Thursday, June 4, 2015
On our way home!
We have arrived at the Punta Cana airport and are all checked in. Our trip home has officially begun!
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Day 8: Wrapping up
Today was our final day of work, and it was a good one. One group continued work on the latrine in Punta Fuera. By the time they left, the roof was up, and three of the four exterior walls were plastered. All that remains is the plastering of the final wall and a coat or two of paint, and then Emilio Luis and Orlando will have access to their own latrine.
The second group finished laying the cement floor in Yesimena's house in Monte Coca. She lives in the two-room home with her husband and four children. The space is cramped but will be much improved with the new floor. Her youngest child is only 5 months old, and we can only imagine that a smooth new cement floor will be a better place for a baby to learn to crawl than the previous dirt floor.
After a late lunch, we traveled about thirty minutes to a nearby national park, the Cueva Maravilla. We toured the underground cave system, which was used over a thousand years ago by the indigenous Taino people for religious ceremonies. The environment in the caves, cool and wet, has preserved cave paintings of symbols associated with the elaborate funerals performed underground. The ride to and from the caves took us along the coast, where we saw resort complexes on one side of the highway, while cane fields lined the other side. Knowing now what those cane fields mean, the juxtaposition of those two worlds was striking.
We ended the night with a wrap-up discussion of what we'd like to do with the funds that we raised before coming and how we'd like to carry this experience into the future. The kids are all inspired to make some changes in their own lives, both personally and to benefit others. We are excited to see what the future holds for this group.
Tomorrow we'll spend the morning at the beach and the afternoon touring Santo Domingo, some well deserved down time. And then Thursday we head back to the States. Time flies!
The second group finished laying the cement floor in Yesimena's house in Monte Coca. She lives in the two-room home with her husband and four children. The space is cramped but will be much improved with the new floor. Her youngest child is only 5 months old, and we can only imagine that a smooth new cement floor will be a better place for a baby to learn to crawl than the previous dirt floor.
After a late lunch, we traveled about thirty minutes to a nearby national park, the Cueva Maravilla. We toured the underground cave system, which was used over a thousand years ago by the indigenous Taino people for religious ceremonies. The environment in the caves, cool and wet, has preserved cave paintings of symbols associated with the elaborate funerals performed underground. The ride to and from the caves took us along the coast, where we saw resort complexes on one side of the highway, while cane fields lined the other side. Knowing now what those cane fields mean, the juxtaposition of those two worlds was striking.
We ended the night with a wrap-up discussion of what we'd like to do with the funds that we raised before coming and how we'd like to carry this experience into the future. The kids are all inspired to make some changes in their own lives, both personally and to benefit others. We are excited to see what the future holds for this group.
Tomorrow we'll spend the morning at the beach and the afternoon touring Santo Domingo, some well deserved down time. And then Thursday we head back to the States. Time flies!
Monday, June 1, 2015
Day 7: Two groups, three sites, one rainstorm, and many animals
Today we braved the unpredictable weather, again making changes when necessary. The first group spent the morning working in Montecoca on a house that is in the process of being built. The cinder block walls are up, and the group applied plaster to the interior walls, to give them a smoother texture. They quickly discovered that the tasks involved -- mixing the plaster and then applying it to a vertical surface -- were trickier than anticipated. After navigating a steep learning curve, they made good progress until the lunch break. Shortly thereafter, the skies opened, making it impossible to return to that task after lunch, as there is not yet a roof on the house to shield the plasterers from the elements. After lunch, the group moved to another neighborhood in Montecoca, putting a cement floor into a home that previously had only a dirt floor. The work was gratifying, but even more gratifying were the interactions the group had with the residents of the neighborhood while they worked. They practiced their Spanish, helped the neighborhood children practice their English, and enjoyed the companionship that transcended the language barrier.
The second group returned to Punta Fuera, the batey we first visited yesterday morning. They set to work building a cement block latrine for one of the families of the batey, with the help of Domingo, the expert stone mason. By the end of the day, nearly all of the cinder blocks had been lain, preparing the structure for the next steps: plaster application to the exterior walls and the construction of a tin roof. Over the course of the day, the group members enjoyed spending time with Wilki and Luca, two of the children in the batey, as well as a host of animals who wandered through the work site. Orlando, a 20-year old whose family will use the latrine when completed, participated in the project. He shared that he is currently in his final year of high school and hopes to attend university next year to study to become a physical education teacher.
