Constanza, Dominican Republic: Garden of Eden

Saturday, April 14, 2012—Constanza Day

By Elder Darrel L. Hammon

Los Riveras, Hermana Hammon, Los Haws

     We rose early and went with the Haws and Cruz Rivera and his wife Candi to Constanza where we talked about a humanitarian project. The day started out rainy and continued raining the entire trip. But, ironically, it was beautiful—the pounding of the rain on the windshield; the driblets of water cascading down the road; the windiness of the road to Constanza; the many broken branches lying on the road; the swells of mountain earth seeping onto the road from the rains; the soft, gray clouds hovering on the mountain sides and hanging so gently in the valleys; the people sitting out under their porches, close together on green and white plastic chairs, a common sight in the DR; and the green colors exuding from every living thing. It seemed like we were in the Garden of Eden.

Cruz and Candi Rivera

               Cruz guided us down the road and to the Constanza meeting house, where his father, mother, branch president, and several members of the Church were waiting for us. They greeted us like old friends, which we feel we have become. We chatted about the potential project and waited for the dignitaries to come: the mayor, the hospital manager, the representative in the legislature, and others. Soon, they began to arrive.

Constanza Branch

Dignitaries. The man in the blue is the mayor.

                Presidente Garcia began the meeting and welcomed everyone there. Then, he turned the time over to me. I greeted them and thanked them for inviting us to come to visit their beautiful part of the world. I then showed a short DVD that explains the various humanitarian projects of the Church: neonatal resuscitation training, food production, immunization, wheelchairs, vision care, emergency response, and clean water. I then explained the various projects we were doing in the DR after which I asked for questions. There were not many questions but thanks for what we were doing and what we might be doing in Constanza. With that the meeting ended. Then we took pictures, thanked them for coming, and then said goodbye.

                We then drove over to the Rivera’s home where we had lunch. Brother and Sister Rivera had put together a typical Dominican lunch of rice and chicken with corn on the cob. It was delicious. Brother Rivera had made a delicious strawberry drink. He just mixed fresh strawberries from a neighbor’s garden, a bit of sugar, and a small amount of water and then blended it together. Delicious.

                After lunch, we began the tour of the city and of the hospital. First, though, we trundled over to the plot of ground owned by the Church that will, someday, become the site of the new capilla. I was surprised by the size of the lot. I turned to Brother Rivera and Presidente Garcia and said, “This is the size of lot that we build stake centers on.” Then, we predicted the future: a stake in Constanza. With a small branch that they have, they will need to work hard. I had to remember the two small branches in Talca, Chile, and now it is a stake. Things happen on the Lord’s time. Plus, they now have sister missionaries. We’ll see what happens.

Hospital

                We worked our way to the hospital. We climbed out of the van and headed to the front door. Even on a Saturday, the waiting room was packed with people waiting to see someone about something. We walked down the hall to the part of the hospital that needs our attention: the operating room and the emergency room. Someone was in the operating room; so, we didn’t go it at that moment. We met one of the long-serving nurses in the hospital. Soon, we could go in. They had not cleaned it, and we were all reluctant to go in. Rather, we mostly stuck our head in the operating room. According to Sister Rivera who is one of the six doctors there, the operating room lights are terrible, usually holding only a regular bulb that we would use in our living room lamp at home. They would like to see new lightening.

Presidente Garcia, Elder Haws, Brother Rivera, and Sister Haws

One of the newborns with nurse

               We went next to where they housed the newborn babies and their mothers. In a very small room were eight beds, all of them full of young mothers and their babies. Sister Rivera beckoned me to come although I was a bit reluctant to go in. She began to ask the ages of the young mothers—14-, 15-, 16-, and 17-years old. I was shocked at the ages. Young mothers are a problem, she said. They have attempted to discuss these things in the public schools; yet, many of the births continue to be these young, young women. In fact, these were babies having babies.

Little baby

               One of the babies born just a few minutes before we arrived was in the incubator. I approached quietly. Oh….there it was, wrapped up snuggly in a blanket, its little head swathed in a tiny cap. It was moderately small. As I looked upon that baby, I asked myself what will become of this tiny little thing? How old was its mother? I only prayed that this little darling baby would grow up and enjoy the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

                Our next stop was the emergency room. It, too, was in need of repairs. I hope Elder and Sister Haws along with Presidente Garcia and the Riveras can put together a wonderful project that will be approved. They need so many things. Initially, they wanted us to build them a new emergency room wing, which I wish we could do, especially after seeing their needs. But, unfortunately, we cannot. We’ll see what they come up with.

