Click here to jump down to the new posts! 

Friday July 13, 2018

Hello from the Dominican Republic!

All students have arrived safe and sound. What an incredible, diverse group of individuals!

After meeting and having some introductions, we enjoyed a typical local dinner of rice beans chicken and fruits. Before beginning our Orientation, the group headed to the beach to watch the sunset and steal a group picture.

Tonight the students learnt all about our gobal health projects that focus on human security. Each student participated on a respect value contract, on how they wish to be treated and how they will treat others. As their Director, I am already very proud and impressed by this group.

Hasta mañana,

Hilary and the team of mentors.

Saturday July 14, 2018

Hey parents!

Today we went to Caño dulce to help build bathrooms for families. We made cement from scratch using actual dirt, not fake dirt, but dirt we dug up ourselves. We had to walk and get water from the river which was a new experience you wouldn’t imagine. We had to mix one batch of cement with dirt and another batch with sand. We had to mix it and it was very dense but the wonderful teamwork we had made it easier. Today’s experience helped the participants help others build a more sustainable lifestyle.

It also helped us expand our connections with one another with our hard teamwork. We came into the program not knowing one another and the first day we worked together as if we we’re friends from before the trip. Everyone is so friendly, even the families, with each other and it’s so welcoming. For the first day of doing labor work it was a very successful day and everyone is looking forward to what’s to come. So stay tuned with our blogs for our everyday activities!

Sunday July 15, 2018

Hi all! Today was already Day 3 of the GHI program! Our day started with a bit of a spider scare, but after that everyone was off to a great start. Breakfast consisted of eggs and fruit, as usual, but mashed potatoes were a bit different. Definitely something to get used to but delicious none the less! Group A split in two to divide and conquer during our second day Caño Dulce. We ventured to Nina’s house to paint it a beautiful turquoise to prevent the wood from rotting sooner than it should, as well as warding off termites. As we worked, some utilized their Spanish skills to get to know her story. She is a burn victim from a kitchen fire at a young age. However, her family and neighbors continue to support her.

Some split off to mix more cement to help the other locals in the neighborhood while enjoying fresh mangos. After finishing Nina’s house, we walked through an orchard planted by GLA to get to a local bee farm. Once returning to home base, many went to the beach to cool off and enjoy the gorgeous ocean views. After dinner, we watched a documentary on the divisions between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It was very eye-opening! We finished off the night with dance class lead by Idelisa and many added their own spice to the dances! We look forward to tomorrow!

Monday July 16, 2018

Que lo que (What’s up) Parents!

This is Zoe’, Simmy, and Caitlin, leaders of the day! Today we drove two hours to visit and serve a neighborhood, La Grua. Together, we mixed 12 bags of cement in order to cover a local woman’s home. We poured concrete onto the floors in a woman’s house for her and her three children to live in. Before the concrete floor they were living with dirt floors which were unhygienic and spread diseases easier. This was hard work but it all paid off in the end to see the family’s happy smiles. After the work in the morning, we ate lunch in a community center in the neighborhood built by former GLA students.

We then walked to a Haitian community in the Dominican Republic. When we first stepped into the community, what seemed like hundreds of kids ran up to us and gave us all the sweetest hugs ever. We had a brief tour of the Haitian community. Hilary talked to us about the water tank and pump that 7e installed, which provided running water to a community without running water for 30 years. After experiencing all these tiring events, almost all of us took a nap on the bus ride home. But we had a super fun trip to the supermercado! Everyone stocked up on American sweets and chips, and we also exchanged some of our money to pesos. After the fun trip we came back and relaxed before dinner, and learned about the 7 elements of human security during our lecture time. Tomorrow is our first adventure day after 3 tiring days of work. Stay tuned!

Adios,

GLA students

Tuesday July 17, 2018

Hey guys! It’s Bia, Justin, and Adam. Today was day 5 of the GLA GHI program. In place of our typical community work, we went to the Yasica River for a break. First, we got to see a bunch of different local species of animals in a sort of private zoo. There were snakes, iguanas, alligators, flamingos, turtles, birds, etc… As soon as we all got the chance to take pictures with all of the wildlife, then we boarded two tiny boats to take us down stream towards La Boca.

La Boca is the mouth of the Yasica River where fresh water meets the ocean. Here, there is no strong current or dangerous animals, so it was safe for us to swim. After a brief rain storm, we had a delicious Dominican style buffet lunch with fresh chicken, plantains, rice, beans, and fresh fruit. Later, we walked to the beach and played a fun traditional Dominican game called pañuelo.

