While The Cat's Away...

I had to go to Santo Domingo on Wednesday morning for an appointment with the American embassy to get my green card (I’m one step closer to coming home! Yay!). However the trip meant that I would miss my Wednesday night Escojo meeting. Four of the girls were going to teach the rest of the kids about sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, and I had faith that everything would go smoothly without me there. Remember, my goal is that the group continues even after I leave here, so this would be great practice to see if the group really could function on its own. Upon my return, the girls immediately pounced on me, eager to tell me about all of the drama that happened while I was away. I now have my doubts about the longevity of the group. Ok, here’s what happened:

Four girls were scheduled to give the charla on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. I have a manual with all of the information and they had supposedly been studying the material all week. Before I left I went to Marlene’s house to give her all of the supplies she needed and answer any questions that she might’ve had. She told me not to worry, that she had it completely under control.

The charla was at 7 pm. Every Wednesday night our Escojo meetings start right on time. After me being here a year, the kids have now learned that I am punctual and still work on American time. I don’t believe in this silly Dominican schedule where everything starts about an hour after it’s supposed to. About a handful of Escojo members showed up at 7, and the four girls who were in charge of the presentation in my absence, told them that tonight there would be no charla, that I had canceled it. So those people left. Sandy (my co-leader) showed up around 7:30 and told the girls that of course there would be a charla tonight and that it was up to them to give it. The girls later told me that they thought Sandy was jealous of my leadership, and he wanted to prove to me that he could hold a successful Escojo meeting without me.

So the girls started giving the charla. Although they have known about this presentation for over a month and have had all of the materials to study for a week, not one of them practiced beforehand. So they read from the book. Elizabeth (11 years old) is a slow reader, and the kids in the group weren’t paying attention to her reading. So Marlene (19) ripped the book from Elizabeth’s hands and told her “Lauren said you don’t know how to read, so I’m going to read it for you.” Elizabeth ran to her house crying. About five minutes later, Elizabeth’s mom Nila marches up to the group, grabs her son Brian and says “You’re going home Brian. These whores(!!!) don’t know how to properly give a charla and you’re not going to stay and listen to this disaster.”

The girls that Nila called whores are her nieces (by marriage), so basically this started a family feud with about everyone in my neighborhood since everyone is related. I went house to house, explaining that it was my fault, that I shouldn’t have left the group alone without a leader. I talked to Elizabeth and Nila and explained that maybe it would’ve been better if Nila talked to the girls in private and not called them whores in front of every other member of the Escojo group. And I explained to the other girls that everyone is in the group to learn, so maybe it would’ve been better if they were more patient with Elizabeth and helped her with her reading. Everyone apologized, and the family is now reunited.