ienvenidos y Adioscopa.international/Resources/COPA UK Newsletter Jun 17a.pdfIn my last article I...

June 2017 Building Caring Christian Communities

FEATURES

COPA: How it all began —p2-5

Meet the new Director — p6

World Book Day — p7

Protests in La Hoya — p8-9

Things I’ll take home from this

year— p10

Big Breakfast— p11

In this issue read

about:

Bienvenidos y Adios The end of the school year welcomes many new faces but also is the time to say good-bye to those who have worked so hard for COPA.

Candy Reyes took up the role as the new Project Director just before Easter, read more about her on page 6.

A warm welcome to the 4 new Project Trust volunteers (Alisa Lamond, Jessica Edwards, Amelia Constantine, Lyndsey Sutherland) who will be joining the communities in Au-gust—Good Luck! They will be replacing us and taking on the Art and English roles in La Hoya and Bombita as we head off to univer-sity.

Sadly, Teressa Cornish must head home after more than fulfilling her tremendous 4 years here. Her work as Education Adviser and Project Trust liaison brought organisation and unity to both Bombita and La Hoya schools. The schools’ staff and directors re-lied on Teressa for fresh motivation and teaching methods. On a personal note, we will miss you a lot!

Sacha Bushby and Isobel Goddard

COPA www.copa.org.uk June 2017

Registered Charity No. 1027117 2

COPA: HOW IT

ALL BEGAN

In my last article I told you of the terri-ble accident to a boy and how the large city of Barahona had only one broken down ambulance and no means of calling it. The remote villag-es were ignored and help was never available.

A group from Sarasota had visited the project and determined to find us an ambulance. The late John Leap, who was President of COPA USA, worked with others to find one and send it to us. In what to us felt a short time they announced they had bought an

ambulance and were preparing it for us. John led a team from Sarasota to construct a fine ambulance garage in La Hoya and at the same time John Metcalf brought out a team to work on the PreSchool construction. This too was completed by September 1993.

Vamo United Methodist Church made a fantastic donation to COPA which enabled us to construct a Mission House adjacent to the school complex in La Hoya. In fact the roof went on the house while we were spending a few weeks in the USA where we were visiting supporting Churches..

John Metcalf (Virginia) had the idea that if the ambulance was based in La Hoya it could serve the surrounding villages if they had a way of calling it. His proposal was to install two way radios in each of 8 villages within range, with a base set in La Hoya, an-other in the ambulance and one in my truck. He returned to America where he hoped that General Electric for

whom he had worked for many years would donate them. It was not to be but, undeterred, John turned to the yellow pages and called one after another of com-panies who sold this sort of equipment! To his delight he called a man called Mac Burkholder who was a

Part 4: Sebert writes about

meeting dire health needs

1993/4



main agent for Motorola. Though he didn’t know him, Mac was immedi-ately interested in the project and said he really wanted to be involved. He would donate the radios we needed and furthermore he would return with John to install all of them! Wow! Sure enough John and Mac returned with the radios and the Ambulance arrived in Barahona by sea. Here we ran into a spot of trouble with Domini-can customs who demanded that duty be paid on the vehicle before they would release it. No amount of plead-ing and arguing would help. It was then that the inevitable hap-pened. A local man was killed on his motorcycle. Crispin Edmonds who you may remember had come to join us for a few months went directly to Radio Enriquillo and broadcast the story of how for the want of our ambulance, which customs were holding, a man had died. Within a day or two it was released free of duty! The team who had prepared the ambulance came over from Sarasota and we drove the vehicle to La Hoya. To our amazement the entire village turned out and the school lined the streets. We were led into the village from Barhona by a

convoy of motorcycles all honking their horns. What excitement. The ambulance looked like new having been resprayed in COPA colours with our logo on the side. Inside was in wonderful condition and was com-plete with oxygen and the gurneys and other equipment we needed. In an emergency it could carry up to three patients! It was in action from day one and rarely a day passed without a call. However more often than not the ambulance would take a seriously injured or ill patient to Barahona hospital and be directed on to Santo Domingo which at that time was a round trip of 7 hours. Some days it went more than once on that long journey. Christine, our nurse, trained locals as paramedics. Happily Wes-ley College in Bristol raised the mon-ey for a second ambulance which they donated to us. This too came in from America.



