Tag Archives: Dominican Republic

Experience ‘Women of Faith’ at Campamento: Kickoff Meeting

20 Jan

Monday, February 3, 6:30-8:00 PM, 200 Rooms (upstairs)

Please join us to learn more about Campamento. Whether or not you plan to travel this year, you’re welcome to do so. Past travelers are welcome to share their experiences.

RSVP here.

Opening Prayer

Walk with Us in Our Search
Help us discover our own riches;
Don’t judge us poor because we lack what you have.
Help us discover our chains;
Don’t judge us slaves by the type of shackles you wear.
Be patient with us as a people;
Don’t judge us backward simply because we don’t follow your stride.
Be patient with our pace;
Don’t judge us lazy simply because we can’t follow your tempo.
Be patient with our symbols;
Don’t judge us ignorant because we can’t read your signs.
Be with us and proclaim the richness of your life which you can share with us.
Be with us and be open to what we can give.
Be with us as a companion who walks with us neither behind nor in front in our search for life and ultimately for God!Written by Bishop Bienvenido S Tudtud, Prelature of Marawi,Lanao del Sur, Philippines

Introductions

We’d like to learn your name, how you heard about the trip, your background, and your interest in this trip.

Traveler’s Preparation Guide Overview

Dates

We have openings for June 14-22 for travelers interested in sharing a spiritual experience with young women and girls from another country.

Cost

The Delta flight is now $1450, and the American is $825. Here’s the Kayak link. For more cost factors, see the FAQ page.

Camp Activities

Our camp theme is “Women of Faith.” We study Bible stories, play music, make crafts, perform skits, and do other activities. We pray, exchange stories, share love, and spend time with the girls. They learn English, enjoy crafts, and build self-esteem through the activities.

Each trip is deeply touching and spiritual. Special gifts you may share are patience with kids, crafting and beading talents, or your professional experience.

Readings for Discernment

Along with Pope Francis writings and many readings in the Bible, check out Why? and Expectations

Next Steps

  • Mark your calendar for next meeting Monday, March 10 6:30-8 PM Central
  • Think about camp theme songs
  • For camp Bible study, think about Noah’s wife (rainbow crafts ready), Martha/Mary, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and one more New Testament Woman.

Closing Prayer

God thank you for bringing us together on this chilly night to dream about warmer possibilities! Please help us all open our hearts and minds to joining Campamento this year. Help us discern this information so that we can make the best choice for ourselves, our families, the other travelers, our Parish, and our Sister Parish. Amen

RSVP here.

Tags: , , , , , ,

El BĂșho Es Mi Amigo.

7 Jul

For the first time ever, I flew to Santo Domingo a few days early to visit Santo Domingo and practice Spanish with the Sisters at El Carmelo. Thought I’d share those days as well.

On my first day in Santo Domingo, I visited a shipwreck museum
 not what I was aiming for, (still have a way to go with Spanish đŸ€Ł), but it was where the Uber driver dropped me off. I quickly found it super interesting. We all know about global trade routes in the 16th and 17th centuries, but the reasons, the technology, and the tragedies just blow my mind.

Fun fact: The Santa Maria, one of Christopher Columbus’ ships, crashed on the north shore of the island of Hispaniola (tourist area). And the ship crew used the ship remains to build the first fort “Christmas Fort” or “La Navidad”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Navidad The Taino leveled it later.

Trade and smuggling – note the land passage from Veracruz, Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, for trade with China. Smuggling became more lucrative than above-the-board trading because authorities exploited their monopolies and kept raising taxes.

Chinese Porcelain
“Cemented” silver for smuggling – they also developed false-bottomed boxes, etc.

After a macadamia/chocolate gelato …

I visited the famous first church in the western hemisphere – the audio tour was informative and left me with more questions.

Altar

Some of the Chapels: A modern nativity scene, (I can’t remember), a picture of Alta Gracia which is different than what we usually see, the crypt of the governor and bishop of the Santo Domingo, designed and built by Medici, last is Our Lady of Pain.

The Sisters have been wonderful as usual. the food – especially the chicken, fruit, and coffee are delicious. I do love food that I don’t have to plan, shop for, and cook 😋.
At breakfast this morning I asked whether Azua has had any problems because of Haiti. They all said no, the border is well-guarded.
I’ve been getting and Santo Domingo very really thanks to Uber. Two of the three drivers are also earnest Duolingo learners, so that’s been fun chit chat.
We’re excited to see everyone Saturday!!

Tags: , , , ,

Campamento 2024 Kickoff Meeting

5 Feb

Monday, February 5, 6:30-8:00 PM, 200 Rooms (upstairs)

Please join us to learn more about Campamento, whether you can travel or not, you’re welcome. Past travelers are welcome to share their experiences.

Opening Prayer

Walk with Us in Our Search
Help us discover our own riches;
Don’t judge us poor because we lack what you have.
Help us discover our chains;
Don’t judge us slaves by the type of shackles you wear.
Be patient with us as a people;
Don’t judge us backward simply because we don’t follow your stride.
Be patient with our pace;
Don’t judge us lazy simply because we can’t follow your tempo.
Be patient with our symbols;
Don’t judge us ignorant because we can’t read your signs.
Be with us and proclaim the richness of your life which you can share with us.
Be with us and be open to what we can give.
Be with us as a companion who walks with us neither behind nor in front in our search for life and ultimately for God!Written by Bishop Bienvenido S Tudtud, Prelature of Marawi,Lanao del Sur, Philippines

Introductions

Name, how you heard about trip, your background, your interest in this trip

Traveler’s Preparation Guide Overview

Dates

We have openings for July 6-14 for travelers interested in sharing a spiritual experience with young women and girls from another country.

Cost

The Delta flight now is $1400, American is $1100. See the FAQ page for more cost factors.

