Our last full day of camp started with the chapel service by Mason on the command, "Thou shalt not steal". You will see the irony of that later in the post. His message was to the point about physically stealing something -- a way of life in the DR due to the extreme poverty. It is not okay to break in and steal something, but if something is left unattended, it is considered to be fair game and free for the taking. That is why everything has to be stored under lock and key. Mason also made the points about stealing in other ways -- stealing ideas, stealing reputations, and stealing from God (time, money, talents). The message closed by talking about the One who can fulfill our every need - and eliminate the desire to steal.
Our English classes focused on prepositions and body parts, and how to use those words in sentences. The kids were fantastic today, and well deserving of praise and reward. We saw marked changes in those counseled yesterday, and they all expressed their gratefulness that we cared enough to confront. It is so hard to send them back into the village tomorrow.........
Character class was presented by Lisa and Daniel, on the quality of gratefulness. If we are grateful to God and others for all the benefits we have received, we have no need to steal! The Dominican leaders have been helping in that class every day by telling the longer story in Spanish, and have done a great job.
This afternoon we skipped art & music and went to the local water park (2 pools with 4 slides). Ordinarily we shy away from swimming events, but having taught character all week and setting standards (and having no choice in the decision the director made!), we went ahead with it. All of the campers were very compliant in dress, the girls and guys were covered, and they had a fantastic time horsing around and expending that middle school Dominican energy!!
The park is maybe a mile and a half from the mission so we walked there -- in the POURING RAIN! No lightening, so the kids figured if they were going to get wet, they may as well start walking. We were all drenched to the skin when we arrived, including those of us who didn't want to swim!! The temperature dropped dramatically so we had some chilly swimmers for about 4 hours! We had to wait overtime for the 20 (yes TWENTY!) large pizzas to arrive (no delivery -- pickup about 20 miles away), so didn't eat until 7 pm. We knew we were racing nightfall at that point because the long days of summer are only until 7:30 pm and it is black dark very quickly.
The trip back proved to be an eye opening and frightening experience, but gave us a special insight into how these villagers live. The campers were all walking back through the muddy roads of Juan Tomas, in the pitch dark at this point. The camp director and mission maintenance person were following in their cars with headlights on the group. After rounding a curve, we heard shouts and saw a mob in the road. The campers were quickly rounded up and sent to a nearby yard, while the driver went to investigate (I was in his car, but my children were outside!). He found out that someone had robbed the little local store, and they had caught one of the three thieves. Since there is virtually no law enforcement, vigilante law was happening before our eyes. Our driver said they usually kill the thieves on the spot =:-O and that fights break out. Our leader determined that the best thing to do was to walk the campers as quickly as possible around the back of the mob with the toughest guys in front and back. It was disconcerting to say the least, especially since we passed several men with knives walking to and from the incident. Our students saw first hand why "thou shalt not steal"! We were VERY grateful to get back to the safety of the mission compound!
What a dramatic end to an exciting day!
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