Now our most urgent need was for a clinic in La Hoya and once again Guern-sey Overseas Aid committee came to our aid. We were able to construct a small clinic next to the school. Now even more things began to happen that we had not expected. We had a clinic building but no staff, no equipment, and no medicine supplies. What fol-lowed was proof indeed that God had his hand on this project. First, a local Doctor (Marie), offered to work for us in the afternoons as a volunteer in the clinic. Then Linda Raglan went to Barahona to make a phone call and bumped into a German girl called Chris-tina who said she was a nurse and would love to see our new clinic. Linda brought her to La Hoya and Christina stayed for two years as our clinic nurse. She was fantastic!

Doreen and I had not yet moved to the village when a lady knocked at our door in Barahona. She was a Canadian visitor and she had been directed to us probably by someone local who knew we spoke the same language. We wish we could remem-ber her name! She asked us about COPA and in passing we told her that we had a problem as we had giant sized crates of school equipment in John Leap’s warehouse in Sarasota and if we put them on a ship we would have to pay huge amounts of customs duty. She gave us a card from her bag with the telephone number of “Mercy Ships” based in Texas, and suggested we may give them a call. Frankly I had little hope they would be able to help as they had would hardly come out of their



way for us. None the less I called their office and to my amazement the voice the other end said they would be de-lighted to help as they had a ship com-ing to Barahona in two weeks! The ship was aptly named “The Good Sa-maritan”. But where was it in Ameri-ca? It would be no use if it was far from Sarasota – it could be thousands of miles from our crates. “Oh”, came back the reply, “The ship is in Tampa” which was only an hour’s drive from Sarasota. Captain John brought lorry loads of equipment for us including a massive generator (courtesy of Tropi-cana) which was one of several John Leap had been given. Best of all Mer-cy ships were free from Duty on their entire cargo! As the ship was tied up within sight of our house we invited Captain John for a meal. We learned a lot about their great work all over the world. John was just leaving when he said something that even today, over 20 years later gives me a strange tingling feeling. He said, “Sebert, do you know anyone who needs medical equipment? We were in Norway and the Norwegians gave us so much it is taking up space in our hold”. Needless to say the next day we had a truck down on the dock and filled it with everything we need-ed from clinic furniture, including an examination couch, to small medical and surgical instruments! Now we had a Doctor, a Nurse and all the equipment we needed, though no

source of medicines. The Govern-ment were not willing to help though the local Director was sure they would. Christine the nurse, and I went to see the Secretary of State for Health with a letter from the Barahona Director but without a good response. We were disappointed and went to have lunch in a large restaurant over Santo Do-mingo’s largest supermarket. It was a buffet service and packed out. At last we found a table and carried our meals to it. We had just started when a man entered who asked in Spanish if he could sit at our table which had a spare chair. Of course we agreed. Christine and I continued to talk in English about our problem regarding medicines. To our surprise the gentle-man at our table interrupted us by saying in quite good English, “If you are looking for a supply of medicines I suggest you contact Padre Castillo.” He went on to inform us that Padre Castillo was the Roman Catholic Priest who was responsible for importing medicines for the many catholic clin-ics across the country. When we asked this stranger where we could find Padre Castillo he replied that he lived in Barahona!! The following day the Catholic Church readily agreed to supply all the medicines we needed. A clinic building, a doctor, a nurse, equipment and now medicines. I can only add that I know for sure now that when we do His will, regardless of our own desires, GOD WILL PROVIDE.



Get to know COPA’s new Project Director

Candy Reyes joined the COPA team earlier this year with an aim to improve the

teaching standards of the schools in Bombita and La Hoya. She has connected on

both a professional and personal level

with the teaching staff, gaining the

respect and ability needed to create a

stronger connection between the

district and the COPA schools.

Izzy asked Candy several questions to

share her ideas and experiences with

the wider COPA community:

Izzy Goddard: Where are you from?

Candy Reyes: I spent a large part of my childhood in Equador but I would say that

from my heart I am from the Pines of Eden in La Descubierta, DR

Izzy Goddard: What did you do before working for COPA?

Candy Reyes: Before COPA I was in charge of the Optometer in the clinic

Foundation Chadasha. The Chadasha Foundation is an international non-profit

organisation that provides spiritual and physical healing to those who cannot afford

help in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. I also worked with community medical

services and handling construction projects with the charity Madres, based in La

Descubierta and Los Pinos

Izzy Goddard: Why did you choose to work here with COPA?

Candy Reyes: I was actually looking for a different job at the time but a friend

introduced me to the organisation and I was immediately interested. I have a past

working with charities but have never worked with educational projects before. I

think that the work COPA is doing is incredibly beneficial to the communities and I

wanted to be part of that.

Izzy Goddard: What do you hope to achieve in your time working for COPA?

Candy Reyes: Alongside helping some of the teachers gain their certificates to

teach, I hope to become a better person and a greater servant for Christ.