                With a final look at where the new emergency wing is scheduled to be built—if it ever is built—Brother and Sister Rivera on their moto led us to the open market where we bought lots of vegetables at about ½ the price we buy them in the open market in Santo Domingo. We had a great time buying cucumbers, beans, onions, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and red cabbage, directly from the farmers’ fields. After we paid for all of our vegetables, we said our goodbyes and headed back up and over the hill to the city.

                On the way home, we stopped at the Rica outlet. Rica is one of leading producers of juices and milk. Their plant and outlet store sit in the middle of orange groups. It is beautiful! Plus, they have loads and loads of all kinds of juices at a reasonable price. We stocked up on orange juice, fresh oranges and limes, mango juice, and fresh butter.

Constanza

Leaving the lushness of Constanza is always difficult, especially when we reach the outskirts of Santo Domingo and encounter the chaotic traffic. But for the morning and the early afternoon, we basked in the green and the prosperous fields of Constanza and its quaintness.

"Newborns and Dominican Hospitals"

"Newborns and Dominican Hospitals"

Elder Darrel L. Hammon

Los Snow and their family with Elder y Hermana Saint Hilaire

Now if you haven’t been to a Dominican hospital before, then entering the walls of the hospital may startle you. We went to two hospitals this week, one each Sunday: one in Boca Chica, a small hospital in a very poor part of town and one here in Santo Domingo, Centro Maternal Infantil San Lorenzo de Los Minas, located in the Los Minas part of town. Both hospitals have a maternity ward. We went with Elder and Sister Snow. Sister Snow’s  almost 89-year-old mother made all of the kits. Sister Upia, a member and a former resident of Boca Chica, went with us.

The Boca Chica hospital was very humbling to us. The rooms were austere, and the young mothers were lying on their beds with their babies. A thin sheet covered the hospital beds. While the room was humble, the young mothers seemed happy with their new little infants. They were so adorable. I stopped to think about their futures, and the futures of their mothers. It saddened me to think that they were born poor but will they be able to rise from their poverty, go to school, get good grades, go to college, earn a college degree in some field that will allow them to earn a good living, which, in turn, might help them rise from their poverty? All these are questions yet to be answered.

Hermana Saint Hilaire with a young mother

We drove to the Centro Maternal Infantil San Lorenzo de Los Minas and parked in the parking lot, which was no more than a piece of grass mixed with dirt and rocks. We pulled the various suit cases the Snows had brought with them from the trunk of the car. Sister Snow’s mother had made about 170 of these kits. The Snows had been out to the Central Maternal before with the Saint-Hilaire, another missionary couple from the DR who are serving in the temple. Sister Saint Hilaire accompanies us this a.m.

               We began to trundle to the door to enter the hospital. Many eyes were on the missionaries in white shirts and ties and the sisters wearing skirts on a hot, humid day. Waiting for us was Danilo, one of the hospital workers. He had his cart and quickly loaded the two suitcases in the car and off we went. The mothers’ rooms were stark: three beds with a plastic-top mattress with no sheets unless you brought your own. María, the young woman who was taking us around, walked into the rooms to check on who was in the rooms and determined whether the baby was a boy or girl. Then she beckoned us in. As we walked in, we usually saw three mothers, lying on their beds, an IV in their arm, and their little tiny baby lying on a blanket on the bed next to her. Some of the babies had been born the night before; the others the day before.

               

Young mothers

We met four little mothers in the hallway who were ready to go home. It was hard to believe because their babies were so small. One of the young women had an especially small baby. When I asked her how much her baby weighed, she told me a little over four pounds. A little over four pounds! I suspect it should have been in an incubator. Whether there was one of those in the hospital, I do not know. The little mother with the small baby had it tucked inside of her shirt so she and the baby could share the warmth.

One mother had lost her baby. Fortunately, the Snows had brought along a hygiene kit we could give her so she didn’t feel left out. Oh, what sadness she wore on her face; and oh, what sadness we felt, knowing her baby was gone while others lived. When the Snows had visited this hospital before, they encountered more than one mother who had lost their babies. The mortality rate is high.

One of the mothers didn’t speak Spanish or English. She was a Haitian who had given birth the night before. We tried to communicate with her the best we could. We gave her a newborn kit and then waved. She waved back, a huge grin on her face. The other mothers were so appreciative. A couple of the mothers had their own mothers with them.

Sweet Angel

Sweet Angel 2

I reached out and gently touched one of the babies, placed my big index finger inside of her tiny little hand. For a moment, I thought she squeezed it. She won my heart immediately. So soft. So cherubic. So tiny. So incredibly beautiful. So serene. So, so innocent.

Sweet Angel 3