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?