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June, 2013: Mako and John in the Dominican Republic
In June, Mako and John went to the Dominican Republic as part of InterVarsity New England's Global Issues Internship. The goal was to learn about issues of injustice and reconciliation between Dominicans and Haitians in the D.R. This was our first time on the island of Hispaniola. It was also John's first missions trip! Pictured: Statue of Jose Montesinos, the preacher who denounced the treatment of the native Tainos.
We went to a small town called Cristo Redentor (Christ Redeemer) in Elias Pina, on the border of Haiti and the D.R. We were met by the community under a tent. They sang some songs and welcomed us. We were the first group who came to visit them.
We stayed in the office of Food for the Hungry, a Christian development organization that has had a long term presence here.
Here we are getting ready to walk over to church on Sunday morning.
Marina shared a brief message.
Back at the office of Food for the Hungry, we were the hungry people they served lunch to!
Joanne got a lot of bug bites, sadly. I think she counted more than 80. Glendon also got a bunch. We were never sure what bugs bit them.
As part of our work with Food for the Hungry, we helped the community build outdoor latrines.
We caught a sudden downpour.
Charles (Carlos) and Marcos
We also put on a Vacation Bible School program for the kids. Robinson, despite having hurt his ankle earlier, got up and led the group in games.
John shared his testimony for the first time!
Another day, working on outdoor latrines.
This was on the hill overlooking the village we were working in.
One of the interest points of tension between the two countries (Haiti, DR) was the charge that Haiti made that the eggs and chicken from the DR had bird flu. The DR was upset that their reputation would be affected internationally, especially for tourism. Later, Haiti conceded that this was not true, but they wanted to protect their local industry.
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The
Nagasawa family photos 