Camp Activities

Our camp theme is “Women of Faith”. We study bible stories, play music, make crafts, perform skits, and do other activities. We pray, exchange stories, share love, and spend time with the girls. Through the activities they learn English, enjoy crafts, and build self-esteem.

Each trip is deeply touching and spiritual. Special gifts you may share are patience with kids, crafting and beading talents, or your professional experience.

Readings for Discernment

Along with Pope Francis writings and many readings in the Bible, check out Why? and Expectations

Next Steps

Closing Prayer

God thank you for bringing us together on this chilly night to dream about warmer possibilities! Please help us all open our hearts and minds to joining Campamento this year. Help us discern this information so that we can make the best choice for ourselves, our families, the other travelers, our Parish, and our Sister Parish. Amen

Tags: , , , ,

Updates from Azua, October 2020

5 Oct

Hola Amigas!

I hope you are staying healthy and well. Sister Fifi contacted me Friday on WhatsApp and I wanted to share with all of you the latest from the home.

It’s a lot. It is all in the same order she gave me.

Sister Dione died a little over two weeks ago. She had been sick; it wasn’t covid. Most recently she lived at El Carmelo and was very warm and huggy when we visited there, before heading to Azua. I’m not sure, but I believe she was also a school teacher. This picture doesn’t show it, but she had a big smile. We will miss her. 

image.png

The girls have not left the property since March, about when we started quarantining. She said COVID is still bad there, not safe for the girls. But they girls are doing well, attending remote school.

And, Sister Fifi thanked us again for the donation earlier this summer. On that subject, I’m preparing to send money again. If you gave money to Saint Ed’s directed to the home since last camp (July 2019) please let me know when and how much. I’m aware of only one right now. I’m going to have those donations wired down if possible, if not we’ll send it now that we know it works.

The next news is that Sister Maira is very sick with COVID. Sister Maira usually greets us at El Carmelo. She’s like the CFO of the order in Dominican Republic. She’s usually very hale and healthy. I don’t know how she got it. They live pretty sequestered. But, as we know, it doesn’t take much. She’s still sick, but is getting better.

image.png

The major news đŸ˜­đŸ˜„😭 is that Sister Fifi was assigned to a new project – a spirituality center at El Carmelo in Santo Domingo. She will live at El Carmelo, so we will still see her, but she is giving up her position at the home. I was very surprised and at first sad to hear this. She is such a special person, uniquely suited to direct the home, but I think she’ll have a big impact in the capital, as well.

She thanked all of us for the years we’ve shared. She thanked us for caring about the girls. Your contributions of time, talent, and treasure (today was Stewardship Weekend at St. Ed’s) is very touching to her and all the Sisters. 
She said the older girls are especially sad. Here are some recent pics. She said she’s having a hard time leaving the girls, but she has to start this new mission. 

image.png

She’s leaving this week. Imagine the tears! I told her it will be 1000 times worse than the last day of camp!! I hope we have camp next year and that she can come visit. Or at least see her at El Carmelo! 

She said that God has given us all so much. I agree!

To answer the next question – Sister Sandra is returning! For the last few years has been running the home for retired Sisters. You can imagine, a lot of the administration is the same, just (I imagine) at a slower pace. There are people to feed, employees, activities, etc. 
Here’s an older picture of Sister Sandra, when we were on a community visit. She loves children and babies. She founded Hogar Teresa Toda, the home, 25+ years ago.

image.png

Here is my latest picture of her from 2018 with some travelers

image.png

That’s it for the updates. Please, send any updates you’d like to share!
Peace,

Ann

Tags: , , , ,

Campamento Memories

6 Jul

Monday, July 8th – if the world was normal, today would be Day 1. It’s usually an overwhelming day. We’re still a little tired from travel. The heat goes from novelty to oppressive. The girls are primed for camp! Most of them have been there before, so they know the ropes.

Usually on day 1, our “Woman of Faith” is from the Old Testament, like Eve, Hagar, Rachel, Jochebed, Miriam, Naomi, and Ruth. Hardly anyone is named in the Old Testament, even fewer women, so each of these women are quite substantial and have a lot to teach us. One joy of camp for me personally has been learning insight on these women from Heidi Busse, a Biblical scholar. Thank you Heidi for helping me understand how these women speak to us thousands of year later after they lived on Earth.

Day 1 is often the time to cram Spanish. “They speak so fast.” “Their pronunciation is not what we heard in Jefferson High School Spanish class.” And occasionally “Wow, my college Spanish is coming back to me!” Between Duolingo, the Spanish Learning Club and my dorky attempts at practicing on patient Spanish speakers, I am getting better each year!

The most frequent observation from first-time travelers is that everyone – even the first-time travelers – are welcomed with open arms. It’s like visiting distant family. And it’s appropriate; we are Sister Communities. Our communities, not just the people who travel, are all connected over faith, time, and common values.

On joys and blessings… one for me is getting to know travelers in a way I don’t think I’d ever without sharing a trip like this. The Konkoly family is very special in so many ways. I met Jane and two of her daughters while rafting through the Grand Canyon. You know I can’t go very long without bring up Campamento. On that trip, I think I held back until about day 5. After telling Jane about it, she decided to join along with her daughters. She sees the potential in these girls and gives what she has to help them reach their dreams. Check out this video Jane and daughter Michelle made about last year’s camp. “Try Everything” by Shakira was the theme song in 2017.

Throw back to 2009

Some Girls at Campamento 2009

Travelers and volunteers – if you have a memory and/or a picture you’d like me to post, please send it to me over the next two weeks.

Please consider donating over these next two weeks as well. We are raising money for shoes and back-to-school supplies. Shoes are about $30 at Dominican Republic stores. PM me for details on how to do that.

Tags: , , ,