This involved a lot of running, chasing, and falling that was pretty fun to watch. At the end of our long day, we headed back to the lodge to chill out and rest until dinner followed by a lecture on health and its relationship to income levels before going to bed. Adios!

Wednesday July 18, 2018

Hi Families,

After our day of fun, we had the luxury of sleeping in until 9. We woke up to french toast, eggs with bell peppers, ham, and fresh fruit. After breakfast, we attended a presentation that discussed the levels of health care in the Dominican Republic, before visiting one of the local clinics. At the clinic we met one of the local doctors who gave us a tour of the facilities. After our visit, we came back to the lodge and sat down for lunch, which consisted of chicken, beans and rice, fried bananas, potato salad, along with fresh watermelon, pineapple, and papaya. Upon finishing lunch, we spent about an hour in a half in the lodge’s pool.

Around 2:30 the group gathered up to learned how to take vitals for our following day’s pop up clinic. With our newly learned knowledge we practiced how to do our clinic through a simulation game. In the game we took turns practicing as; registrars, interviewers, transporters of groups, consultants, pharmacists and data transcriptionist. The group finished the simulation around 6, just in time to eat dinner which consisted of vegan and chicken lasagna. Dinner was accompanied by fried plantains, fried sweet potatoes and fruit. At 7 we meet up to discuss the effects of consumer goods on the planet and on our health. Following the lecture we learned a few more dances from our local director Idelisa. Tired from our fun cultural dance class, we showered and retired to bed.

Thursday July 19, 2018

Hi families!!

Today was the day we had all been waiting for! The brigade! After yesterday’s training, we were all really excited to move beyond the simulation and get involved in a local community. We left the lodge with all of our medicine (and energy) packed and ready to go for the day. After setting up the equipment and making sure all the stations were prepared, we were ready for the patients! Everyone was a little nervous about their jobs, but knew that everyone around them were waiting to help. Once we got the first couple patients through and got comfortable in our positions, we were able to step outside of our comfort zones and this allowed the brigade to start flowing! We saw 80 patients in four hours! From welcoming them all at registration, to taking their vitals, to shadowing doctors, and then to finally see them get their medications, the whole experience was extremely fulfilling.

We were able to not only interact with the local community, but also increase our understanding of the health system in the Dominican Republic. After the brigade, we all came back to the lodge a little tired, but also really thankful for the experience we just had. Shortly after, the majority of us went down to the beach to relax, play games, and dance. Then our lecture for the night began! We watched a documentary about the negative impact businesses and NGOs have on local communities they donate to. It allowed us to discuss and realize how even though businesses may have the country’s best interest at heart, there are still many side effects that impact the community in a harmful way. Today was “a beautiful day to save lives” as we all were introduced to and learned more about global health in the Dominican Republic 🙂

-Melissa, Jazmin, Grace

Friday July 20, 2018

Today we went to Polanco to work on a water tank system which will provide water to 200 people. To get water from the water tank to the all the families, we have to install piping which leads downhill from the tank to individual housing. To do so we dug a trench to put water pipes in. We used pick axes to break up the hard soil in the path that the pipe will follow. We also used shovels to clean out the soil and dirt which was broken up by the pick axes.

After a short break for lunch and a little more work, we went to a local ice cream shop on the way back to the lodge. At the lodge, many of us spent out free time in the pool. We also celebrated Raphy’s 15th birthday before our lecture about happiness. During our lecture, we discussed how different things can make people happy and happiness can’t just be defined in one way. Lastly, we headed to the beach after mentor groups to make smores with our bonfire. It was a demanding but rewarding day!

Saturday July 21, 2018

Hello ladies and gents.

Today we had a fun day. We woke up at 6 am to watch the sunrise at the beach. Then, we were off to Dudu lagoon to enjoy beautiful caves and ziplining. After lunch, we went to a beach which had jewelry, Piña coladas, and coconuts that we all enjoyed. Today wasn´t very eventful, but it was extremely relaxing and fun and it was a really nice break to be able to spend time swimming in the ocean together.

We really appreciate bonding with each other and our mentors, and we are starting to become a big family that bonds over body surfing and taking Instagram pictures. Tonight, we learned about the importance of being a leader and the different qualities that one should possess.

We love and miss you!!

Jenna, Zoe, Raphy

Sunday July 22, 2018

Dear all,

We started off our day by continuing our work at the Polanco water tank. The Polanco water tank will help provide running water for over 200 families in this community. Clean running water will help prevent diseases and improve daily lifestyle. Later in the day our mentors surprised us by taking our group to a beautiful beach, called Playa Alicia. We enjoyed many water activities including, tubing, and swimming in crystal clear water. We returned to the lodge tired and sunburnt from our day of fun. Sadly, one of our mentors, Izabella is leaving us for another program in Haiti. We threw her a surprise party which was full of cake and dancing!

