Joy and Purpose in the Dominican Republic: October HOPE Trip

“If the world was full of the kind of people we met, it would be a better place.” – Bo, HOPE trip participant, 11-years old

 

A small, intrepid group of HOPE supporters and staff just completed a whirlwind three days in the Dominican Republic, visiting people served by HOPE’s Esperanza microfinancing program. Each day began with a devotional as we prepared our hearts and minds for the day’s experiences. The group ranged in age from 11 to 63 and came from a wide variety of backgrounds yet was united in their love for Christ and desire to see HOPE partners not only survive but flourish.

 

Led by HOPE International’s Haley Westerkamp and Esperanza’s Yensy Tapia, the group spend a day in Cala Vay getting to know small shop owners who had formed a group called “Ten” in order to leverage their borrowing power. In an extremely competitive marketplace, Eli—who operates a clothing store—had just added a mobile sales component with the help of family members. Andrea was busily preparing fish and meat for her evening sales, while Josephine served her convenience store customers in the swirling dust from water main installation a few yards from her window.

The next day it was off to the mountains to visit loan recipients in a region so remote and rugged that the group had to exit the shuttle bus and pile into a pickup truck to continue up the deeply channeled, single-lane path. It was there that we met Tomás, who raised pumpkins, cacao, plantains, coffee and other produce on land he had rented with funds from microloans. He was thankful to still possess strength at age 70 to do the vigorous work and was quick to pass out fresh, delicious steaming cups of coffee. “No other banks would ever come here to provide service,” said Tomás. The next stop was an avocado and orange orchard.

The return trip encountered a delay when I realized I had left my cell phone in the pickup truck when we all transferred back to the shuttle bus! As we pulled over to discuss what to do, we noticed that Esperanza staff member Yensy had already jumped onto the back of a motorcycle taxi and was speeding off to retrieve it. Thirty minutes later she returned with the phone and our prayers had been answered. Now that’s service!

 

Other business owners visited included a store belonging to a Haitian who was able to complete her residency documentation after a seven-year process and a shop owner who had begun selling her own private label cleaning products along with hardware store items.

 

The impact of the trip on the participants was clearly evident as friendships were formed and stories were shared. Group member and world traveler Lesli Cate summed up her experience this way: