Life with the Goodlins: Dominican Republic {CSP Day}

Ok, so I am going to give you a little more of the nitty gritty on Compassion (I am no expert though). One of the really great programs Compassion has started is called the CSP (Child Survival Program). This program is to help moms and babies, it is suppose to help babies survive through some of the toughest years and actually make it into some of the other programs Compassion offers.

Well, that was about all I knew about the CSP program before going on this trip and when I really saw what they did I was A.M.A.Z.E.D and it was so much more than just helping babies survive!

I was more than thrilled for this day, to see all the little babies and encourage the moms. I mean, when I was missing my little babies at home this totally filled my heart! The whole day was more than I could have ever anticipated!

We were greeted so warmly! As soon as I entered the church, there was music, clapping and cheering, one of the moms with her little son just grabbed my arm and brought me to the front, I had no idea where Brett even was. The room was just filled with joy, so many smiling faces, lots of momma's and little babies and toddlers everywhere!

When looking around the room everyone on our team just had the hugest smiles, we all L.O.V.E.D the kids! see

They performed for us, sang, and embraced us, and I had the best seat in the house.

We got to visit with the moms, ask about how Compassion has helped them (all with a translator of course), and just encourage one another. The women talked about the hope they had ever since joining the CSP program with Compassion, they talked about how they have learned how to take better care of their children and be better mothers, they talked about having a community, knowing other women (loneliness isn't limited to Americans) and being encouraged.

Compassion doesn't send people from American to teach the women this, they empower the people within the country, this is a brief on how it works.

Compassion Headquarters in the Dominican Republic trains/hires women from the churches that partner with Compassion.
These women are extensively trained on child care development, etc
These trained women go back to their churches with lots of education, knowledge, and huge hearts.
Depending on the finances, space, and help, the church allows so many mother/child pairs into their CSP program (the one we visited had 75 moms/babies).
Starting during Pregnancy the CSP women get education, health check ups, advice and encouragement
They keep a detailed file of the mom and child (like what you would see at a doctors office)
All of this is done in the name of Jesus

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What I loved

1. Compassion is creating jobs, for lots of people

2. Compassion is empowering people from the Dominican to help each other

3. Moms and Babies who may have died are now surviving, and thriving

4. The women who are involved with the CSP program are sharing their knowledge

5. Compassion is giving hope to those who may have otherwise been hopeless

6. This is what Jesus had taught us to do, and I love seeing it lived out

One more thing that I loved, is that once a mom has gone through the program she does not get to do it again, she now has the knowledge to move forward and the system does not get abused.

Let me tell you, there is a HUGE difference between seeing families with this help, versus without . You could just look at a family and know the difference, hope in the eyes of a person is unmistakable.

So here are more photos from the day

every toddler needs a snack

Some of the mama's and babies we chatted with

We were served a very yummy Dominican lunch outside

I am not sure who all of these guys are (helpers at the church), well anyway, they begged me to their

photo

Prayer

They like to put everything in their mouth too

We also got to visit the home of one of the mothers and see how they really lived. To say the least it was very humbling and eye opening.

This is the mom's house we visited. I guess the best description of the home we saw would be a shack (r this woman's home was much nicer than man others we saw.)