Hi Sunflower Wirth friends and
family! Hope this letter finds you well.
Actually, this is meant to be more like an old fashioned excuse slip… Remember
the kind you’d have to turn into the teacher when you were absent? You all are
the teachers and I am the cool best friend who is forging an excuse slip so
they can play hookie from writing a blog post. And to explain to all their loved ones why you probably not
have heard from Phoebe and Dan in a while…
I am Pheobe and Dan’s closest neighboring volunteer and a close friend. I live in a community about 10 minutes
away. And if it makes you feel
better, I just recently met their ‘new’ cat, Chocolate, who they’ve had since
December. It’s definitely not that they don’t care. And they certainly haven’t
forgotten about you. It’s partly
because there is no dawgone signal where they live. And they’re, well, busy. “Busy with what?” you might ask. They live in a tiny rural community where it is actually considered
a pastime to sit under a tree all afternoon for the sole purpose of taking
advantage of the shade and breeze.
Let me clarify; in their free
time - when they are not heading up initiatives, writing grants and manuals, preparing
for and facilitating classes or painting murals - they are sharing their time
with other people. Compartiring, as the Dominicans say. And Phoebe and Dan are expert
compartirers. They are the masters
of small talk. “How was your day?” Sometimes the response goes something like: ‘yes,
yes, wonderful now let's talk about mine.’ Most other people have a small circle of friends that they
will actually devote 20 minutes of honest effort and attention to listening to
the rather insignificant details of their day. But Pheebs and Dano really want to know and extend this courtesy
to just about everyone in their community. (NPH has over 200 youth, and that’s just the kids; Batey
Montecristi has over 2000 people).
Imagine that. If you have
any unlived dreams about being famous or getting elected to some sort of public
office, I recommend you pay Phoebe a visit in her community. Walking down the
street with her is pretty darn close to getting a sweet taste of what celebrity
must feel like. With every step
you take, people are shouting her name. “Gira! Gira! Girasol! Girasol!!” Spanning 50 yards takes a little over 45
minutes because everyone comes over to shoot the breeze and Pheobe artfully
gives everyone her unrushed attention. (Let me also add that much of the small
talk that happens in such tiny, rural communities is a repeat of previous conversations,
for instance, if someone stole a goat you’re probably going to get the same story
fifty times with only slight variation.)
So as you can see, this is a pretty amazing skill.
Pheebs recently planned an
Awesome field trip for International Women’s Day. It was one of the most memorable things I’ve done during my
time in the country, (and not only because the bus got stuck in the mud and had
to be pulled out with a 35 year old tractor.) It was partly
so special because the group of girls and volunteers got to meet and talk to
Dede Mirabal, the only living Mirabal sister, whose family resisted the
Dominican dictator Trujillo and who are now national symbols of anti violence campaigns
across the DR. Dede is now 87 and
still receives groups regularly who come to home to answer questions and tell
stories.
Let’s be honest, we all really struggled trying not to act like
star struck preteens. We couldn’t exactly
run up to Dede jumping up and down like I know we all wanted. I think we successfully didn’t freak
her out. But I couldn’t help but
to think that the whole situation reminded me on a smaller scale of Pheobe in
her community. I kept thinking Why? Why give so much time, effort and energy to
people you don’t even know? When
someone asked Dede something similar, she said, “Why not? Other people are
deserving of my time.” Huh, good
answer. One that Pheobe later told
me struck a chord in her. Go
figure.
Again let me reiterate that it’s
not that they’ve forgotten you, it’s just that the level of dedication they
give to their Dominican neighbors is extraordinary. Please excuse them, it not their fault for seemingly falling
off the face of the planet. This
is just the way they are, very generous with their time, a very rare quality in
any country. Vicky Harbison, YFCD 517-10-02
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