Doughnuts at Meson De Dios

Words and Photos by Jake Crandall

Jonathan made 240 doughnuts from scratch and Teodoro fried them all in batches of 11 or 12 in a pot full of oil on an open flame. After coating them in sugar, they handed them off to four other men, including Sosa.

Sosa took his 60 doughnuts on the same route he takes every day in a neighborhood in Santo Domingo. Sosa walks up and down the street yelling “azucar y caliente,” meaning sugary and hot. He sells most of his doughnuts to the same people he has been selling to every day since he started 2 months ago.

These men are in a 15-month program at Meson De Dios after spending many years on the streets addicted to drugs, such as crack, cocaine and heroin. The program gives them structure, which has been rare in their lives. Everyone has a job, whether it be making the doughnuts or cooking everybody else’s lunch. The leaders say the program gives clients the opportunity to start a new life, move out on their own, work independently and reconnect with their families or start a new ones.

I am excited to spend the next three weeks with these kind and generous men. I can tell they have experienced a lot and are willing to share their stories. Plus, I get homemade doughnuts that are 10 times better than Lamars’.