It´s Done!

Hello to all,

Just a quick note to update you one progress...


We spent more than 3 hours at the Lawyers office yesterday. We have a contract signed for 2 years with an option for a 3rd. It incudes more than an acre of land and a small house capable of housing 8 children comfortably.

The agreement includes minor repairs to bathroom and bathing area as well as a general clean up and paint.


I met a young Haitian man yesterday that is interested in working as a gardener for the project. He was already hired for the general labour in the yard for the current owner of the property.



We will talk to the pastor and his wife that live in the area about the posibility of having them come on board as the house parents as they are unable to have children at this time. We will of course do a full background check with references and criminal history check.

Everything is going well and we fly out today...

Thanks for your thoughts, financial gifts and prayers,

Shane

p.s. Kristie...see you soon honey... kiss the girls for me...

Onward and Upward!

Hello friends,

Here we are back at Puerto Plata.

Monday we spent the day in Santiago. Our group went to Santa Lucia where I try to go every time I come to the DR. There is a little 10 year old girl there that lives beside a stream so polluted that you can´t see the ground in or around it for he garbage.

She is 10 now and for he last 2 years she cries when I leave. I want to tke her home but I can´t because she is the oldest of 5 children. She keeps the house going when her parents drink or do drugs. Here siblings need her. I pay the school, where she attends, a little money for shoes, food or a uniform so that her parents don´t spend it on rum.



Today we go to sign papers to lease the childrens home for 2 years.

Pray for us...

Shane

A full day in the Sun...

Yesterday we spent the secondhalf of the day back at the potential site of the children's home. We met a local couple that works with children in a area close to the place that our children's home is in. They are a young couple unable to have children. The man is a finish carpenter and pastor. The wife has a deep love for children and holds a weekly gathering for children in the area. Do you know what I did? I brought them to the home and asked them to look around. I also found out that we are paying less for this house and land than it cost to rent a small house on a lot a few miles away. We are getting a really good deal.





He asked if he could help us work on the house. Of course I told him... yes it was a distinct posibility... with my hands, facial expressions and broken spanish. The girls were laughing at me.





6/24/07





This place was hot today...







Life in this place does not wait whan it is too hot to go outside... which is what we did. The day was spent in a couple of churches and Pizza Hut. The first church was a Dominican Church down town that was progressive and updated with sound and video. Then Pizza Hut at the resort area near teh beach and then to a very very small rural and run down Haitian village. It was an optional day but all parties took the option instead of sitting at the beach near our guest house.





We walked with a group of Haitians and watched as a man was baptized. We all carried children about a mile in the heat to a small stream. Everyone loved the children and the village but we are sunburned and sore.





Tomorrow we go to Santiago to a place called Santa Lucia.





My time is running out so I had better go for now...





Shane

I met a little lady named Terri from Nova Scotia on the beach today. She was talking with one of the members of our group when she sat next to me on one of the chairs and began to tell me about the 3 young children that were with her that day.

There were three children with her aged 7, 10 and 12. Their mother was terminal with cancer in Puerto Plata and there was no father in the picture as all three had different fathers. Teri´s greatest fear was that the children would be left to the kind of life the North Coast of the Dominican Republic has to offer.

Just like the young girl that is sitting about 6 feet away from me. late teens to early twenties, she is sitting a a bar with a German man perhaps three times her age. There is no misunderstanding their relationship.

I see it all over. Sex sells here. It uses up young boys and girls and throws them away in every imaginable way. I watched lyesterday as three young girls waled across the road in front of our car. Swaying their hips as the went... something that young girls don´t do in the part of the country most of us live in.

I think of my children and thank God that I am able to protect them from the harsh reality that these young people face in Puerto Plata. My hope is that our children´s home will help.


Today was spent in the village of Assention, which is a poor village mostly inhabited by Haitians. There is a school, fair trade factory, wood shop and several other amenities for the people of the area.

We had a full day that included looking at an amazing abandoned Hotel that is for sale for a fraction of the price land costs here.

Keep us in your prayers...

Shane

Here I am!

Ok Here I am sitting ina little cyber cafe in Puerto Plata. There is Merengue music playing and plenty of conversation going on around. Brendan is standing next to me reading every word oblivious to what is going on around him.

Sorry... no pictures today because there is no way to get the pictures from my camera to the internet yet.

We got into the country yesterday but not without a mishap or two. Ten minutes into our trip the van that I borrowed to transport us to the airport...yes... the engine caught on fire. Don´t ask me but it did... So we were behind the eight ball from the start. Delta make a mistake in their flight scheduling so we rushed to get to an ealier flight when we checked in... It was interesting.