Teressa writes about World Book Day in Bombita

Thanks to the efforts of Frakatia and Olga a 'Bibliopatio' event was held in April to celebrate World Book Day. I think this might be the best event I've witnessed in my time in Bombita. Originally they had thought about simply doing presentations about a book. But when they brought this idea to me in March I challenged them about a number of organisational issues (a lack of multiple copies of the same book) and some pedagogical concerns I had (the difference between memorising and learning, the objective of World Book Day being participation and enjoyment of books).

As a result of this they came up with the 'Library Patio'. Grades 5-8 were in charge of book stands and small groups of children from Kinder—4th grade were invited to come and choose a book to be read to them.

"To go on a long journey there's no better

vessel than a book."

It was so fantastic to see so many children participating, to see older children modelling what it means to read to their younger coun-terparts and to see teachers encouraging chil-dren to take pleasure in reading. It was organ-ised and beautiful. I hope I can successfully communicate to them why I'm so happy with this activity so that they can continue to build on their success in the future.



Petitions and Protests in La Hoya

Peter Gardener, COPA UK Chairman, writes about the difficult times Copa has experienced in La Hoya:

Over the 25 years COPA has been working in the Dominican Republic we have faced many challenges with seemingly very little assistance from Government officials. This year has undoubtedly been the most challenging for La Hoya School. Since the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, the Government in the DR has examined all its public buildings and now requires all schools to be reinforced to resist earthquakes. Whilst COPA built La Hoya School in the 1990s to the required standards of the time, the Government surveyors de-signed strengthening works for each classroom and also a security wall to three metres in height.

Suddenly during the summer break in July 2016, the build-ers arrived and took down part of the walling in each classroom with the promise that work would be complet-ed by the end of August ready for School to com-mence. However, by that

time the School looked like a demolition site and was unusable. Realising that it would take many months to complete the work, the Education Advisers, with Ruber the Headteacher, discussed the matter with the community and organised for each class to temporarily have their schooling in various build-ings within the village, such as churches, houses and halls.

Then at the end of October catastrophe really struck when the Government budget for this earthquake-proofing work ran out, not just for La Hoya School but for many other schools. (During this time the pupils attending these other schools have been receiving no education at all.) Despite many representa-tions to Santo Domingo by our volunteers, petitions and ‘riots’ by the commu-nity and articles in the paper, the money was not forthcoming. But with the appointment of Candy as the new Project Director in January, her influence as a Dominican herself gradually made inroads through officialdom, and just be-



fore Easter she managed to get Government offi-cials to release money to the builder for work to recommence. Work has begun, but is making slow progress as the area has since experienced tre-mendous storms and flooding.

From our viewpoint, it is unbelievable that Government officials could manage these national building works so incompetently with so little regard for pupils’ education. Yet, the foresight and determination of our volunteers and teachers has ensured that the education of COPA pupils has continued despite these diffi-culties. Hopefully, La Hoya School will be housed once more in its own school buildings for the commencement of the new school year in August.

Tiffany, our Education Adviser writes: I'm proud of all the teachers for

toughing it out this school year. On one hand, it has been easier, as they have

less teaching time but the teaching areas are small, they don't have space for

resources or

visuals, and the

classrooms be-

ing so spread

out has created

less unity among

staff. This is a

picture of the

house where

Preschool and

Kindergarten

meet. Its a small

space for 20+

students, but

they made it

work!


Registered Charity No. 1027117

Last month Sacha and I finished our work volunteering as art teachers in Bombita. It was an emotional week say-ing goodbye to children and teachers, but mainly the community as a whole. Bombita has been my home for 10 months now and has shaped my person-ality and views upon on the world re-markably. I will miss the friends we have made and treasure the memories I have gained throughout this year. I have been looking back at my year and have come up with 10 things I will take back home to England with me. So here goes… 1. Organisation - This year has definitely shown me how important organisation is when going to people’s houses for dinner, returning exhausted from think-ing and speaking in Spanish and then realising you have a lesson at 8:15 the

next day which I hadn’t planned for… 2. Appreciating the small things - Whether it’s the variety of food I am able to eat in England or the simple things like having a constant supply of water, electricity and wifi, I will now be a lot more grateful for the small things in life. 3. People skills - Working with many different personalities and starting off not fluent in Spanish has definitely im-proved my social skills 4. Independence/confidence— living in a house with Sacha definitely helped me grow up and explore our cleaning and cooking abilities, especially with limited supplies. Feeling like an adult then helped me with my confidence, with myself as a person of a different back-ground to my community but also when in front of 35 excited children in a class-room! 5. Maturity - With independence then comes maturity, the need to become an adult and make conversations with lo-cals, also in a foreign language. I really enjoyed the feeling after managing to

THINGS I’LL TAKE HOME FROM THIS YEAR

IZZY GODDARD

10



BIG BREAKFAST

Sandra Samways writes: The doors at Cricklade

United Church opened at 7a.m. on Friday 26th

May to welcome in the first of the customers

coming to enjoy a COPA Big Breakfast.

