February 2004

Dominican Mission Report Jeff and Peggy Boshart, Community Development Staff Tabara Abaja, Dominican Republic c/o BM #7059 6911 Northwest 87th Avenue Miami, FL 33178

Dear Mission Partners:

Jeff and Peggy Boshart

Realizing that it has been many months since we have given any sort of update of our lives, and due to a number of requests to give such an update, we are finally sitting down to do just that. Greetings to each of you from sunny, mild, Tabara Abajo. Our little town sits nestled at the foot of a small, cactus and thorny shrub- covered hill, which itself butts up against some mountains. At first glance, little seems to have changed here in our two years of living in these parts, but that first glance needs to be followed by a second or even a third to allow for a greater perspective. The top and backside of the aforementioned little hill was cleared and burned shortly after our arrival in 2002 most likely to make charcoal. From our point of view it was an eye sore, until this past fall when two very rainy months allowed for the growth of a lush golden green grass cover. The green has now faded to brown but the cover remains. Other, not so obvious changes, have occurred in the human landscape. The economy has seen 100% inflation in the past year, and wages and farm prices have not risen to keep pace. Several young people in our community have left to work in Spain to send money back. Three small stores have started and closed in our short time here. In a recent span of two to three weeks, three people died, and in the past year on our street at least three babies have been born.

Our church continues to be full of life as the youthful pastor and his wife shepherd their even more youthful flock. An unscientific poll seems to show that both church attendance and alcohol consumption remain strong despite a deepening economic crisis. Some folks look for hope in something greater than themselves, and others run from hope by trying to escape the tough realities of everyday life.

Learning continues to be the theme of our lives. We are learning to be more generous with our time and money. We are learning more Spanish each day. We are learning more of the talents and wisdom of the members of our Community Development Committee (CDC). In fact we can hardly call this "our" committee. Recent meetings show that this group is prepared to tackle some tough issues with little help from us, thank you. We are learning that in economic downturns certain businesses and crops are more successful than others. Shoe repairmen do quite well even as shoe sales drop. Eggplant is a good crop to plant as more and more Dominicans replace meat in their diet with the much cheaper vegetable.

In our work, we have seen many businesses fail but people have found ways to pay back their loans and receive a second loan (and with it a second chance). One community is on its third loan. The payback rate is extremely high and many members of the CDC have been pleasantly surprised. Two of our original eight communities continue to struggle. We could name several reasons for this but it is not from lack of visiting on the part of CDC members or the two of us. We go, visit, pray, visit, offer advice and pray some more. At present, through our micro-loan program, we have loaned and reloaned over $50,000 to nearly 300 families to start or increase small businesses.

In the community of Sabana Torsa, a Haitian-Dominican community, we initiated a chicken raising project. For many people in this community a loans project would not be feasible. The prime source of income there comes from cutting sugar cane, which only lasts a few months of the year. Many people in the community leave to find work elsewhere the rest of the year. Those that are left behind are older men and women and young mothers and children. To help provide some extra income for these folks in the off-season, we hope to be able to sell eggs and possibly even chicks in the future.

The Dominican government has an extensive vocational technical program in the larger cities. Although the classes are free, enrollment is limited and transportation costs for people living in rural areas are prohibitive. We have been covering the transportation costs for some members from the San Jose congregation so that they can participate together with a group of women from the San Luis congregation. At the completion of a 7 week course, graduates are offered jobs in a local sewing factory. Before the class began, the instructor was excited to learn that she would be having a group of church women in her class. Students in her previous classes were unmotivated and disorderly. The class continues well and the instructor is so pleased with the work ethic and Christian character of the church members that she will be providing separate classes for them to learn to make tablecloths. They will be able to work out of their homes and receive 50% of the sale price of each tablecloth that is sold. Quite an opportunity and quite a testimony to the character of the members in our churches.

Several founding members of the Mendoza congregation in the capital of Santo Domingo came to the Dominican Republic 8 years ago when the owner of the clothing factory where they worked in Haiti moved the entire operation to this country. A member of the congregation has been able to purchase 3 commercial sewing machines. His dream is to one day open his own tailoring shop with a group of associates, in order to sell good quality clothes and to provide jobs in the local community. We partnered with him to support the first group of 4 trainees. We are now ready to start a second group of 4 to 6 trainees.

Jeff and Peggy Boshart travel throughout the Dominican Republic in overseeing a micro-loan program that has distributed $50,000 to 300 families in 17 communities.

Vision for What's Next:
At present we are working together with the Community Development Committee to develop its own vision and mission statements. We also need to begin formalizing our by-laws for this committee, as we start planning for the post-Peggy & Jeff era (our time in the DR will come to an end within the next 12 months or so). This past year our own families gave us a few health scares, but thanks to the Great Physician, and a few earthly ones as well, everyone is on the mend. We had hoped to be able to share news of a baby on the way, but no news yet. We have decided to stay on here in the Dominican Republic serving the Church of the Brethren as Community Development Coordinators until the end of this year. An invitation to speak at the International Welcome Dinner Church of the Brethren's Annual Conference in West Virginia will allow us to come home in July.

You have poured out your support for us and we are grateful. Your continued prayers are coveted. Please join us in prayer for the economic crisis which continues to make life so difficult here for many of our friends. Also, prayer is needed for the political crisis in neighboring Haiti. We think daily of our many wonderful friends there and pray for their safety in the increasingly violent situation.

Prayer List:

• The economic crisis in the DR – inflation is crushing small businesses left and right and unemployment is climbing rapidly (officially over 20%, but within our churches the numbers are much higher).
  
  
• The members of the Community Development Committee, all of whom work as volunteers, that they not grow weary in the service of Jesus Christ and his church.
  
  
• Safety as we spend many hours each week traveling by way of public transportation.

Personal Notes:

We spent another Christmas season here. It is always a bit strange to see "icicle" lights hanging from coconut palms or lighting up the front of a concrete block house in a poor neighborhood in the capital, Santo Domingo, while Merengue or Bachata style Dominican music blares out of huge speakers at the corner store. We enjoyed hosting a group of birdwatchers from Camp Swatara in January, as well as watching the migrating birds from North America which pass through the Caribbean Islands this time of year. Our dog, Scooter, continues to be a great joy and maybe, just maybe, she will be joined by a new member of the household in 2004.

Finally, we've been harvesting peppers, papayas, bananas and collard greens from our yard and we just ate our first ripe tomato this year. As we continue to tend the physical garden in our yard we likewise continue to tend friendships and relationships near and far. Deciding to spend year number five on this island was not easy to do as we long to be with and share more intimately in the lives of so many of you.

Recently, we attended a worship service in the town of Magueyal. The pastor there planned a special service for the participants in the loans program in his community. At the end of the service he prayed for all those present by name. Several of the loans recipients are not Christians but they came nonetheless. As a word of encouragement, we leave you with the words shared by the pastor in his sermon. "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands (Deuteronomy 7:9)."

Blessings,

Jeff and Peggy