Love, Adam and Hannah <3

Monday July 23, 2018

TWO MINUTES BEFORE WRITING THIS, I WENT TO PEACEFULLY TAKE A SHOWER AFTER THE POOL PARTY AND I WAS GREETED BY SOME DUCKS RUNNING ABOUT OUR ROOM- Cristina. Please ask your children for the video of Guillermo chasing them out, you will not be sorry. The day did not start out this crazy, we promise. Once upon a time, the leaders of the day (Cristina, Hannah, and Jaden) wrote “Surprise” at 7 on the daily schedule. SOMEHOW rumor had it that there was going to be a pool party instead of lecture (rumor ‘twas true). Today was clinic day! “Can I get a whoot-whoot if you are ready for vitamin day?” (something mentor Averi probably, most likely said).

Everyone was so excited to see all the kiddos. We had a lesson in the morning about how the brigade was going to run and then we were off! We went to El Bronx and stationed ourselves in a basketball court. No one was safe from the sun and the heat, but LOD’s (Leaders of the day) reminded everyone to stay hydrated!!!! We got through about 40 patients and sent everyone home with goodie bags of gummy vitamins. We got to try the dinosaur gummies and ohmigosh so good. Then the day slowed down and we rode our chariots all the way back to the palace (aka ecolodge). Then, tired from all the work, we took solid naps on the beach until dinner. Dinner was scarfed down and we ventured to the pool for the parrtayyyy. We partied with our friends from Group B until it was time to go to our rooms to shower… you know the rest. But they all lived happily ever after!

The end 🙂 (Shoutout to Momma C and Tcal! Miss and Love you both!!)

Tuesday July 23, 2018

Hello there parents of GLA GHI Group A and future GLA students who may be stalking this blog (we’ve been there). Today was our last work day before departure. We went to Caño Dulce to mix cement and paint houses for the last time. Then we had lunch and we took the bus to go to Playa Alicia where some of us ordered fruity drinks (don’t worry, they were non-alcoholic) at the restaurant and others went to the local shops to get more souvenirs for our families at home.

While everyone else was swimming in the crystal clear water, the people who went to shopping got ice cream after the shopping was done. Everyone was in the water or tanning and the surprise trip to the beach was very relaxing. After the beach, we took a short drive to the supermarket where there was AC! There, we got snacks, drinks, more bug spray, etc. Once everyone was done checking out, we headed back to home base and did the usual free time, dinner, lecture, and lights out. Now, be prepared for a HUGE picture spam.

xoxo, your LODs (Jacqueline, Serena, and Melody 🙂

(btw Pauline says hi to you Erica!)

Wednesday July 25, 2018

Hey Parents!

We ended our adventures here in the Dominican Republic with one last fun day. After breakfast we went to Gri Gri Lagoon and took a boat ride to Playa Caleton. We spent the afternoon swimming and snorkeling in the ocean, tanning on the beach, and buying jewelry and other souvenirs from vendors. We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant on the beach and continued our beach adventures until we left back to the lodge. We came back and had a great final lecture about redefining leadership and later presented the capstone projects we have been working on in our mentor groups. At sunset we took one last walk to the beach and enjoyed taking pictures and spending the evening together. We spent the rest of the night reflecting on the week and sharing nice things about each other. We will dearly miss all the friends we’ve met these past 2 weeks.

Click here to jump down to the new posts!

Wednesday June 27, 2018

Hello friends and families!

Today, almost all of us have arrived at the home base and have settled in. Some arrived early around one from the Puerto Plata airport, while others drove in two sticky hours from Santiago. We ate dinner around 6:00 and came together for the first time. After many excited greetings, we gathered for orientation and were given loads of information for the next two weeks of work and fun. We’re still waiting for a student who had problems with delayed flights, but she will be here soon! We are excited for her to arrive. We will also take our first group photo together, before heading to bed and getting rest for a long day of work ahead!

Over and out, Ellie x

Thursday June 28, 2018

Hey families!

Our last student Emily has finally arrived! She’s looking forward to getting stuck in and meeting her new team mates.

Saludos,

Hilary
International Director

Friday June 29, 2018

We kicked off Day 3 with a lovely breakfast of fruit, cereal, some meat, and hot chocolate at 8 am. After breakfast, we went off to Cano Dulce, where we made concrete floors for a house. The house originally contained dirt floors, and with concrete floors, the family living in the house will not have to suffer through respiratory tract infections and other health problems.

