Dominican Republic

I woke up yesterday morning with a knot in my stomach.

To be honest, I wasn’t excited about the day. It was my second day working in San Pedro de Macoris, and my first waking up in my new home here. Normally I’m excited about new things, new adventures, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I was tired of moving to places where I don’t know anyone. The challenges of working in a different culture had worn on me. I felt ineffective and unmotivated. I had forgotten my mission.

I passed the early morning catching up on emails as I waited to head out to the field with Isidro. Isidro is a loan officer who roves the  dusty streets of San Pedro communities, his silver-speckled hair buried beneath his helmet. He’s been doing this for nearly 10 years. A quick “Vamos!” and we headed out into the radiant mid-morning Dominican sun, accompanied by the rattle of his Dominican motorcycle.

As we rode along, Isidro explained his job to me. He specializes in individual loans – larger loans to clients who have built up their credit and business over the years with Esperanza, or newer clients that already have successful small businesses. Even though individual loan clients mail their loan payments in each month, Isidro spends a lot of time visiting his clients. Just stopping by to see how the business is doing, talk about family or church. Not just a loan. A relationship. Isidro was clear on his mission – to be a partner and friend to these entrepreneurs.

We pulled over at José Lugo’s one-room mechanic workshop located in northern San Pedro. His hands greasy from working, José greeted me with a wrist-bump. You could tell he meant business, staring out at me from behind is protective glasses – but he quickly broke into a smile as he told me some of his story.

José specializes in making and repairing metal machine parts:  gears, bearings, and other things with technical names I’m not sure of. He showed me a transmission gear he was repairing, while next to me his employee slowly drilled a hole in a part using a metal bore. José is relatively new to HOPE and Esperanza – this is his first loan, which he took out about a year ago. He talks about his clients – they come from all over San Pedro. He does a lot of work for manufacturers in the Zona Franca, or industrial free zone.

José pointed around his shop to the various tools he bought with his loan: a black power hand drill, a red gas tank, a pneumatic nozzle, and his pride and joy, the impressive green drill press that stands 6 feet tall at the back of his shop. None of it was brand new, top-of-the-line technology. He probably picked them up at various places – a hardware store, a friend’s shop, a factory looking to update equipment. But now in his hands, these tools are instruments of precision, creativity, and value. They honored him.

…

Yesterday, I woke up thinking of my own purposes. José reminded me that I am to be an instrument of the Master Craftsman, bringing honor to him. This morning I got out of bed on a mission, much greater than my own.

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