If your flights for the 2019 trip are based in Valdosta, then you might have received an email message from Delta on February 17 with a notice about changes in both the flight numbers and the times for those VLD-ATL flights. The current flight numbers and times are below:
Monday, June 17
Time to be at the Valdosta airport to check in: 4:00 a.m.
Delta 3818 VLD 6:10 a.m. --> ATL 7:25 a.m. [NOTE NEW FLIGHT NUMBER AND DEPARTURE TIME]
Delta 686 ATL 9:50 a.m. --> SDQ 1:16 p.m.
Monday, June 24
Delta 759 SDQ 1:45 p.m. --> ATL 5:21 p.m.
Delta 3723 ATL 9:16 p.m. --> VLD 10:20 p.m. [NOTE NEW FLIGHT NUMBER AND DEPARTURE TIME]
Veterinary Project:
While I was in El Pedregal earlier this month, Leidy and Jesús took me to visit Jacqueline Bello Isaías, who lives in El Pedregal and operates a dog rescue project in a large fenced compound that includes her home and several dog pens. That home is about a five-minute walk from the Episcopal school and church, but is in an area of the village where we have never worked or even walked through as a team. Leidy and Jesús know her because Jesús lived in her house as a teenager and worked as one of her assistants helping with the dogs, and for about a year Leidy and Jesús rented a room in a house directly across the street from the entrance to her compound. Jacqueline even tried to donate a parcel of her land to Leidy and Jesús so they could build their house there, but that property transfer did not work out. During our rabies clinic at the school in 2018, Jacqueline came and brought me a brochure about her rescue operation, but I confess (sadly) that I did not realize the extent of her activities at the time. But now, thanks to Leidy and Jesús' persistence, I do.
The photograph above shows Jacqueline and some of her dogs in her compound.
Jacqueline has about 80! dogs (and 2 horses) on her property, and works with a supportive veterinarian in Santo Domingo to care for them. However, she is struggling to come up with the financial resources to feed all of those animals, to transport them for care in Santa Domingo, and to pay even the reduced charges from her veterinarian. She has lived in the United States, and speaks excellent English. Our two team veterinarians, Meg and Casey, have volunteered to help her while we are in El Pedregal, and might spend up to three days in her compound to examine, vaccinate, and prescribe medicines and other necessary treatments. We will be considering making a donation to her to pay for animal food and other supplies that she needs, but those donation details are not certain yet.
Next week: a video about Jacqueline's animal rescue operation, and details on another project.
And Continue to Save The Date of May 3 --
our annual DR dinner and auction to raise funds for scholarships at the K-8 school we support and for a portion of our project costs is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 3, at the Cotton Corner in downtown Valdosta. If you would like to donate one or more items to the auction, please let Julia know at <
juliacariail@gmail.com
>. For photographs from the 2018 dinner and auction,
click here
.
Julius
* * * * * * * * * *
The planning webpage for the 2019 mission trip
is online here.
All information about the trip will be added to this page just as soon as it is available.
For information about Christ Church's mission work in the Dominican Republic, including a summary report and photographs from the 2018 trip,
click here
.