Our group split up into three groups. Each group helped shovel dirt, cement, and water into a pile to create a mix for the other townspeople to spread throughout the house. While some people helped mixing cement, other people helped out in an assembly line to transfer the cement in buckets from the piles to the house.

After a delicious and filling lunch we went off to finish up the work we started. The whole time we were at the site today we had reggeaton and bachata music blasting through a little mercado’s many giant speakers. Once some of us got the courage to move to the music, even if we had no idea what we were doing, everyone was soon dancing in the streets of the beautiful village.

The locals took up dancing and teaching the other GLA kids here after Guillermo got down and taught the whole group to dance merengue. After having a genuine latino dance party experience of a life-time we were ready to finish up our work. Besides barbwire mishaps, and one of our own not feeling well it was a great experience. The highlight of the day today after finishing early was going to swim at the beach.

Maddy and I look forward to tomorrow and the rest of our trip here and are personally so grateful to everyone who is helping or has helped to get us here.

Hasta luego!

Sequoia y Maddy

Saturday June 30, 2018

Today’s day started earlier than expected because during the night a cow was mooing disruptively. While everyone was up early we all found ways to be productive. Some headed to the dinner pavilion before breakfast to conversate with the group B kids leaving an hour early and others went to the gym and ran around to get fit in the morning.

Breakfast was really good, with the French toast, eggs, and other various food items.

After a very good breakfast we all packed up our stuff to head to Cano Dulce, the same community we were building the cement in the previous day. However, Today we were building bottle bathrooms for a community member named Pote (which ironically means ‘bottle in Spanish) and his family of 5. These bottle bathrooms were a great step up from the current latrines (holes in the ground) and the bottles made insulation and humidity control easier which made it economically easier as well.

After the project leader, Cameron, showed us an example house the two groups split apart to work on two different houses in the community. We cut up wire mesh and laid out arrays of wire to hold the bottles before putting them in. Also, along with the bottle bathrooms, a giant hole (7 feet deep 6 feet across) needed to be built in order to store a giant sceptic tank that would make sewage easier. Suhas and Ian along with the help of local mentors Idelisa and Sydney spent much time digging this giant hole. Because there was only enough space for one person to pick at a time, we rotated around and we made a lot of progress while the bottle builders also got through a majority of Pote’s house.

Along the way we met many locals, however unlike yesterday most of them were kids. We met 5 year old Manuel who decided to watch our work yesterday as well as Pote’s family and the kids from the surrounding houses. They very often came in to the houses drawn by the music from our speaker and came and danced and played around with the shovels pretending to be working on the house along with us. Lunch was more of the same with Rice and Chicken served right at the work site for some of the people and after eating in the shade of the house we played around with the neighborhood kids because we had some time left before we began working. They played lots of practical jokes on us all in good fun like putting plants in our hair and one of them trapped a big bug in a bag and came to show us by releasing it on the work site. Interacting with the kids was very fun before we went back to the work of building the bathrooms.

After 2 more hours of working we had a great community tour led by the GLA community director Alex. She took us to see all the different past GLA projects including a basketball court and community center along with many houses including that of Manuel from before and his family. We also saw current projects including a Plantain field that was being put together by another GLA program to bring a sustainable food and cash crop source to the region. This project was different from anything we’ve seen because they were working like farmers away from the community and what they were doing was affecting the community in a different way directly pertaining to the food element of 7e. Seeing all these projects really opened our eyes to see how much a bunch of high school kids and locals with a drive to help out their community can affect a region. Everything seemed to be turned around and the community was better for it due to the help that 7e was putting into it.

After the tour we worked for thirty more minutes and during that time a local named Fredrico came to visit and see what we were doing with the giant hole in the ground that had suddenly appeared. Fredrico, whom we called Fred, was different from the other locals because he spoke semi-perfect English even though he was born and raised in the Dominican because he wanted to learn about other languages and cultures. The hole digging people spent time talking with him in both English and Spanish and he pointed to where he lived and it was nice to have a full on conversation with a local instead of using broken Spanish words. All these people helping out for other people’s houses really shows that even through all the hardships the best thing the people of Cano Dulce have is each other and their support.

Once we came back to homebase after a bus ride we figured out it was our pool day which was GREAT so we all immediately jumped in the pool. There in the pool we played lots of games and had lots of fun especially with Will who was playing jokes on all of us by swimming under everyone and popping up. We had team building exercises at 5:30 before dinner where Hilary got us to play snowball. We figured out more about each other and we had in my opinion the greatest meal of the trip so far with an array of Mexican food and the passionfruit juice again which is very good.