This evening we heard from Idalina, the Scalabrinian nun who helped found ASCALA, the organization hosting us in the bateyes, about the work done here and the many challenges facing Haitian immigrants. Her work is about responding to the needs of the community, and those needs are extensive: documentation, education, health, hunger, labor rights. She shared that since the first of the year, 12,000 people have sought assistance from ASCALA. It was inspiring to hear her passion for doing all that she can to address such overwhelming, systemic problems.
Tomorrow we will return to two of these three sites, depending on the weather, for the first half of the day. The afternoon will involve some sight-seeing before our final evening here at ASCALA. Here are some thoughts from Emily '16, who was a member of the first group described above:
Today was one of the more exciting days we have had here in the Dominican Republic. We all woke up and started putting on our shoes to go out and work. Isaiah tried to slide his foot into his boots when he felt something that he thought was a rock in one them. He placed the shoes outside and tried to take it out. I jumped in and tried to help shake out whatever was in his shoe, when a huge, hairy, tarantula jumped out of the shoe the whole group screamed and jumped back. On the plus side, everyone was wide awake after this happened. The group split in two and I went in the group that went to a house to put down cement floors. The highlight of my day was finding a kitten in the house. The group named the kitten Otis, from the movie Milo and Otis. Sadly, we had to leave the kitten at the village. Tomorrow the group is going back to finish cementing the floors, so hopefully I will be able to reunite with Otis!
The second group returned to Punta Fuera, the batey we first visited yesterday morning. They set to work building a cement block latrine for one of the families of the batey, with the help of Domingo, the expert stone mason. By the end of the day, nearly all of the cinder blocks had been lain, preparing the structure for the next steps: plaster application to the exterior walls and the construction of a tin roof. Over the course of the day, the group members enjoyed spending time with Wilki and Luca, two of the children in the batey, as well as a host of animals who wandered through the work site. Orlando, a 20-year old whose family will use the latrine when completed, participated in the project. He shared that he is currently in his final year of high school and hopes to attend university next year to study to become a physical education teacher.
This evening we heard from Idalina, the Scalabrinian nun who helped found ASCALA, the organization hosting us in the bateyes, about the work done here and the many challenges facing Haitian immigrants. Her work is about responding to the needs of the community, and those needs are extensive: documentation, education, health, hunger, labor rights. She shared that since the first of the year, 12,000 people have sought assistance from ASCALA. It was inspiring to hear her passion for doing all that she can to address such overwhelming, systemic problems.
Tomorrow we will return to two of these three sites, depending on the weather, for the first half of the day. The afternoon will involve some sight-seeing before our final evening here at ASCALA. Here are some thoughts from Emily '16, who was a member of the first group described above:
Today was one of the more exciting days we have had here in the Dominican Republic. We all woke up and started putting on our shoes to go out and work. Isaiah tried to slide his foot into his boots when he felt something that he thought was a rock in one them. He placed the shoes outside and tried to take it out. I jumped in and tried to help shake out whatever was in his shoe, when a huge, hairy, tarantula jumped out of the shoe the whole group screamed and jumped back. On the plus side, everyone was wide awake after this happened. The group split in two and I went in the group that went to a house to put down cement floors. The highlight of my day was finding a kitten in the house. The group named the kitten Otis, from the movie Milo and Otis. Sadly, we had to leave the kitten at the village. Tomorrow the group is going back to finish cementing the floors, so hopefully I will be able to reunite with Otis!
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| The ladies add concrete to strengthen the cinder block walls of the latrine. |
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| Salma '16 expertly applies plaster to cinder block walls. |
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| Isaiah '16 makes new friends. |
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Day 6: Wet, but working
Today was an exercise in the flexibility required by this kind of work. Though May is the rainy season here, last month didn't bring much rainfall. The people are grateful for the wet weather this week, but it has created challenges for us. One of the two projects planned for today -- adding a layer of plaster to the cinder block walls of a house under construction in Monte Coca -- couldn't happen in the rain. So we all trekked out to Punta Fuera to work together to build a latrine. After arriving, we toured the small batey community, getting our first glimpse of what life is like in the bateyes. Many of the residents of this particular batey are single, elderly men, retired from long careers cutting cane and without any remaining family members to care for them in their old age. We saw the ruins of a barracks destroyed in the 1990's by Hurricane George. After the storm destroyed the building, no help arrived to rebuild it. The residents of the community then gave the community center building to the families who had been displaced from the barracks. That small building has been divided into four homes, each housing families of 5, 6 or 7 people. While we had heard about the living conditions in the bateyes, having seen photos and footage in a documentary last night, it was a different experience entirely to see it with our own eyes. It was upsetting for all.