Today was spent traveling to the potential site of the children´s home. It is in a very good location away from the city of Puerto Plata but close enough to be in town in about 5 minutes. The property includes a creek next to it. Water piped from the mountain, a large garden area, fruit trees, a place for animals and a house that is almost 100 years old that the termites have eaten up. It is in terrible condition. Even the price is really good... but that house needs help, badly. It is about 600 to 700 square feet and has a bathing area and outhouse.

The rest of the day was spent at the beach because the people in the group were about to colapse from the heat... I don´t know... It doesn´t seem that hot to me?

So that is the update... we negotiated a price of approx $4000 for 2 years including the garden area. We will talk to the lawyers tomorrow...

you can call me in country at 541-729-1066 (my Oregon telephone number)

Shane

Flying out Today!

Here we go!

I wish you were coming with us!

I have received many emails and telephone calls about our latest chapter in the sustainable children's home project.

Brendan (my 8 year old son) and I are running around doing last minute things and packing mosquito repellent, sunscreen and sunglasses etc . He hasn't been back to Hispaniola, where he spent half of his life for... the last 4 years, other half of his life... That's funny... maybe just to me. Anyway, he is looking forward to eating sugar cane and helping the children. He wrote letters and telephoned relatives to raise money for his part of the trip. Yes I am proud of him. Naomi is in camp this week and Noelle isn't ready yet.



Ok... on with the details.


We fly Delta from Portland to Puerto Plata departing at 11:25 pm and arriving at 2:04 pm tomorrow. We have lodging and meals already lined up in Puerto Plata. The first 3 or 4 days will be spent working out a lease/option for the perspective children's home location. The remainder of the time will be spent in various locations between POP, Sosua, Cabarete and Santiago. We will be meeting with friends and local missionaries.



Those of you who are reading this from the Dom. Rep. please feel free to call William Gomez in country at 809-878-9029. (That is his Cell) to set up a time for us to have a cup of tea and talk. William is managing our schedule while we are there.


The rest of you please look daily at the blog to see photos and updates about what is happening on our trip. If you know of anyone that may want to see this and read along please forward the blog to them.

If you know of anyone who can help with finances please direct them to this link:
Help Mercy League and go to the contact page to donate... but especially... please say a prayer and think about joining us next time.

Take care and God Bless...

Thanks so much for all of the encouragement... telephone calls, email and gifts.


www.mercyleague.org

This is me and my daughter Naomi

Hello to all...

I know what it is like to live, what can sometimes be, a hectic life. Reading all of the emails I see in the in-box can be challenging let alone responding to them all...

so...

I am planning a condensed version of updates that can be read within 2 or 3 minutes that will, hopefully, keep you with me.

I would like to get feedback...

How is the font size for you?
Length of blogs etc...

By the way... I appreciate that 4 people sent a total of $600

I want to list their names and thank them for putting into the "stone soup " as I called it, but I don't know if they would like that...

You know who you are... so thanks... It touched my heart.

Please respond to this email and let me know if you are still with me. I don't want to bother or pester anyone. If you are like me it isn't all too often that you have time or funds to throw around... I know all about it. It's ok...

Please let me know if you are enjoying this journey with us.

There are more than 200 of you potentially reading this.

I appreciate your time and care for me, my family and this important work we are doing for these children.

Shane

Getting it on the Ground...

Hello friends and family,


Here are a few small details that need to be relayed...









1. I have contacted our man, William Gomez about the possibility of a longer term lease and asked for a clarification on the amount of acreage that comes with the house.

• A longer Lease term can be negotiated when we get there, but William believes that we won't have any trouble convincing the owner to extend the lease to 3 or 4 years. One of our members asked about the possibility of adding an option to buy at the end of the lease... We will have our lawyer look into it.
• The house is in need of repair. It has a little more than 1/2 an acre of land to use. This wold be a problem but it seems that there is enough adjacent farm land that can also be leased for extended periods of time.

2. Money... I have a little. I try to fund everything on my own. It doesn't work very well as I don't earn much of it. Doesn't it always come back money. I strongly dislike the money part of doing this kind of thing but as you know... it is our physical connection to this world.

• That said... We are a volunteer organization with no fund raising campaigns or deep pockets to pull from.

• If you can help please do so. We need $2400 to break even by June 19th but we are working on it.
  

The "contact" tab of our website: www.mercyleague.org has a link that takes a credit card or you can send a check payable to "Mercy League International" to:

Mercy League Int.
Attn: Shane Mattenley
P.O. Box 116
Lorane, OR 97451

All donations are tax deductible within the US.

Sorry that I had to mention money.


3. When we get the property leased we will need someone to lead a work team. Please consider the prospect of getting involved at the ground level.

Thanks for being a part of this,

Shane