I promised you a Dominican-centric post today. But I thought I’d let your eyes do the walkin’ and show you some pictures that have been resting in my iPhoto folders. So, here we go…
THE TOP TEN PHOTOS OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC THAT I HAVE NOT SHOWN YOU YET
{I can’t help it. I love my titles!!}
1. The flora and fauna. This is the view from our hotel the first night. We were 3 or 4 hours from Santo Domingo in Barahona. We arrived late late that night and I had no idea where we were. When I woke up and looked out the window, I was so excited to see this site!
2. My Digital Camera. I told you how much the kids loved our cameras. This is a picture by our esteemed translator, Claudia. Besides my strange bangs, the thing that caught my eye the most is the wall of the house. THAT IS A HOUSE.
3. Pink Converse. Loribert, Jill’s sponsored child was all dressed up to see her. He didn’t crack more than 2 smiles or whisper more than a few sentences. But look at his shoes. How much do you love this? Such a 13 year old boy!
4. Hope. When we arrived at the ADP in Santo Domingo, there were several kids inside coloring. The assignment–their house. This beautiful picture caught my eye. These children were here as part of an HIV support group–they were either orphaned because of HIV, living with parents who had HIV or were living with HIV themselves. Yet, I saw hope and happiness in this picture.
5. Tears. Day 2 of our trip can be summed up in liquid…we sweated and cried more than anything else. After meeting the beautiful Maria and listening to her story. We had to get our picture taken with her. Even after we left her, we were all crying. And you can see it on my face here. I want to remember that.
6. Laughter. On our last day, the kids from the Art School entertained us with singing and a skit. This is them performing the story of Naomi and Ruth. They were cracking us up!
7. Mothers. I wrote a letter to Mari Luz introducing our family to her. I had it translated by Claudia and when Mari Luz’ mom read it, she immediately signed that she wanted to write me a letter. She was a sweet woman obviously thankful for the gift of sponsorship. This picture reminds me of how I am just like her…a mother wanting the best for my children. In this letter she told me she and her husband are HIV positive. Mari Luz does not know about her parents’ condition.
8. Lydia. No, this isn’t a picture of my Lydia. This is Lidia. She is a staff member at the ADP in Santo Domingo. I was immediately impressed with her strength and passion. The more I saw her speak and interact, the more I was impressed with her. We saw her love on several kids infected AND affected by HIV. The next day we saw her love and hold together a support group of HIV positive parents. She never mentioned that she herself had been living with HIV for 18 years. After she told us her story, I approached her and told her I was blown away by her. That I would tell my Lydia about her. And that I prayed my Lydia will grow up to be a strong woman like her, like Lidia.
9. New friends. The bloggers weren’t the only people on this trip. We were led by the fearless Michael and his sidekick Lee. Two super cool VEGGIE TALES folks were there, Lora and Greg. Plus the fabu videographer, Heidi. Our translators, Claudia and Anneli were beautiful and amazing. Not to mention the kids that accompanied us–Hannah, Jake, T and Brent. I am honored to know them all.
10. Jill. I could do a whole post on fun pictures of Jill. This is our last day in the Dominican. We are in the first church in the New World–founded by Christopher Columbus. And we almost got kicked out for giggling. I adore Jill.
Have you sponsored a child yet?
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Got a Top Ten list to share? We’d love for you to join us! All you gotta do is write a fun post (about anything as long as it’s TEN), then link back to me in the post so others can join in, enter the link to your post below and start visiting the other participants and givin’ them lots of bloggy love!
Ready? Set! Go!
Oh, and thanks again to Mandi for hosting Top Ten {Tuesday} last week! And thanks to everyone who linked up!
Those are great pictures Amanda! Can’t wait to see more!!
You took some amazing pictures girl. Thanks for sharing them and your heart with us.
.-= Kathy Hill´s last blog ..Top Ten Tuesday: Recipes I Want To Try =-.
Strongly considering doing a post of Top Ten reasons I love Amanda…..
beautiful pictures!
It sounds like it was an amazing trip. Thanks for sharing all of this with us!
.-= amber´s last blog ..Just Right. =-.
What beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing them with us. I love your view in the first picture! 🙂
.-= Alicia´s last blog ..Top 10 Etsy Finds =-.
Ah, pictures are SO HELPFUL when trying to put all you’ve written into context. Thanks for sharing them here – it’s so much easier to understand parts of your experience.
.-= Stacey @ Tree, Root, and Twig´s last blog ..Top Ten {Tuesday}: 10 Things It’s Never Too Late To Begin (Again) =-.
Great! You had quite an adventure, and I’ve followed a good part of your trip online. That’s very cool you got to go. When I first met you online, you and your husband were wondering what to do because you thought God wanted you in ministry but things hadn’t worked out. And now look at you in DR and this blog and your children’s craft blog! God is working through you. Blessings….
.-= Holly at Tropic of Mom´s last blog ..A storyteller is born =-.
The pictures really complete your words.
.-= Janna @ The Adventure of Motherhood´s last blog ..Are Bloggers Hypocrites? =-.
Beautiful pictures. So glad you girls had the opportunity to share.
.-= Tricia (Once A Month Mom)´s last blog ..Buffalo Bleu Cheese Burgers =-.
What a incredible trip you had! Thanks for sharing throughout your trip and w/ this recap post – God is using YOU to share His message of hope!
.-= Ashley´s last blog ..Starting a series… =-.
Those are beautiful pictures…
I’ve never linked up, but wanted to give it a go.
.-= Jenny 867-5309´s last blog ..Fashion Don’ts from the 1980s =-.
What a great little photo essay! I love your last previous post as well….funny how getting out of our own worlds can change our perspective. Looking forward to reading more about your trip.
.-= Katie´s last blog ..Delicious. =-.
Wonderful post! I’ve bestowed upon you the Happy 101 Award!
.-= Heather´s last blog ..And the Happy 101 Award Goes To… =-.
What beautiful memories. You must have had the most amazing experience.
.-= Allison´s last blog ..Tropical Traditions Expeller-Pressed Coconut Oil Giveaway =-.
What beautiful pictures! I can tell God is doing amazing things in the lives of those children and all those who went on the trip, as well!
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Civic Duty and the Crazy Old Bat =-.
Wow, so startling to hear that both of Mari Luz’s parents are HIV positive….just something we don’t have to think about here……..loved all the pictures….very cool that there were people from Veggie Tales there.
I really enjoyed this. What an amazing trip.
.-= Alicia´s last blog ..Top Ten {Tuesday}: Helpful Articles for New Bloggers =-.
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