The Uptons in the Dominican Republic

Every year, the kids get new uniforms! This year, we got some awesome new collared polos from the US, plus t-shirts. Along with the shirts, each child gets a pair of khaki pants, 3 pairs of socks and undies, and tennis shoes!

We started with a pile of shirts, pants and undies. By the end of the three days we spent passing out clothes, we had almost nothing left. Thanks to all who donated! Special thanks to those who donated specifically to buy pants! We were able to purchase the 26 pairs of pants we needed for the younger classes with what you provided!

Look at all the uniforms to give out!	The little ones are excited about new clothes.
Aylin, Rosita and Fani ready to try on shoes.	Lets see if these shoes fit.
Chinaida gets new shoes.	Wilsenci andCarlos are happy about their new clothes.

I don’t have many photos, because it was pretty nuts those few days. Suffice it to say, we had 80 kids visit the office in 3 days… and I never want to see that many in there that quickly again.

I’m doing these out of the order I set out on Sunday because I’m waiting on photos for the clothing blog.

The second grade class recently had an Olympics competition! During recess throughout the week, they participated in various group games, culminating in a final competition on Friday afternoon.

The games were:
–Tug-of-War (sorry, no pictures)

–El pañuelo. The kids get in their two teams across from each other on the field. Each has a number 1-8. When their number is called, the race is on for the first person to reach Johan in the middle, who is holding a towel. They have to take the towel and try to get back to their own side without the other person tagging them. If they can, their team gets a point.

If your number is called, race to grab the towel	Ready, set….
Run! Wilsenci and Bernito race to the towel.	Luis and Scarlet celebrating a win.

–Plaquita: Almost like a game of cricket. Two kids stand on each end with bats, next to a bottle. To be “on base,” either their bat or a foot has to be touching the paper on the ground. There are two pitchers that stand behind the batters, and throw the ball from one side to the other for the batter to hit. If the ball is hit, or if isn’t caught, the batters try to run back and forth between the bases as many time as the can before the pitcher can get the ball and throw it to knock the bottle down on the other side while the players are off base. The players win if they are able to run back and forth 10 times without their bottle being knocked over. The pitchers win if they knock the bottle over while the players are off base.

Plaquita. Memo has the ball ready to throw, Bienvenido is standing with his bat on base, and Miguel Angel is coaching.	Eduardo is ready to hit the incoming ball.
Eduardo and Wilsenci run back and forth until someone gets the ball.	Carlos trying to throw Miguel out.

On Friday, the other classes came out after recess to watch the sack race, egg-on-spoon race, three legged race and balloon pop race.

The sack race involved heats, and the winners of each heat had to jump backwards at the end. Some of the guys got REALLY into it.

Sack race!

Jump! Wilsenci is in the lead, with Eduardo and Bienvenido right behind him.

This is hard work!

The egg and spoon race was made more difficult by having to hold the spoon in your mouth. Not so easy to do! They were using easter eggs filled with water.

Bienvenido is going the distance with his egg, but Franchesca is right behind!

Perla with a look of intense concentration.

The three legged race was not so successful. We rubber-banded the kids legs together, and then they were supposed to 3-legged walk down the course. However, they didn’t really understand the instructions, and instead hopped one legged with their connected legs raised between them. Pat and Johan had to demonstrate to set the record straight.

At the end, the teams were pretty close in points. It all came down to the balloon-pop race. Every kid was given a balloon, and then the teams had to one by one run down the course and sit on their balloons to pop them. The one problem: some of our kids don’t weigh enough to pop the balloons, and they tended to pop out of the side of the chairs.

Team 1 huddle. Neifi, Valentina, Miguel Angel and Perla are making sure no one is listening.	Team 2 is ready for action.
Grab your balloon!	Rachel and Bienvenido run to the other end of the field.
Sit o the balloon to pop it. Neify doesn’t weigh quite enough.	POP! Whoops! The balloon slid out from under Gustavo, but Memo is having more luck.

As it turns out, we’re all winners! Medals for everyone!

Enjoy the pictures!

So, if you ever wonder, “Why on earth are Lauren and Andy living in the Dominican Republic?”, this is why. There is no greater reward on earth than the smile of a child when they see you in the morning at school, and run up the street to give a hug. There are days when it is difficult to go and work, and God constantly reminds us why we do it. For the kids. For their future. So they can learn their letters. So they can read and write. And mostly, so they can know Jesus and his saving grace. They will change this city/province/country someday.