Throughout the morning there was a steady

stream of people partaking of either a ‘Full

English’ cooked breakfast or a bacon sand-

wich. Other options included cereal, toast and

fruit juice. There was as much tea and coffee

as you could drink!

Many people commented on the quality of

breakfast and every plate came back empty!

Chef Helen Samways was ably supported by

her willing band of helpers: Paul Arthurs was

Chief Waiter and was kept busy collecting the

orders and delivering the full plates of break-

fasts. There was also a staunch band of volun-

teers in the sink for the washing-up. Thank you

to everyone who contributed to the success of

the morning.

People also generously supported the raffle,

which made a profit of £83.

Helen took the surplus bacon to work and

subsequently made an extra £30 selling bacon

sandwiches to her colleagues!

After all the bills were paid a cheque for £288

was sent to the Treasurer.

To add to the atmosphere in the Hall there was

a video of some of the children from La Hoya

and Bombita in their COPA schools. A few

pictures showing what the villages had been

like before COPA arrived emphasised the dif-

ference that COPA has made over the last 25

years.

endure a whole conversation and know-ing they understood everything I said. 6. Patience - Working with children, es-pecially with 35 at one time, has shown me to be patient with them and myself. I now understand that they were all very excited and willing to learn. Also living here with people that have grown up with different views and opinions has broadened my own perspective of socie-ties and cultures. 7. Motivation - It has been a long year, but a year that has encouraged me to try to keep busy in times of no electricity, water or wifi and when it’s too hot out-side to leave the compound. Having work, marking and planning lessons with also free time has enabled me to stay motivated to keep myself busy and occu-pied and inspired. 8. Thankful for Healthcare - Having heard and seen cases of health incidenc-es in this country I am definitely now very grateful for the NHS in the UK and will forever be grateful - many people suffer here with little help available to them. 9. Infrastructure - The infrastructure in Barahona is questionable. We are so lucky to have such great help in our home countries and I can definitely see the DR realising they need changes, and slowly but surely improving. 10. Importance of Family and Unity - Living in such a tight-knit community has helped me realise the importance of staying close to my family and never losing contact with the people I cherish and love. The importance of true, close friends who are always there and look out for you is something we should nev-er let go of. And if we find it, we should hold tight to it.

11



COPA UK CONTACT NAMES AND ADDRESSES

Treasurer:

Mr David Rush

Flat 98, Block B

The Paragon

Boston Park Road

BRENTFORD

Middlesex, TW8 9RP

Sponsorship Secretary for

both La Hoya and Bombita:

Mrs Sandra Samways

57 Pauls Croft

CRICKLADE

Wiltshire

SN6 6AJ

Treasurer: COPA Guernsey

Mr Peter Keeling

Les Poplairs

Rue du Felconte

ST SAVIOURS

Guernsey

GY7 9QD

Guernsey Sponsorship

Secretary:

Mrs Margaret Keeling

Les Poplairs (as above)

The address for your letters and cards is:

Child’s name and sponsorship number

Escuela de COPA (Bombita or La Hoya)

Apartado 42

BARAHONA

Dominican Republic

Please write your name and address on the

reverse of the envelope. This will help the

volunteers when they are delivering the

letters and cards.

Alternatively send an email to

[email protected]

with your student's name and number in the

subject line. It will be printed off and given to

your student.

SPONSORSHIP LETTERS AND CARDS

Editors:

Sacha Bushby and Isobel Goddard (Project Trust volunteers in the DR)

Pam Tovey (UK Committee)

Sacha is the dedicated letter-giver in Bombita

and writes: ‘every time I go into the classes

to hand out letters the kids’ faces light up

and are delighted when I call out their

names, especially if there’s a photo inside! ’

EASY FUNDRAISING

Did you know you could be raising dona-

tions for COPA every time you shop

online?

All you need to do is register at: http://

www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ causes/

copa/ When you make an online purchase

the retailer makes a donation to COPA.

Funds can be raised on everything from

weekly shops to vacations and it doesn't

cost you a single penny extra!

ienvenidos y Adioscopa.international/Resources/COPA UK Newsletter Jun 17a.pdfIn my last article I...

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