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Family’s life-changing experience
Thursday October 02nd 2008. Posted: 09:30
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Simon Ormston with his family in the Dominican Republic
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Building village homes for destitute sugar cane workers in the Dominican Republic has been a life-affirming experience for BT Global Services' Simon Ormston and his family.
Simon, his wife Frances and children Robyn, 15, and Robert, ten, spent two weeks on the Caribbean island this summer with the charity Mission Direct. They were with a team of 22 British people helping to build houses for people living in nearby slum shacks. “Each morning we worked on the houses, doing heavy labouring or painting and decorating, and then in the afternoons, after a good wash and lunch, we visited community projects,” said Simon, who is head of outsourcing marketing for Global Services. “Sometimes we helped distribute food in hospitals, or we entertained the local children, playing football, braiding hair and painting nails. We saw a great deal of desperation. One afternoon we met a family whose mother had abandoned them. The baby was malnourished because the father could not afford to buy baby milk. Another time we were stopped at a road junction by a young girl who needed a new kidney. She was begging for money so she could afford the operation. “One of the reasons we wanted to go to the Dominican Republic was to give the kids a different perspective on life, and so they could see how other people live. We all have a privileged existence in the UK. Though the Dominicans don’t have a lot materially, they are a happy people with a much stronger sense of community than us. The whole trip was a fantastic experience and great fun.” Mission Direct was set up 20 years ago and has built more than 700 houses in nine villages, along with schools, health centres, village halls and churches. Families are able to live in the houses rent-free for five years and then are able to pay a minimal fee to have the freehold transferred into their own name. For more information visit the Mission Direct website.
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