Banica's Newest Volunteer Coordinator... Me!

A New Semester: Primavera en Bánica

We arrived to Bánica on January 4th 2010 after a two-week vacation in our beloved U.S. Like Fr. O’Hare would say “we didn’t arrive alone”, we came with two new volunteers: Laura Folse and Nicky Bell. Although Samantha and Brendan returned to the States this past December to continue with their studies and professional careers, our team of volunteers remains the same number-wise. Please continue to pray for Isaac, Mairin, John, and now Laura and Nicky.



This semester, we will be teaching in two public schools: Higuerito and Los Memisos. Fr. O’Hare wanted all volunteers to teach in the same schools, so Isaac and Laura will be teaching 2nd grade, Mairin and Nicky will be 3rd Grade and John and I will be teaching 4th grade in Higuerito. We are blessed to have new students who care about their catechesis and are interested in knowing about God (I think they also see us as really cool teachers!)



Los Memisos is a different story. Ever since we sent our catechesis to that school, we’ve encountered all sorts of problems. Their class schedule is interrupted almost every week. Their teachers are not responsible enough to have classes on a daily basis. The students’ attention span is short to non-existent. Finally, we can’t keep track of their Mass attendance because they only have Mass once a month. I always get butterflies in my stomach when we’re on our way to that school. I don’t think it’s because I’m nervous… I’m just expecting the worse.

After talking with Father about this last school, we came to the conclusion that we can’t give up on them. Instead, we’re “joining efforts” with a young catechist named Kuky (pronounced cookie) who lived in the campo for a short while and does a really good job motivating the kids. She just recently began to come to that school and the results—although not excellent—were better than I expected. She had the kids talking, participating and learning their catechism against all odds! Now, her teaching technique is different from mine: she raises her voice to the point of yelling and she is not afraid to tell it like it is, whereas I only raise my voice until they can hear me, and I try to be condescending of their slow learning process.

I’m not sure how much progress Los Memisos will make, but I do ask you to continue praying for them, especially the 6th and 7th graders.


Confirmation of Faith 2010: Sabana Cruz and Hato Viejo

After four long months of preparation, my catechesis students from Sabana Cruz and Hato Viejo received their Holy Sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion. The ceremony was held on Wednesday, January 13th in their respective campos. We counted with the presence of Bishop Jose Grullón, who made his yearly pastoral visit to our parish in Bánica and sister parish in Pedro Santana.



We started out early in the morning and headed to Hato Viejo. Isaac and I could not contain our excitement to see our students complete their catechesis preparation by receiving their sacraments. During my visit to U.S, I got them prayer cards with their respective saints including Joan of Arc, Therese of Liseaux, San Martin de Porres, and St. Augustin.

When we arrived, I saw my lovely girls dressed in white. They looked like little angels. I immediately wondered how much their families had to sacrifice to get them their dresses, shoes and hair-dos. The boys were all dressed alike with a white shirt and black pants. Father O’Hare says that such an outfit is typical for “rezos”—a time when the town gets together to pray for a special cause such as funerals, sick people, etc.






The ceremony lasted three hours! It was a combination of sacraments and annual meeting with the bishop. Furthermore, Bishop Grullón is known for his long, charismatic homilies! Nevertheless, I enjoyed seeing my students receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and sponsoring almost half of them!


Pastoral Juvenil (Youth Ministry)


This past weekend, we were invited to attend a diocesan Youth Ministry event at the nearest city called Las Matas. Our Pastoral Juvenil from Banica and Sabana Cruz, along with the most faithful church attendees from Higuerito hopped in our newly repaired school bus for what seemed to be a celebration of St. Juan Bosco’s feast day. Simultaneously, six high-schoolers from Bánica and Sabana Cruz (carefully selected by Hecfredes—the Youth Ministry coordinator in Bánica—and myself) attended a three-day retreat in the capital of Santo Domingo.
When the seventy-plus youth, the five American volunteers and I arrived to Las Matas, we began to sense a lack of coordination. The event was scheduled to begin at 9am. Instead, we processed to an arena at 10:30am. Once we got there, they told us Mass was going to begin shortly. Unaware of the required Eucharistic Fast, most of the youth were snacking and drinking sodas before, during and after Mass. Our group stayed together, except a handful of Baniqueros. They refused to move with the rest of the group, which forced me to leave them where they were. During Mass we kept looking over at them and realized how much they lack respect and veneration towards Mass: they remained seated throughout the whole ceremony.

What was the purpose of the event? I have no idea anymore. Besides Mass, there weren’t any motivational speeches, Christian music or anything of that nature. Was it Christ-centered? Nope. Where the youth enjoying it? Nope. Are we going to attend next year? I hope not.

I was so disappointed at the whole thing (event coordination, kids’ behavior, content) that I told Father I had no hope in our youth. He seemed to agree with me and swore he wasn’t going to send our youth to diocesan events unless he receives a program and detail explanation of what the event is about.



Two days later, Father asked me to gather the 6 young people who attended the retreat in Santo Domingo in order to share their experiences. We met yesterday, and to my surprise, they all grew so much in their faith—and like my seminarian friend Thomas Gallagher would say—“they were ON FIRE for our Lord!”. They talked for about two hours about their favorite memories, ideas to improve their youth ministry, and how much they loved their retreat. They had so much to share with the group that Father decided to make this group a Youth Ministry Council. He gave them an awesome analogy to understand their role in their larger youth ministry: Before a house gets built, you need to lay the floors. Eventually, you put up the walls and the ceiling. These six young people will be the floors to our “Casa de la Juventud” (Youth House). Our job is to continue to feed the fire in their hearts and help them grow in their faith. I told them that those who have great faith can accomplish great things. But most importantly, it will be contagious to those around them.
Just when I started losing my faith in the Bánica youth, my Lord surprised me with these 6 young people. Father and I commented on how happy and grateful we are that we still have faithful youth that not only love our Lord with all their hearts, but they are also willing to improve their communities—especially their young peers.



Today I ask you to keep your prayers in the youth around the world, especially those from Bánica. Lord, despite all temptations, keep your young people close to your heart so that they may truly find happiness in you. St. Juan Bosco… pray for us!

“Solo me basta que sean jóvenes para amarlos” –St. Juan Bosco