Pot Luck Planning Dinner

Pot Luck Planning Dinner
Sue Klappa


Thursday evening, April 29th, our group met to talk about packing and our service sites. We were also able to skype with several members of the Creighton ILAC PT group to hear about two of our service sites. Thank you to Lana, Susan, Amy, and Christie! We have some great ideas for our service work at Hospicio, CONANI, and the general ILAC experience.


Saturday we will travel all day and arrive in Santo Domingo around 10:40 pm. We will be staying at Bettye’s Guest House in the Zona Colonial until Monday morning: http://www.santodomingohostel.com/.


Sunday we head to Batey Cayacoa (a Haitian community) near San Pedro de Macoris for mass, a tour, and a conversation with the women of the community. Batey Cayacoa bears the name of the original native Taíno name for that region and has been chosen as the model and lab community for future consolidations of batey communities. The idea of the consolidation process is to concentrate several small bateyes into a few large ones, in order to facilitate regular services, such as electricity, water supply, health care, schools, ambulance service, etc. "Nuevo Cayacoa, Phase 1" was inaugurated on Sept. 2009, and that phase includes a Catholic church, a new school, a new clinic, a community center, soccer field, basketball court, a few spaces for shops called the "Cayacoa Mall" and new houses. Since Cayacoa is on the road to the northern district of San José de Los Llanos, it´s very conveniently located, and it is being studied as a model for what will be done in other bateys.


We will return to the Zona Colonial for a tour in the afternoon and enjoy our evening in our new world. Monday morning we will head up to Santiago, about 2 hours to the north of Santo Domingo and get settled at the ILAC Center, our home away from home.

Our Adventure Begins . . .

Our Adventure Begins. . .

Sue Klappa

Alla Campbell’s poem entitled Passover Remembered speaks of traveling to new lands and the changes that will occur during the journey of one’s first Passover. The poem begins with the following words:

“Pack nothing bring only your determination to serve and willingness to be free. . . . Do not hesitate to leave your old ways behind—fear, silence, submission. Only surrender to the need of the time—to love justice and walk humbly with your God.”

Twelve students from the St. Catherine University DPT and PTA programs will travel to the Dominican Republic from May 1- 15th for a capstone service learning experience. Two faculty members, Dr. Lisa Dutton and Dr. Sue Klappa, as well as Jamie Tranberg, DPT and SCU alumna from 2009 will serve as team mentors during the trip.

Although we have a packing list, we are topping our list with a determination to serve and an openness to learn from those we will encounter. We will leave behind our old ways of thinking and knowing—leaving fear, silence, and complacency behind. We hope to come away from our experience with a new way of viewing the world and challenge our understanding of justice. We have prepared for this trip during the last year and are ready for our journey—our adventure to begin.

Alla Campbell further writes:

“Some of you will be so changed by weathers and wanderings that even your closest friends will have to learn your features as though for the first time . . . . Some will find new friendships in unlikely faces, and old friends as faithful and true as the Pillar of God’s flame. . . . Sing songs as you go, and hold close together. You may at times grow confused and you may lose your way. Continue to call each other by the names I’ve given you, to help remember who you are. You will get where you are going by remembering who you are. Touch each other and keep telling stories. Make maps as you go remembering the way back from before you were born.”

We hope to use this blog as a way to share our experiences with you all at home so that you will feel connected to us. We invite you to travel in solidarity with us as we have mountain top experiences. We invite you to hold us in your thoughts and prayers through our difficult and challenging times—our dessert experiences.

Saturday, we will go forth to the DR with the words of wisdom from our Sending Ceremony in our hearts and minds committed and dedicated to the call of healing, the call of social justice, the call to love and serve through our work of physical therapy.