Unfortunately, we were ultimately not able to work on the latrine this morning, so we returned after our tour to have lunch at the center and process all that we'd seen. After lunch we returned to Monte Coca, where we hosted a party for Mother's Day, which is celebrated today in the DR. We honored the mothers in this community and learned much about what it means to be a mother here. Many of them spoke about the joy their children bring to them and their hopes for their children in the future, which center on the idea that the only way to a better future is through education.
After the party, we returned to Punta Fuera and dove into the latrine project, mixing cement and laying the floor of the latrine, despite the uncooperative weather. Though we were soggy and cold by the end of the afternoon, we were glad to have started working on some way to improve life for the families we met. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will return to these two sites to continue on the latrine project and begin work on the plaster project.
Some thoughts about our day from Grant '17:
Today, we got our first look into the batey communities. While receiving a tour of the Punta Fuera community, I was not-so-pleasantly surprised at the terrible living conditions. The rain dripping through the roofs of the houses made from scrap metal and the amount of elderly people living by themselves both hit me very hard. The sheer number of problems felt very overwhelming. Throughout the tour, I kept coming back to the same question: "How can we even make a dent in this endless list of problems?" While discussing this over lunch, I came to the conclusion that doing these little things like building a latrine all make a difference. The truth is, none of us can fix these problems at their roots, so we should just do our best to improve these people's everyday lives in any way we can. So after lunch, I returned determined to do my best to uphold this. Working alongside the residents of Punta Fuera while mixing concrete and listening to the mothers of Monte Coca tell their stories, I felt the gratitude of the community for our relief. The fulfillment that gratitude provides and the interaction with the community are the reasons why I came on the trip.
Unfortunately, we were ultimately not able to work on the latrine this morning, so we returned after our tour to have lunch at the center and process all that we'd seen. After lunch we returned to Monte Coca, where we hosted a party for Mother's Day, which is celebrated today in the DR. We honored the mothers in this community and learned much about what it means to be a mother here. Many of them spoke about the joy their children bring to them and their hopes for their children in the future, which center on the idea that the only way to a better future is through education.
After the party, we returned to Punta Fuera and dove into the latrine project, mixing cement and laying the floor of the latrine, despite the uncooperative weather. Though we were soggy and cold by the end of the afternoon, we were glad to have started working on some way to improve life for the families we met. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will return to these two sites to continue on the latrine project and begin work on the plaster project.
Some thoughts about our day from Grant '17:
Today, we got our first look into the batey communities. While receiving a tour of the Punta Fuera community, I was not-so-pleasantly surprised at the terrible living conditions. The rain dripping through the roofs of the houses made from scrap metal and the amount of elderly people living by themselves both hit me very hard. The sheer number of problems felt very overwhelming. Throughout the tour, I kept coming back to the same question: "How can we even make a dent in this endless list of problems?" While discussing this over lunch, I came to the conclusion that doing these little things like building a latrine all make a difference. The truth is, none of us can fix these problems at their roots, so we should just do our best to improve these people's everyday lives in any way we can. So after lunch, I returned determined to do my best to uphold this. Working alongside the residents of Punta Fuera while mixing concrete and listening to the mothers of Monte Coca tell their stories, I felt the gratitude of the community for our relief. The fulfillment that gratitude provides and the interaction with the community are the reasons why I came on the trip.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Day 5: Bienvenidos a los bateyes
Hello all. We arrived at the ASCALA center, our home for the next several days, around lunchtime. We toured the sugar cane fields, tried our hand at cutting cane, and caught a quick glimpse of life in the bateyes. This evening we watched a documentary about the issues involved in the human trafficking that brings Haitians to the area, and we had a thought-provoking discussion. Tomorrow we head out and get to work on two projects. We hope to have access to a computer tomorrow, and if so we will share more details about our adventures. Buenas noches!
