86-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February S, 2000
Horticulture President
Contracts 'Bug'
That Won't Disappear
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Fanning Staff
HERSHEY (Dauphin Co.)
Bugs was one of the problems
addressed at last week’s Mid-
Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable
Convention in Hershey.
But Brooks Way, a fifth gen
eration farmer in Centre County
and the newly elected president
of the State Horticulture Associ
ation, has a bug he can’t get rid
of.
“There are many bugs you
can contract in the Dominic Re
public, but the one bug that
stayed with me is the mission
bug,” Way said. “To serve
someone else gives us purpose.”
At the convention’s Women’s
Auxiliary luncheon, Brooks, his
wife Sharon, and daughter Sara,
20, presented a program on their
missionary trips to the Domini
can Republic.
Several years ago, the Way
family took a vacation from
their 375-acre farm, where they
grow 10 acres of strawberries, 1
acre of sweet cherries, two acres
of tart cherries, 20 acres
peaches, 80 acres apples, 25
acres sweet corn, and 15 acres
pumpkins.
“I’m a full-time farmer,”
Brooks said of the operation
that requires seven to 20 em
ployees depending on the
season. All farm produce is sold
at three area farmers’ markets.
“1 didn’t want to go to a tour
ist area,” Way said of his deci
sion to visit the Dominican
Republic several years ago.
After one trip, the Way family
said they were “hooked” and
have now participated in three
mission trips to the Republic
with plans to go again in March.
These visits aren’t lay-in-the
sun vacations, but industrious
work projects to better the living
conditions of the natives.
The visual imagery via slides
and the descriptive accounts of
the area revealed severe poverty
made worst by Hurricane Mitch.
About 200 people drowned
when a wall of water hit the vil
lage. The. villagers had only
seven minutes warning during
the night. Because it was pitch
dark, the f people didn’t know
where to go or what to do. Those
who sought shelter inside were
trapped and drowned in the
water. Those who survived did
so by clinging to building roofs
and trees.
The government refused to let
the people rebuilt because the
land was condemned as a flood
plain. Because they have no
place to go, the people stay there
and are known as squatters in
the area now considered a
ghetto. The villagers add parts
to their windowless shacks as
they salvage or can afford to
purchase them.
“While there, I discovered a
reason for roaches,” Way said.
He recounted seeing a man beat
ing the outside of his house in a
morning ritual. The noise
brought hundreds of roaches
swarming to the outside. The
man scooped handfuls of the
roaches and flung them to his
chickens. As far as Way could
determine, that was the only
feed the chickens were given.
While there, the Ways visited
a dairy farm.
“It was the skinniest group of
cows I’ve ever seen,” Way said.
Three cows produced only
about one quart of milk during
milking time.
The cows’ back legs were tied
together during milking. Al
though a strainer hung on a
nearby fence post, it was not
used during the milking opera
tion. Instead the unstrained
milk was sold to a waiting
mother.
The Ways were fascinated to
see pigs tied to a rope to graze.
The pigs seemed content to root
in the short patch of ground that
the rope’s leeway allowed.
In a pen, about 150 chickens
had their legs tied together.
Whenever someone purchased a
chicken, it was dressed while the
customer watched.
A few signs of entrepreneur
ship were evident. A woman
erected a small booth outside the
medical clinic. In the booth, she
cooks a meal and sells popcorn
to waiting patients.
In the village, children under
two years of age never wore
clothing. Sharon said this is
probably due to the fact that na
tives can not afford to purchase
diapers.
Unsanitary conditions pre
vail. Pictures showed a commu
nity outhouse located next to the
village water supply. The public
sewer was a shallow ditch that
ran through the area.
Although the village has elec
tricity, it is an unreliable source
of energy as it is often turned off
for 12 hours at a time. But that
doesn’t keep the natives from
hot wiring electricity from over
head wires.
Typical food fare for all three
meals is a dish of rice and
kidney beans.
Parents are not legally re
sponsible for their children after
8 years. For this reason, kids
roam in the street from morning
to night. They basically stay in
Newly-elected president of the State Horticulture Association of Pennsylvania
Brooks Way, his wife Sharon, and daughter Sara, left, describe the ‘bug’ they
contracted in the Domincan Republic. The Way family were featured speakers at
the Women’s Auxiliary luncheon during the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable
Convention.
their own area because the area
is territorial. They are not safe if
they wander into another area
claimed by children’s gangs.
Children are not required to
attend school. Instead schooling
is considered a privilege.
The group going on the mis
sion trip included doctors and
dentists who worked from
morning to night addressing the
many medical needs of the na
tives. Sara assisted the doctors.
It is the church’s groups
desire to teach the natives skills
that can support them. The
American dentists taught one
native how to clean teeth and
left the needed supplies with
him.
On one visit, the Calvary Bap
tist group helped build a medi
cal clinic. In others, they helped
at a boys’ orphanage. The 68
boys lived in the most primitive
conditions with only the bare ne
cessities. The mission group col
lected clothing and sneakers for
the boys and built wooden lock
ers for each of the 68 boys to
store their possessions.
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Amazingly each boy found a
pair of sneakers to fit from the
donated pairs.
It was the first time most of
the children had the opportunity
to select clothing, and the Ways
described the excitement the
event aroused. Each of the boys
also painted their plywood lock
ers using stencils and sponges to
print their names and decorate
with other designs.
The boys had been fascinated
with the few bicycles available.
In addition to riding them, they
often dismantled and rebuilt the
bicycle. Way has collected 27
donated bicycles, which he has
dismantled and will ship over
for his next visit on March 1.
Two motorcycles have also been
donated and will be shipped on a
cargo plane the church has
rented.
“The boys need material stuff,
but they also need personal at
tention,” Way said. During pre
vious visits, some of the boys just
wanted to be held.
Even in the Dominican Re
public, the Way family saw
some sights that reminded them
T f s
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* ’ % M i
■: t!!
of home. They saw the distribu
tion of canned food in boxes
marked Food for Relief, which
had been canned in Belleville
and Lancaster. -
They also saw apples bang
sold that were shipped from
Hess Brothers Fruit Company,
Leola. t
Apples kre in great demand
but limited sppply. As an or
chardist, Way was fascinated to
see apples being sold for 50 cents
a piece. At this price, few natives
can afford to purchase them.
The businessman who sells the
apples does not want to have
more apples shipped in because
he prefers to sell them at a high
price rather than buy in volume,
see the price drop, and sell more.
Unlike the U.S., the richest
people are the farmers. But the
fruit is exported and natives are
not able to purchase it.
When Way went to purchase
materials at a hardware store, he
noticed many people laughing at
him. He was told that the resi
dents consider that only the
poorest of the poor wear shorts.
By his outfit, he was considered
too poor to purchase the items.
People who work wear dress
clothes even for manual labor.
While the U.S. and the Do
minican Republic have different
codes of conduct and opposite
business philosophies, the Way
family has bonded with the vil
lagers. Finding ways to help the
villagers has become a way of
life for the whole family. In ad
dition to Sara, the parents also
have a son Benjamin, 16, and
daughter Megan, who is mar
ried.
Contributions for the project
can be made to Calvary Baptist
Church, University Drive, State
College, PA 16801; earmark for
the Dominican Republic.
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