We have 5 classes this year of 16 students each, for a total of 80 students. WOW!!!!!!

The PreK3 class is made up of mostly younger siblings of our students, plus a few others from Pancho and Tamarindo who were high on the wait list. Profe Yomo is the teacher of the class again this year, with Profe Narolin as her assistant. The kids have so much fun in there, and have really opened up since the first day of school.

The PreK4 class is mainly our kids from PreK3 last year, with a few new ones. Profe Bella is in charge this year, because she did such an excellent job as Lara’s assistant in the class last year. Profe Marnelia is her assistant. The kids are working on learning the letters, the sounds the letters make and their colors and numbers before going to kindergarten next year.

The Kindergarten class is lead by Profe Dena, who comes to us from California/Texas, and Profe Nicole, who worked with us last year as well. They are working on letter sounds and blends of syllables, so that they can eventually put those syllables together into words. It is SO exciting to see when these kids understand something, when that lightbulb goes off. Many of their parents don’t know how to read, and it’s fun to see these little guys learn.

First grade is headed by Profe Sarah, who is a fellow Longhorn, with Profe Belizeur and Profe Kelvin to assist her. Though they are all three new to Makarios this year, they have thrown themselves into their classes, and are really blessing their students. This class is learning to read small words, with the hope of fluent reading by the end of the year.

Our oldest kids are in second grade this year. They had Profe Johan last year, and he moved up with them to teach their second grade class this year, which has been such a blessing. Profe Genesis is assistant, and the kids are doing really well in that class.

So, those are our students, the reason for Makarios. We love them always, like them most days, and would lay down our lives for them in a heartbeat. And if I could bring them all home in my suitcase, I would.

We are still in need of 16 child sponsors, so if you would like to help with this, please email me at sponsorship.makarios@gmail.com.

Much love!

What was I going to blog about today? The first day of school! Day 3 of blogging every day… check!

School started this year on September 21st. This may seem late to many people, but our new staff got into the country at the end of August/first of September after going to Mission Training. Then we had our 3 weeks of training/school prep (see yesterday’s blog) all to get ready for the first day of school!

This year, we have 5 classes of kids: PreK3, PreK4, Kinder, 1st and 2nd grades. Each class has 16 students. Our hope is that each year, the kids grow a grade so eventually we have a school that goes through 8th grade.

At public school here, no one usually goes to school the first week of school, because, if you ask someone, “well, no one else will be there…….” So it is really exciting to see our kids RUN up to school on the first day. They are SO excited to be here with us, that they showed up at 8am ready to play on the playground and meet their new teachers.

Yeri, Nelisa, Miguel Angel and Son excited to be at school!

After playing on the playground, we line up with the younger classes in the ranchito and the older ones in the front of the building to sing songs of praise to God and to pray for the day, and then they eat breakfast.

Enjoying the playground.

Johan leading song time for the older classes.

The PreK3 and PreK4 class ate breakfast, and then went to their rooms to get to know each other. The PreK3 class is mostly new 3 year old students, many of whom are younger siblings of older students. The PreK4 class is mostly the kids from PreK3 last year who moved up. After breakfast, the students go to morning meeting, where they have a greeting, read a story, and talk about the day ahead.

PreK 3 in their circle!	PreK 4 waiting to get into their new classroom!	Bella introducing the kids to their new animals in PreK 4!
Camila is the crab for the year!	PreK 4 learning about rules of the class (and Erickson can’t help but throw up his hang ten).	Profe Nicole reading a story for morning meeting to the Kindergarteners.

The First grade and Second grade classes are mostly kids from last year who moved up with their classes. All the kids had a ton of fun getting to know the new classmates, and playing fun games on the first day.

The first grade class participating in morning meeting with Profe Sarah.

Profe Sarah leading a fun game with the First graders.

The 2nd graders (Luis Fernando and Miguel Angel) greeting each other.

Perla and Memo shaking hands.

2nd graders in their first class.

During the first few days of school, the non-teaching staff was working to hand out uniforms and generally just try to keep the peace. We may have been tired at the end, but the smiles of the kids make it all worthwile.

Tune in tomorrow for pictures of our kids!