Digging Ditches: Day 2

We were back at the aqueduct site today.  Tatiana, '13 weighs in on the day:

Today was a rather exciting day for everyone. We installed the first of the pipes! We also trekked further up the mountain to continue the digging. Our group split into two to accomplish these feats. My group was the one that trekked up the mountain. This was almost as difficult as the digging itself. The ground was not very stable and gave way easily in some places. It was a lot of fun, to say the least!  I was the first to climb from our group, and I felt like a mountain woman once I had reached the top.  Some of the locals had passed us and walked right up the mountain with ease. Once I gathered myself I finally took in my surroundings. The view was absolutely breathtaking.  I could not have asked for a better work site. All the manual labor was much easier with the scenery, and it seemed to go much faster today than it had yesterday. The pickaxe was my tool of choice today. Every strike of ‘la tierra’ was very satisfying.  Lisie was the master pickaxer today. She started picking away and did not stop. She was determined to finish our section for the day. This kind of determination truly inspired all of us to just keep going.

Again our work day was interrupted by a rain shower.  We loaded up the truck and headed out before the rain hit.  Kirkland and Piña treated us to a surprise stop in Jarabacoa and an ice cream cone.  I'm not sure any of us has ever had a more satisfying ice cream cone.  We returned to the Rancho just as the rain started and had a quick nap before regrouping.  Tomorrow we'll spend the morning at a local elementary school, so we did some lesson planning before dinner.  After our evening meeting the son of the owner of the ranch spoke with us about the many projects here and about his thoughts about the country in general.  A new president was recently elected, so we've learned a lot about the political process here.  The newly elected president hails from the same party as the incumbent, and everyone we've spoken with here is certain that the election was compromised.  The daughter of the ranch's owner, said that there is rumored to have been a great deal of voter fraud, as many citizens sold their cédulas (identification documents) so that votes could be cast in their names.  Omar, the son, stated that there is corruption at every level of the government in the country.  We asked what he thought would make a difference, and he didn't seem hopeful about the near future.  He seemed to think that the older generation is a lost cause, and the best that can be hoped for is that with better education, there is hope for the next generation.

Off to bed to rest up for a varied itinerary tomorrow:  to the elementary school in the morning and back to the aqueduct in the evening.  Hasta luego.

Digging Ditches: Day 1

Today was the first day of our service project: constructing an aqueduct for families in La Jagua.  Harry told us that in 1996, politicians started this project, as a promise to the poor communities that they would be well provided for in exchange for their votes.  The election came and went, and the project dried up.  It sat dormant until yesterday, when community members and another group of volunteers started digging trenches and installing the PVC piping that will take water from the spring at the top of the mountain down to the families below who currently have to get their water from the river.  The pipeline should be complete at the end of the summer, at which point families will be responsible for installing smaller pipes from the main pipeline to their own homes.  Each family will be charged a small monthly fee to access the water, and the fee will be used for maintenance of the pipeline.  I asked Piña (the nickname means pineapple... I haven't mustered the guts to ask about the origin yet), a local guy who works with Rustic Pathways, whether or not there might be families who won't be able to afford the monthly fee.  His response, though polite in tone, indicated that my question was ridiculous.  "Everyone is like family here," he said.

So we spent our day digging trenches, work we weren't sure we'd be able to do well.  We survived and impressed ourselves and even the locals.  At the end of the day, Piña admitted that he'd been skeptical when we first picked up our shovels and pick axes, but that we'd proven him wrong.  High praise, I think.  An afternoon shower cut the work day a bit short, so we headed back to the Rancho for a nap, a rousing game of Bananagrams, another great dinner, and some group bonding time.  We'll return to the same site tomorrow, where we'll keep digging and also have the opportunity to install some of the piping.

Here are a few thoughts from Sara, '13 about her first day of service here.

A common theme among my fellow travelers is the lack of ability to communicate with the locals. Charades has become one of the most commonly played games of the trip, and few things other than a simple hand gesture or the well known “Hola” or “Gracias” have been used amongst the locals. Even though I have taken Spanish for most of my education, I am still finding it hard to communicate my questions. Although they all want to help us help them, they too can’t communicate their advice and praise as we dig along side them. Annie experienced that firsthand as the locals, attempting to help ease her workload, grabbed her shovel to break up massive stones for her. Although there is a bit of a language barrier, these people are overjoyed to have us digging in their fields.  When we drive by on our open bed truck everyone stares and waves at the ‘Gringos’ (Americans) riding by, smiling at us as though they are excited to just have caught a glimpse of us. Everyone seems so happy -- it’s truly phenomenal…  As we dig and dig and dig the trenches it feels as though we are accomplishing something so minute; however when I take a moment to look down the hill and across the field and can actually measure the progress we have made, it’s an amazing feeling.  The work we are doing is so meaningful.

