Dumar: Revealing the Inner Man

Ivon Cuervo - Posted on September 24, 2010

This life story tells how a man went from being "the black sheep" to "the Good Samaritan" in his community. Hear Dumar’s story and find out how he did it.

"I grew up in this neighborhood, and people knew me as the black sheep of my family, because I was rebellious and used to go against others," says Dumar, 30.

Eight years ago, that same young man who seemed not to be interested in being supportive, realized that something new was happening in the neighborhood and decided to see what it was. "I saw some people walking down the hill. They said they worked with World Vision. They came in winter. The road had become such a muddy slide [from all of the rains] that they seemed to come down skating," he recalls.

Dumar offered to guide them to the place where the community people were waiting for them, and upon arriving at the meeting, he took advantage of being known by most of the participants to get their attention. "I stood at the door of the living room and told the people: ‘Please, do me a favor and be quiet.’ A neighbor was surprised and said: ‘What are you doing here?’ And I said: ‘I’m here, so what?’" he remembers.

At the end of the introductory meeting to the World Vision program aimed at families who had been invited, Dumar spoke with one of the promoters and told him that he had a daughter who could join the sponsorship program. "That day my daughter, Chelsi, joined the sponsorship program. Sharon, now 5, was born after that and was also included in the sponsorship program. [Today], my wife and I are community volunteers,” Dumar said.

Laura, his wife, is a teacher in the Timothy Club, a place where two Saturdays a month the children learn about values and principles from the Bible. "In the Timothy [Club], I have learned about respect and peace," said Chelsi, 8.

"I know the area very well and help the World Vision staff with the delivery of letters and special gifts. Also, I help fill the forms of delivery of benefits, such as the school and the hygiene kits," says Dumar.

Today, people in the community love and respect Dumar and the World Vision sponsorship promoters think of him as another colleague. "I've grown up a lot working with these people of the community. You learn to deal with and control your own character," he says.

Dumar is a resourceful man and although he only studied up to third grade of primary school, his lack of education has not impeded him to financially support his family, especially since World Vision began working in his community.

"I joined the microcredit project of World Vision, which allowed us to have the basis to start a family business at home," says Dumar. "Through this project, we received training in administration and sales, from a team of trainers that came from a university," he adds. Now, Dumar buys chickens and raises them with his wife them in the yard of the house until they are the right size to be consumed. "The business of raising and selling chickens started producing profits after certain time. In the meanwhile, however, you have to look for an income in another place, because the children cannot be hungry," says Dumar.

Occasionally, Dumar works doing electricity fixings at homes and his wife is at home. She is his partner in the business of chickens. Their faith and commitment to their family and their community have grown so much that currently they host a single mother and her two children in their home, until she can get some economic stability.

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