Community Service: Dominican Republic 2011

Hello from Santo Domingo!

We are back in the capital, enjoying the last moments of our time together. For the past two days, we stayed in an ecolodge located in the mountainous Cordillera Central region– the surroundings were so different than what we’d come to know in the southwest.  On Sunday, we woke up early, ate breakfast, and then traveled about an hour to the starting point of our white water rafting adventure.  It was AMAZING! The guides were excited and brought our kids out of their slow morning pace. We started out with a few training rapids and then took on rapids named ‘Mike Tyson Jr’; ‘Mike Tyson Sr’; ‘Cemetery’ among others! There was also a chance for us to jump from a cliff about 20 feet into the water below!  It was a blast.

When we got back to the lodge, a buffet-style lunch awaited us and we relaxed and talked with the guides. We played dominoes, billiards, and pingpong. Several of our students slept on hammocks. On our way back to our hotel, we stopped for some helado (ice cream)! Back at the hotel, the kids played some volleyball and swam in the pool before a delicious spaghetti dinner. The hotel owner was a great host! He was funny and liked to joke around with our group, but always stressed the importance of conservation.

On our last day in the Dominican Republic, we woke up and ate a delectable breakfast of PANCAKES!  Later that morning we boarded our gua gua to Santo Domingo and enjoyed an afternoon with lunch and some time to shop for souvenirs.  We went back to our hotel to shower and get ready for our last night’s dinner together.  It was sooooo good. Everyone is pretty tired and we have to be up at 4:00 am to go to the airport!

We’ve had a blast and learned a lot in the past few weeks.  The owner of the restaurant tonight pretty much said it all. He was so thrilled to learn that we our group was here to collaborate with a community in one of the poorer areas of the country. He called us heroes for what we were doing and added that the more privileged people here in the DR often don’t lift a finger to help their fellow Dominicans.   We think our students are leaving with what we expected – mosquito bites, a tan, a new appreciation for air conditioning and showers, but above all an understanding of a different way of life and many new friendships.   It seems to have inspired a lot of our students to bring this spirit back with them and hopefully to continue to “sow seeds for progress” in the future.

Saludos,
Jesus and Sarah

Saludos from Bahoruco!

Our time here in the Dominican Republic is drawing to an end.  This week we completed work on our service projects- at the primary school, every building is painted and it looks fantastic! We’ve also painted playground games of Muneco, Cafe, and Jumbo onto two new concrete play areas; ask your children to teach you when they get home! We visited some of our friends at the pley (baseball field) to watch some beisbol and we checked out several local larimar shops.  Larimar is a semi precious stone, similar to turquoise in color, that is mined only is this part of the Dominican Republic. Many locals here make a living by mining and crafting jewelry out of the stone.

In other news, last week we discovered a new river spot that is more private and tons of fun. We floated on the river all the way to where the river meets the sea. It’s very beautiful and definitely a place we’d all love to visit again!  We also did a zipline adventure through the canopy which was really exciting.

Today is our  despedida (goodbye party) and our students were busy all day preparing for it right now – there was a cooking crew, decorations crew, invitations crew, and entertainment crew. Ask them who their new favorite singer is and they will likely say Prince Royce. The party was a hit and included a musical chairs competitions, dance competitions, and a talent show performance by our students.

Tomorrow bright and early we say adios to our village and head for the Cordillera Central and the mountains of Jarabacoa.  More adventures to come!

Besos,
Jesus and Sarah

Saludos!

Our weekend trip to the beach was so wonderful. We surprised the students by traveling with a few of our friends from our village in an open-air safari vehicle; the ride was a blast in spite of the rain.  We then took boats to a private beach.  The view was so incredible; blue and turquoise colored waters with fine white sand in an untouched national park that many Dominicans consider the “jewel” of their country. Everyone was so happy and we spent the day “taking the sun” and hanging out with our friends from our village. That evening, we drove into town for dinner and ate SOOOOO much! The students are really starting to get into the Dominican food. We then went back to the beach and pitched our tents. Some students slept under the stars – it was amazing to have the place to ourselves.

The water was unbelievable!

We went out to dinner with friends on Friday night.

The next morning we packed up and headed back to the east, to an eco-resort tucked into the mountains overlooking the beach.  Compared life in our village, only a few miles away, our stay here was pure luxury.  Each small group of students had a private cabana with TWO showers with running water… oh, and did we mention that the water was hot? And that the electricity worked?!  The dancing group of La Cienega came to perform for us that night and we made some more friends who have been coming to our English classes since.

After relaxing and enjoying ourselves on Saturday, we headed back to our village on Sunday where we planned English classes, designs for murals, cooking classes, French classes, hip hop classes, Roo’s birthday party, and work on our independent projects. The big painting project is more than underway as we have already completed 2 full buildings in a matter of several days. We can sense that the kids are eager to finish the project and see the finished product – they’re loving the work so far!  We’ve also been teaching English classes for children under 10 years old and have recently offered classes to students who are more our age.