Friday, May 29, 2015
Day 4: Wrapping up in Jarabacoa
We don't always have the opportunity to see a project through from beginning to end on this kind of trip. Rather, we are often completing a piece somewhere in the middle of the project, picking up where another group left off and leaving the rest of the project in the capable hands of those volunteers who will follow. So today was a great day, as we were able to put the finishing touches on our aqueduct, which was a project exactly the right size for our group.
We arrived in El Limón bright and early and got to work, settling into the now familiar rhythm of picking and shoveling alongside our friends from the community. While we have gotten the hang of the process, we are certainly amateurs compared to the Limónenses. Often one would eye the stretch of terrain one of us was tackling and step in, taking the pickaxe and making quick work of a rocky patch. We joked that they were watching our work until they couldn't tolerate the inefficiency any longer and needed to step in. In reality, it was clear that they were grateful for our partnership, and Olmedo, the community liaison, and Juanito, the elder Limón statesmen, were effusive in their gratitude for our hard work. At the end of the afternoon, when the last stretch of pipe had been covered, Juanito shared with us the warm feelings he had for our group, as well as other groups of American volunteers who had helped his community. We then capped off the project with a hike back to the far end of the aqueduct, where it all began two days ago. When we got there, the family living in the farthest house was already making good use of their faucet, running the water to mix cement for a building project that would previously have taken significantly longer. To see the water flowing so easily from the faucet, the fruit of our labor, was the perfect end to the project.
We returned to the Rancho, where our plan for the afternoon -- a waterfall hike -- was briefly delayed by a thunderstorm. When the weather cleared, we hopped into the truck and made the half-hour drive to Salto Jimenoa, one of the area's many beautiful waterfalls. A quick hike, a few photo opps, and we were back on the road to Rancho Baiguate for dinner and a quiet evening. Tomorrow morning we will relocate to San Pedro de Macorís to begin the second phase of our trip. (Remember, our access to internet connection will be spotty there. I will post a quick update each evening, if I'm able.)
Some parting words from Isaiah '16 on our time in Jarabacoa:
Our last day in Jarabacoa was very bittersweet. Seeing the project finished was a very unique experience. To see my classmates work so hard on finishing this project and then to see their reactions when it came to an end is something I always remember forever. We all poured so much energy and emotion into completing the project for the people of the community, and it was difficult to see it all come to an end. I was very impressed with the work we were able to accomplish together and am quite proud to have been a part of this project. To hear members of the community express their gratitude after we completed the project is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Although I was limited by my Spanish III skills to comprehend the entirety of their speeches, I was able to understand enough to see that they were genuinely grateful for the work we had done. To hear them say how the pipeline would change their daily lives made me feel so proud to know that I was able to improve their lives. Despite the high morale, the time came for us to depart El Limón for the last time. I was happy to see the smiles on everyones faces; however, it was not easy to say goodbye to the people of this community. Despite the limited amount of time and the language barrier, each and every member of this community impacted me in a large way. To see their strong sense of family and dedication inspired me to behave the same way when I return home. I am proud of our group so far and am excited to see what we can get done in the coming days!
We arrived in El Limón bright and early and got to work, settling into the now familiar rhythm of picking and shoveling alongside our friends from the community. While we have gotten the hang of the process, we are certainly amateurs compared to the Limónenses. Often one would eye the stretch of terrain one of us was tackling and step in, taking the pickaxe and making quick work of a rocky patch. We joked that they were watching our work until they couldn't tolerate the inefficiency any longer and needed to step in. In reality, it was clear that they were grateful for our partnership, and Olmedo, the community liaison, and Juanito, the elder Limón statesmen, were effusive in their gratitude for our hard work. At the end of the afternoon, when the last stretch of pipe had been covered, Juanito shared with us the warm feelings he had for our group, as well as other groups of American volunteers who had helped his community. We then capped off the project with a hike back to the far end of the aqueduct, where it all began two days ago. When we got there, the family living in the farthest house was already making good use of their faucet, running the water to mix cement for a building project that would previously have taken significantly longer. To see the water flowing so easily from the faucet, the fruit of our labor, was the perfect end to the project.
