we were staying that night. At the guest house we met up with a Dominican couple, Antonio and Yulisa, and their two little boys. Antonio used to be the leader of a gang in the capital and now does street ministry on those same streets.

We traveled for about an hour from the guest house (though still in the capital) to a leper colony, and spent a couple of hours there passing time with the people there. I ended up being translator for some of the people in the group so that everyone could communicate with each other. Some of the people there have so much energy and passion for life; it was incredible to see.

Music is one thing that never seems to separate people from being able to communicate. I sang some songs that I knew in Spanish from church and teaching, and they sang others. Many people were missing limbs and others had stubs for fingers or bodies that were slightly distorted, but that was really the only difference between us.

You cannot get leprosy from coming in contact with it, so there was no hesitation to shake hands or give hugs. Overall it was a really great day, and I was humbled by the joy that they have despite the physical handicaps of everyday life.