And some Dominican vocab we picked up along the way today, to help bridge the communication gap:

"No rebase":  No passing
"Tato":  Okay
"¿Que lo que?":  What’s up?

Hemos Llegado

We have arrived!  After one of the smoothest days of traveling imaginable, we are finally here.  After a smooth departure from Cleveland, a short but uneventful layover in Miami, and a slow but smooth arrival in Santo Domingo, we boarded a bus headed for the mountains of central DR.   We weren't sure our luggage would fit in the trailer towed behind the bus -- we were able to bring about 10 extra bags stuffed with donations -- but even that worked out perfectly.  The drive took us through Santo Domingo and into the hilly countryside, and the views from the bus gave us a sense of why we are here and who we will be helping. 

We were greeted at Rancho Baiguete, our home for the week, by Kirkland, another Rustic Pathways guy who will join Harry in accompanying us in our work this week.  We got settled in our rooms, which are rustic but plenty comfortable, and took a brief tour of the property.  Rancho Baiguete is patronized throughout the year by individuals, families, and groups who come to enjoy the scenery and various activities, from rafting to horse-back riding, so the diversions on the property abound.  As we speak, several of our group members are enjoying a game of volleyball while we wait for dinner to be served.  We will have some free time this evening to rest and get acclimated, and the service starts tomorrow morning.  After breakfast we will drive about 20 minutes to La Jagua, the community where we will be working on the aqueduct project.  The pipeline will bring water to the community, whose families do not currently have access to running water.  This time tomorrow, I suspect we will have sore muscles and lots of stories.

Hasta luego.

Getting Ready...

As our trip approaches, we've been busy with preparations.  Mrs. Freeman and I (Mrs. Davies) spent much of the last two days organizing an overwhelming number of donated items collected during the clothing and school supplies drive in the dorms.  We've loaded and unloaded, sorted and folded, and started packing items into suitcases.  We hope to be able to take a good portion of the collected items with us by having a number of travelers bring a second suitcase dedicated to donations.  There are lots of things that won't travel with us to the Dominican Republic -- like the mountain of coats and heavy sweaters that are much more appropriate for Cleveland winters than for Caribbean winters -- and those items will make their way to Goodwill when all is said and done.  Thanks to all who contributed to the very successful drive.

Travelers - We hope you are at least thinking about packing, and getting excited to depart in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday.

Other readers - Stay tuned, because the adventure begins soon!

Packing list, etc.

For those of you who weren't able to attend today's lunch meeting, here is the packing list we discussed.  Please look through it and let me know if you have any questions.  We are hoping to take a group trip to Target/Walmart this weekend, in case you're interested in doing some pre-trip shopping together.

Additionally, I spoke with Harry about our fundraising efforts.  He was excited to hear that we are interested in making a monetary donation, and he said he'll think about some projects for which our funds could make a difference.  We can talk with him about the options and decide as a group what we'd like to do. 

Harry also mentioned that the local schools can always use school supplies, and that many people in the community don't have appropriate footwear.  So we are going to whip together a school supply/shoe drive to coincide with boarders' moving out of the dorms.  Sara is going to make an announcement on Friday to tell boarders to look for boxes in each common room, into which they can put any leftover school supplies and out-grown shoes.  We will plan to take the donated items down with us using the extra room in our suitcases.  Please start thinking about whether you have any half-used notebooks or old shoes to contribute, and spread the word to your friends and classmates.

Welcome to the blog!

Hello and welcome to our trip blog!  We will communicate with you about our travels here, starting now!  As you can see, we're still building the blog, so it's not much to look at yet.  We'll be sure to add photos as we go, to illustrate our travel tales.

On Thursday we gathered to hear from Harry, the director of Rustic Pathways' Dominican Republic program.  For those of you unable to attend, here are the meeting notes.  Please let Harry or me know if you have any additional questions.

Stay tuned for more specific packing information after today's student meeting during lunch, on the south side of the dining hall.