Digging in Hatillo

We awoke this morning to bright blue skies, beautiful sunshine, and a lovely mountain breeze. After a quick breakfast, we excitedly headed up to Hatillo to begin digging. And, dig we did! All morning and afternoon with an impressive end result. We will return tomorrow to lay the pipes and fill in the ditches. With some additional work from the community after we depart, the project will be done and seventeen houses will finally have access to running water.

Throughout the day we were joined by community members, including students who pitched in to help on the project. WRA students did their best to communicate in Spanish and through other means and enjoyed having the chance to learn a bit more about life in Hatillo. We returned to the Ranch in the late afternoon and everyone had a bit of down time before dinner. Many group members took advantage of the opportunity to take a swim in the pool and some ventured off to try their hand at fishing. After dinner we took part in our nightly reflection, with everyone sharing their "highs and lows" from the day. We then had an open discussion about community service and what it means to serve others. Students reflected deeply and shared meaningful insight with their peers about not only the work we are doing here, but also past experience with community service. We will have more of these types of conversations in the days ahead and look forward to further reflection on our experience.

With that in mind, I'd like to turn things over to several students who were excited to share their perspective on the last two days.

Looking back on the progress we made last year for the families really gave me the motivation to do just as much digging and pick axing today. Today, we, as a group, accomplished so much over just one day of manual labor and that same sense of accomplishment that I felt last year filled me up once again. The children helping alongside us had the same face of appreciation and gratitude towards us being there wanting to better their community. Overall, knowing that what I am doing now will have a lasting effect on the lives of many families gives me the motivation to want to do more and the fuels my passion of community service. - Salma '16

We may be building bridges between cultures, but it’s awfully hard when language barriers try to obstruct our path. Meeting the kids here in the Dominican really inspires me to learn some Spanish so I can better understand their culture. Throughout the workday, I enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm that the children from the community brought to our project. They communicated their joy about the prospect of having clean, running water through their eagerness to work. Today, I had the pleasure of speaking with one of our staff members, Carlos. He is just learning English, so he speaks to our group in Spanish. Fortunately, he also knows French, which enabled me to connect with him a bit better as I tried out a few halting French sentences and listened to his excited responses. Thank you Dr. Swami! In the evening we went fishing together in the ponds here on the ranch. We did catch several small fish, but the big papas somehow managed to elude our grasp. I’m sure we’ll be back tomorrow for them! - Anna '15

When I left La Jagua last spring, I was hoping that when I came back one year later, our project would be finished. After a long trek up the mountain, we finally made it to where the project was completed. Not only was the scenery beautiful, but the looks on their faces were amazing—who knew that something people take for granted could mean so much to others? After seeing the water source, we made it back to the truck and said our goodbyes to the La Jagua community—knowing that we would most likely never see them again.

I woke up today feeling great—not just because it was St. Patrick’s Day, but because I was excited to start a new project. One thing I like about helping others is that it brings joy to those who you are helping, and when others see what you’re doing, it motivates them to do the same. We dug more than I thought we would ever dig, and that just made my day. It was a lot of fun picking endemic berries and smearing the paint all over our faces. Being with my friends in the Dominican Republic and working on a project that will change the lives of the people around you makes me want to go out into the world and give my all to the less fortunate.

Sláinte,

Brendan '15