March 2003

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

Dear Mission Partners:

We are eager to update you on our daily lives and to fill you in on the evolution of our community development work creating a micro-loans program in the Dominican Republic. Our days are filled with site visits, meetings, and workshops! And we feel so blessed to be part of improving the lives of individuals and the well-being of communities.

Life in the Rural Countryside

Peggy Boshart, left buys bread from a shopkeeper while on a tour of Christian community development projects in Haiti

We live in Tabara Abajo, located within 1½ hours of most of the rural Iglesias de Los Hermanos (Church of the Brethren in the Dominican Republic) congregations. Our town is 150 kilometers from the capital, Santo Domingo. People make their living growing plantains, bananas, coffee, rice, vegetables (for canning companies), and a variety of other small cottage industries ranging from butchering chickens to selling ice. Many will travel to neighboring communities if they hear they can get a day or two of work. Life here is not unlike life in dozens of other small towns in this part of the Dominican Republic. According to a survey of adults in 5 communities completed by a Peace Corps worker in Las Yayas, about a 20 minute bus ride from where we live, the average monthly income is around 2000 pesos or US$114. Over 70% of respondents identified themselves as farmers (more than half rent their land). Typical farm sizes range from 2 to 16 acres. They often secure loans (at 20% interest!) to buy their supplies but then use a portion of the money for other family needs. The farmer must then pray for perfect weather and no pests as well as good prices from the intermediary who comes to buy the crops at harvest time in order to be able to pay back the loan when it is due.

Listening and Planning

You may know that our work here began in 2001 in response to church leaders who identified the need for persons to become more self sufficient and to stop the vicious loan cycle where the people here can never get ahead! We spent a year listening to church leaders and members, forming a Community Development Committee (CDC) of 14 members. We visited projects run by other Christian community development organizations (including Heifer Project International, the Christian Reformed Church, and the Dominican arm of Church World Service) with the CDC members, and then listened again to the church members.

A Dream Come True

Jeff Boshart is buying juice from Elena Bueno, a loan recipient from the San Luis church.

With the help of the Community Development Committee, and after discussion with various institutions with a combined 60 plus years experience in working with these types of projects, we decided to offer loans of US$200. In June of 2002 the CDC selected 12 churches to receive community development projects. Then we went to each church and asked them to identify what they would like to do if they received a loan from the CDC. These churches identified individuals wanting to start small businesses and groups wanting to start such ventures as a pre-school, a hardware store, and a general store selling food and medicine.

In the past months, we have distributed $27,400 to 138 persons in 7 communities! We have marveled at the progress made by individuals and groups, a few of them pictured in this report. As examples:

Deisi Ramirez, left, bought hair gels for her beauty salon with her micro-loan.

• A pastor from the San Luis church received a loan to fix his car so he can work as a taxi driver in Santo Domingo. All pastors in Iglesia de Los Hermanos receive a small salary, but the price of living continues to go up. Taxi driving is a way for the pastor earn money for his family and still attend church 5 to 7 times a week.
• One loan recipient from Bastidas used his loan to buy seeds and fertilizer for his garden.
• One woman used her loan to buy shampoos and hair gels for her beauty salon.
• Two ladies from San Luis purchased items to sell with their loan. They sell their wares at the local market once a week and also carry them around the streets selling door to door. The majority of the loan recipients are women. It is common knowledge that money made by women is used primarily for the direct benefit of children and family.

All loans will be paid back to the Community Development Committee at 1 to 2% interest, with all funds being funneled through Iglesia de Los Hermanos. Church members have included non-church members in these projects as a way of preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ through good deeds as well as words. Communities which repay their loans will be eligible for new, even larger loans in the future (depending upon the availability funds).

'Don't Eat the Chickens!'

Finally, a story illustrates the amount of education necessary in many situations. While on a visit to a village where Heifer Project distributed livestock after Hurricane Georges in 1998, the members of the Community Development Committee were able to see the results of a successful community development project that has been in existence for 5 years. The community of Manabao is nestled high in the mountains, well beyond the reach of electric lines. The women and men of this community had received laying hens from HPI after the Hurricane. They were so successful with this project that they were given rabbits the next year and later goats and cows. Each project was as successful as the preceding one and HPI rewarded them with new opportunities.

Loan recipient Ramon Ledesma shows off eggplants grown in his truck garden.

Finally, this past year the women of the community decided to open their own general store. They put together the money to purchase a propane-powered freezer to sell cold juices, sodas, butter, meats, etc. One woman has branched out on her own with a fish raising project. They have running water to their houses, new latrines and fuel-efficient cooking stoves. Every home looks to have received a fresh coat of paint recently, and even the toilets in their latrines have been painted!!! After Hurricane Georges, a neighboring community also received laying hens. This community decided to eat its chickens!! Needless to say, HPI did not continue to work with this community. But we are grateful to this community, because everywhere we have gone to talk to church members we tell this story of two communities. Everyone marvels at the account of the village of Manabao.

We often conclude our meetings by saying, "Don't eat the chickens," and sharing the parallels between this story and that of the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-30. Here in the Dominican Republic, we are about Kingdom work and are looking forward to joining together with sisters and brothers across the denomination for the glory of God as we reach out to our neighbors in their time of need.

A Personal Note
Sometimes we feel down and wonder if we are moving in the right direction with this project. Is the Holy Spirit leading or are we imposing our will on the process? Sometimes we get encouragement from unexpected corners (a visit from our pastor, food delivered to our door by a neighbor, a letter or e-mail from one of you, which helps a lot. Our newest diversion has been going to a local beach (30 minutes away) when we can borrow the mission car. We go early in the morning to go bird watching in a mangrove lagoon. Scootie, our dog loves it and we almost feel like we are some place else and not in the DR. We've done a little snorkeling, too, although there aren't too many fish. Our garden is growing well (lots of flowers, peppers, beans and a melon or two). We've built a chicken coop for our Barred Rock and Rhode Island Reds!

Dios Les Bendiga y Dios Les Guarde! (God Bless You and Keep You),

Peggy and Jeff

Editor's Note:
Peggy and Jeff Boshart and their community development ministry are a part of the denominational ministry in the Dominican Republic under the supervision of the Global Mission Partnerships office of the General Board. But this economic development effort is being funded as a project through the Global Food Crisis Fund. We invite support for the Bosharts and their ministry through the Global Food Crisis Fund. Checks can be made out to the Church of the Brethren General Board, with "GFCF-Bosharts" on the designation line.