We returned to the Rancho, where our plan for the afternoon -- a waterfall hike -- was briefly delayed by a thunderstorm. When the weather cleared, we hopped into the truck and made the half-hour drive to Salto Jimenoa, one of the area's many beautiful waterfalls. A quick hike, a few photo opps, and we were back on the road to Rancho Baiguate for dinner and a quiet evening. Tomorrow morning we will relocate to San Pedro de Macorís to begin the second phase of our trip. (Remember, our access to internet connection will be spotty there. I will post a quick update each evening, if I'm able.)
Some parting words from Isaiah '16 on our time in Jarabacoa:
Our last day in Jarabacoa was very bittersweet. Seeing the project finished was a very unique experience. To see my classmates work so hard on finishing this project and then to see their reactions when it came to an end is something I always remember forever. We all poured so much energy and emotion into completing the project for the people of the community, and it was difficult to see it all come to an end. I was very impressed with the work we were able to accomplish together and am quite proud to have been a part of this project. To hear members of the community express their gratitude after we completed the project is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Although I was limited by my Spanish III skills to comprehend the entirety of their speeches, I was able to understand enough to see that they were genuinely grateful for the work we had done. To hear them say how the pipeline would change their daily lives made me feel so proud to know that I was able to improve their lives. Despite the high morale, the time came for us to depart El Limón for the last time. I was happy to see the smiles on everyones faces; however, it was not easy to say goodbye to the people of this community. Despite the limited amount of time and the language barrier, each and every member of this community impacted me in a large way. To see their strong sense of family and dedication inspired me to behave the same way when I return home. I am proud of our group so far and am excited to see what we can get done in the coming days!
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Day 3: Digging trenches, making friends
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| Salma '16 secures two pieces of pipe. |
Throughout the day, students got to know the community members working alongside our group. We learned more about Juanito, the elderly resident of El Limón who routinely showed us all up with his pickaxe skill. We also got to know some of the younger residents of the village, who were hanging out at the work site this morning. The kids left us after lunch, when they headed to school. For many years, the school system has operated here in two shifts, so students either attended classes in the morning or in the afternoon. According to Jackson, one of our local guides, a new movement by the current government has changed that, and within the next several years, all students will attend a full day of school, effectively doubling their access to education, but requiring twice as many resources in terms of infrastructure and personnel. We pass the current school on the way into El Limón. It is a small building, not much more than a couple of rooms. Just down the road, a new school is being built: a two-story building, much bigger and better suited to serve the larger classes that will result from the change.
Our evening activity was a brief lesson on Dominican history, followed by an exploration of Dominican dance. Jackson and Paige patiently taught us all how to Bachata, Merengue and Salsa, and a torrential downpour cooled things down after our humid dance party. Tomorrow will be our last day in El Limón, and we'll make the most of it! Here are some thoughts from Chung Hwa '16:
Today we dug so quickly and efficiently I felt like I was watching a bunch of moles work (in a good way). The trench advanced forward like a snake, relentless and full of conviction. The long work day was filled with tons of amusement (Emily attracted a hoard of very young suitors while Brigie found true love [Brigie's parents: Not really!]), and we all ended up with beautiful farmer's tans, sweat-slicked foreheads, and big smiles. Our Rustic Pathways guides surprised us with some ice cream after, which managed to revive our spirits for "Dominican Night" with Jackson. But before all that dancing madness happened, we had some down time, during which we went fishing (after long, refreshing, cold showers). A lot of us caught fish, though there were some conundrums with unhooking the slimy things and setting them free; Mr.Cheadle became an invaluable asset among a group of squeamish teenage girls (at one point he remarked, "I was peacefully reading by the pool, why did I choose to come here?!"). But in the end, Emily caught a big fish, which I luckily got to eat! We took it straight to the kitchen, expertly wrapped in a towel, where the staff fried it to perfection. I ate my first fish eyeballs today, which I will always cherish as a "true Dominican experience." Later that night, we learned about the history of the Dominican Republic, received a very educational (and much needed) dance lesson, and got to watch Jackson perform some songs he wrote himself. I'm typing this right after our "Dominican Night," and as the tropical rain covers the colorful vegetation of the ranch, I feel truly lucky to be here right now. It was a long but exciting--and definitely rewarding--day for all of us, and I think we're all excited-slash-sad for tomorrow, our last full day in El Limón.
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| Briget '17 and Emily '16 take a break from the morning's work. |
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| Alison '18 and Grant '17 work to affix one length of pipe to the next. |
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