New roofs, new hope: Parish mission trip to Dominican Republic is a success

Thanks to a new water-tight tin roof, the hut’s dirt floor no longer turns to mud when it rains. And the beds don’t get soaked at night.

That’s what a father reported, delighted with a roof on his family’s shack in Batey Lecheria in the southern Domini­can Republic. Helping install the roof were missioners of Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) Parish in Pequannock, who visited the impoverished village Nov. 6–13.

As part of the parish’s Mission of Hope ministry, Father Darwin Lastra, pastor, and 24 faithful teens to seniors extended a hand to help meet the physical needs of the villagers on the trip. The group, especially the young people, also extended a hand of friendship to these already joyful people.

“Now, I don’t have to put something over my family’s heads to keep them dry. I sleep like a baby without worrying,” the father said to the missioners, crying, according to Nancy Baran. She leads a yearly mission trip to Batey Lecheria for Mission of Hope, which started 25 years ago.

This time, the missioners helped local laborers install new roofs on 15 homes and construct a home for a widow, her three children, and a grandmother. The widow was “in tears with gratitude” over the new house, which “changed many of us,” Baran said.

“We give them things for their material needs, but we also give them hope. It’s not just about our ‘presents’ but our physical presence, showing that we care,” Baran said. This trip was the first one in three years due to COVID-19. For a second year, the ministry collected donations from OLGC and the community and packed a container with items such as school supplies, medications, and housewares, bound for Batey Lecheria. “None of this would be possible without the generosity of our parish, local businesses, and community,” she said.

OLGC also created and painted a Prayer Space between two buildings built a while ago — and still sustained — by the Morris County parish. They are a school for 400 students and a clinic, which provides low-cost, mostly free, health care to 1,000 patients monthly. Children also get a free lunch during school. They come for a meal but leave with an education, Baran said.

OLGC’s young people had fun with local school children, braiding hair, playing games, and giving giant hugs.

“They were open-hearted. It makes me want to help them,” said Caitlin Moore, 12, who went with family members. “It was sad. The kids are so poor. It made me appreciate what I have here — that I have a roof over my head and a loving mother and father, and I don’t have to hold up a cup for a leaky roof,” she said.

Led by six nurses, a team of volunteers, including teens, went door-to-door for wellness checks. They helped a 14-year-old boy with untreated diabetes get medical care. They also left him with six months of medication, supplies, and a treatment plan.

The villagers are Haitians, who were lured over the border with promises of work in sugarcane fields. In the 1980s, the sugar market went bust. Today, they have trouble finding work. They are not welcome back in Haiti and are not recognized as citizens of the Dominican Republic.

Despite their poverty, the villagers “enjoy life and appreciate all we do,” Father Lastra said.

“Our presence was important. We enjoyed them as much as they enjoyed us,” said Father Lastra, a Spanish translator on the trip. “We went to be Christ’s hands and feet. We brought the kingdom of God to them.”

Mission of Hope was started by Father Patrick Scott, former OLGC pastor and a retired diocesan priest, and the late Sister Rosemary McSorley, who served the parish for 33 years. They visited the Sisters of the Holy Child of Jesus, three of whom spent 25 years serving Batey Lecheria and led efforts to build the school and clinic. The ministry continued with Baran’s sister and brother-in-law, Sue and Dave Laumbach, and then with Baran after they moved out of state.

Another first-timer was Christopher Cassel, who went with his family. He said, “We got to share our gifts with others. We are already talking about the next trip.” For information about Mission of Hope: visit
goodcounsel.org/mission-of-hope