More to come!

Love,
Jesus and Sarah

Teaching local children

The primary school and our home

Preparing the walls

Hip Hop class

Volleyball

Our first full week in our village has been exciting–full of unexpected weather, power outages, humidity, and a continuous flow of rice and beans!  Nonetheless, the students have managed to get along really well together and to connect at a level Sarah and I didn’t really think was possible in only seven days! We have had quite a bit of rain last week, which was a challenge that our students met with full force. Although the downpours did postpone the start of one of our biggest projects this summer (painting of the local primary school), our group maintained an unbelievably positive attitude through it all. Playing in the rain became a favorite activity!  Luckily though, the sun came out three days ago and we hope it will stay for a while.

On the project front, we are now running two sessions of English classes for the local children; our  students rotate through so that everyone gets a chance to teach. Today, our project at the school finally got under way and the students have been busy scraping all of the old and rusty paint off of the school’s walls. The cleaning of the walls is really important since it will provide a nice surface for the oil-based paint that we will begin to apply on Monday. Our maestro de obras (project foreman) David explains all of the basics to the kids at the project site.

Other happenings of the week include a ‘how to wash your clothes by hand’ tutorial. . . it was amazing how quickly they got the hang of it! We have also started daily ‘kitchen crew’and ‘bathroom crew’ duties, each crew consisting of 2-3 students.  The kitchen crew’s focus is cleaning up after meals and helping our cooks Dona Tita and Dominga to prepare foods in the kitchen.  The bathroom crew’s work is equally important, even if it isn’t as popular: to clean the toilets and wash the floors.  Our working crews have already helped to create a sense of respect and responsibility amongst the group.

In the afternoons, we can often be found cooling off in the nearby river and its natural (and cold!) fresh water pools and going to the beach for some volleyball and frisbee time. Most evenings are quiet, but last night we went out on the town.  We walked 30 yards to the local corner store that blasts bachata, merengue, and salsa music and tried out our moves! It was great to watch our students gingerly dance to the different styles and beats and be able to share this experience with the local kids. They had a ton of fun!

This weekend we are traveling to a pristine, deserted beach. We will stay in a mountain eco-lodge that offers horseback riding, hiking, and amazing fresh-water pool opportunities. We’ll also go to a sustainable eco-resort tucked into the hills overlooking the ocean not far from our village.  We are looking forward to our adventures!

Tonight, a local dance group is coming over to the school to perform a traditional indigenous dance for us, which should be amazing!

Saludos!
Jesus and Sarah

We´ve made it to our village!  The drive to the village was breathtaking and the kids were loving the turquoise waters contrasted with the lush flora of the mountainside to the west.

We got settled in and were greeted by members of the community while we enjoyed our first Dominican meal of beans and rice. Our students began to open up and were visibly more comfortable with each other after the traditional dance by the children of our village.  We shared our drinks with the local children as well as conversations in English, Spanish, Spanglish, and a made up sign language!

We then went on a walking tour of the village where we saw cockfighting, haircuts, motos, and the precious larimar stones, which is only mined in this part of the Dominican Republic!

Tomorrow,we will take our whole group to Baharona to check out the scenery and smells of the open air market, to be followed by a swim in the calm ocean waters.  All is well!

Saludos!
Jesus and Sarah

Bienvenidos a la Republica Dominicana!   Wait, hold that thought… for 8 hours!  Most of us were up and out of bed around 4:00 am and we had traveled from all parts of the United States – and France – to arrive in Miami.  Often, the airport meeting can be one of the most awkward parts of the program, but that definitely was not the case for our community service group!  Almost immediately, cards were pulled out and an animated game ensued.  Passersby were caught up in the excitement and wanted to see what was going on.  Eventually, we made it through airport security and to our gate only to learn that our flight was delayed.  Indefinitely.

But where some students might have groaned and fussed, our students settled into a corner and entered into lively banter.  Eventually, the weather sided with us and we boarded our flight to Santo Domingo.  Tired but excited, we made our way through Customs and Immigration to find Jesus waiting for us.  After a bite of  pizza and mini-orientation, we went to sleep to prepare for a long day in the Dominican heat.  All is well!

Saludos,
Sarah and Jesus

Paolo and Kennedy reading a French book in the airport while we were delayed in Miami.

We know that parents love to keep up to date on their kids’ activities during our programs.  While we expect that most of our participants will take the time to be in touch occasionally, we have found that it is helpful to parents for our leaders to post periodic updates on this blog.  Obviously, blog posts will not provide detailed information about your child, but they will let you know about some of the group’s activities, projects, and excursions.

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Have a fantastic summer!