I (Jonathan) want to express my
gratitude to my wife for allowing me to write some thoughts this week. Although
she asks for my opinion of her blogposts, I normally like that she can write
her experiences and perceptions of life in the DR. It makes me feel very excited.
And, just like you, I am another reader enjoying her humor, deep thoughts, and
reflections.
Since we came down here in January,
we have had a handful of experiences encountering the culture. Even for me has
been quite difficult to readjust to what I knew as “my country.” I was out only
for 2 ½ years and some of the changes I found are jaw-dropping that I feel like
I need to re-learn a lot of things. I cannot describe how much more difficult
it could be for Mary (especially with the baby coming soon). We often talk
about what we see every day seeing the goods and the weaknesses of the Dominican
system. One day out a conversation it occurred to me that our culture has so
much copy-paste from other “advanced cultures.” For instance, the US is some sort
of pinnacle we want to emulate so badly: architecture, technologies, social
structure, economy, and so many other things. Those things are good, don’t get
me wrong. The problem I see is this: while the cultural merge has been taking
place for a good while, little has been done in terms of education. The people
has been receiving a large number of tools but without education. It occurred
to me that such situation is the reason for the multiple problems in this
country.
So, why is this a problem? Because the
effects of it is larger than what miss the eyes. I will bring forth a few
examples.
1. Driving: the amount of cars
(including luxury ones) in this country is alarming. Yet, only a few have
education to drive like civilized people (and I would like to include myself in
that list, just FIY J). I’ve heard other Dominicans complain about our
driving style. They say that we live in a jungle driving next to animals. On a side
sad note, Jarvis (our car) was hit in the trunk as we were stranded in traffic
(no hard feelings there).
2. Cellphone: most Dominicans today
have a smart phone in their hands and mostly use them for two things. 1) Social
media (whatsapp, facebook, twitter) and 2) Music. Well, maybe somewhere there
they will have an app to make phone calls. On a side sad note, probably the one
who hit Jarvis in the back was texting and driving (but again, no hard feelings).
3. Other technologies (computer,
TVs, cameras, etc.) People have access to these tools, but again only a few
educate themselves about their products and how to use them in a productive
way. I’m sorry, but it hurts to see that a kid would spend money in what we
call “internet centers,” (a version of a Dominican Cyber Café) to spend a couple
of hours listening to destructive urban songs, chatting on social media, and
other unproductive activities.
But what can you expect? Students are
taught to cheat when they take their Dominican version of ACT (National Exams) right
when they are about to head to college. Most drivers were taught to bribe the
tester while doing their practical driving examination in order to pass. Our
political system is so corrupt that democracy is an illusion (but that happens
almost everywhere). The public education quality in schools is lower every year
(but the political system benefits from it, if the people who vote have little
education, if any at all). Most Dominicans live in survival mode and that can
be seen in the selfish lifestyle that is in current development. The fact is
that this system, which receives more and more resources every day, is designed
for most Dominicans to fail so that a few would rule.
Then, I conclude that people with
resources can still be poor. Like the poet said: “this is a poorly managed rich
country.” The changes in this land are needed, but just by increasing the
amount of things people can have they will not come out of poverty. As servants
of Christ we see that our job down here does not consist in giving food, goods,
or money away to “poor” people out of “generosity and love.” We don’t want to
hurt the Dominicans more than what they are already. We want to build them up,
cheer them up, and lift them up. We want to show to them the things Christ wants,
can, and will do in them and through them.
In our observations we are learning
to look at poverty not only as the lack of resources. We also are looking to
find the riches of people’s souls, and to witness the way Christ will use their
treasure.
I’ll stop here and will give the
mic back to Mary. She will bring a wonderful surprise in the next post: the
name of our baby boy! Till next week.
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