After that we tied more friendship bracelets, Caroline tied most of them, before we headed to lecture where Javier taught us about the different missions and elements of GLA’s parent organization 7e. We learned about how to help different communities and how all of these elements; political, personal, economic, community, environmental, food, health; As night fell we played more cards as the cows had a giant rage fest and we called it a day.

Sunday July 1, 2018

What’s poppin’ parents! Its Lakelyn Keverline and Nathan Lee coming at you with another blog post for day five. Hmm… what did we do today? Well, first off, today we went on our first excursion to Yasica River, one of the largest rivers in the Dominican Republic. Before heading on the boats, we visited a zoo and had the opportunity to see and hold some exotic animals, including a snake and an iguana. We also got to see a rhinoceros iguana, which is an endangered species.

After our time concluded at the zoo, we hopped on a couple boats that took us on the Yasica River to the ocean. We spent time chilling at a land bar, which separates the river and the ocean, swimming past knee depth in the river but unfortunately only being able to take artsy pictures at ankle depth in the ocean. (For all of those who are unaware, we are not allowed past knee depth in the ocean which promoted the joke in the previous sentence.)

Seconds; minutes; hours past until lunch time finally commenced. We walked down the beach to a small shack that nourished us with pina coladas, macaroni, and fried chicken. We were surprised when the pina coladas were presented in pineapples and coconuts!

Lunch time concluded and we were free to swim once again. More artsy pictures were taken and GoPro’s were busted out to record some nice underwater videos. Also Samee (AKA. Samantha Katerina Poblete Lopez) broke her GoPro case which was quite unfortunate. Finally, it was time to leave the beach. We boarded the boats and headed back to the zoo area where we boarded the bus and headed back to home base.

After a dinner of classic chicken and rice, we headed to listened to a lecture and headed into mentor groups where we found out the news. LEBRON IS GOING TO THE LAKERS!!!!! This took a lot of people by surprise. That was our day. Hope y’all had a great day as well!

Yours truly,

Nathan Lee and Lakelyn Keverline

Monday July 2, 2018

Greetings from Dominican Republic! Today we all revisited Cano Dulce to continue working on our bottle houses. Suhas continued digging a hole for a septic tank while others continued to add wire and mesh to place bottles in the walls for the making of a bottle house for a family of five. At the other site, the others began their own hole for the septic tank and enjoyed fresh coconuts from a friendly local. Lunch once again consisted of rice, chicken, beans, eggplants, lettuce, pineapples and mangoes. After lunch, we began our work again and nearly finished the bottle bathrooms. One group began to mix cement and put it over the bottles on the walls for insulation which decreases the house temperature by 12 degrees.

After our time at the work site, the group traveled to a local supermarket where many of the kids purchased local snacks. Nathan introduced us to an Aloe drink that captivated the minds of many us. Nathan downed the bottle in less than four minutes while the rest of us stared in awe. By the way, Lebron moved to the Lakers. We then boarded the bus with our tasty snacks, cool drinks, freshly exchanged money and proceeded to take a trip to the beach. While some of us dipped our ankles in water and played soccer with a coconut, others performed interesting gymnastics maneuvers that astonished the mentors. It was pretty cool.. What an interesting day!

Paella, white rice, plantains, broccoli, black beans, and passion fruit juice made up our tasty dinner. We truly got a taste of real Dominican food! During our lecture tonight, we learned about environmental security throughout the world as well as how the third world countries are exploited for their resources. We also learned about climate change and environmental degradation. Learning about all these new topics opened our eyes to different issues and how they not only affect first world countries, but also third world countries and our future generations. We realized that we can all make a difference in the world, no matter how small.

After our lecture, we all sat in the lodge and made friendship bracelets; a perfect end to a perfect day! <3

From yours truly,

William and Cara

Tuesday July 3, 2018

For group GHI-A on day 7 we visited our first public clinic. Before leaving, we watched a presentation on how to behave professionally in a clinical work environment, and how the medical system works in the Dominican Republic. Then, in small groups the local doctor gave a tour of their facility, and briefly explained how local, level one clinics work. We returned to the lodge to simulate what we would be doing in clinics tomorrow using our mentors as patients. Later, Dr. Pena, the local doctor who runs the clinic, further prepared us on taking vitals. We learned how to take height, weight, blood pressure, pulse and temperature as well as how to interview patients, distribute medicine and check patients into the hospital.

After dinner, we all headed down to the beach to watch the sunset. Shortly after, our mentor, Averi, showed us a video and lead a discussion on how charities can have a negative impact on the people they are meant to benefit. Such as the shoe company, TOMS, running local shoe makers out of buisness.

Finally, to end the day, our mentor, Guillermo, and local director, Idelisa, taught us some Dominican dance moves. We learned the Batchada, the Merangue and watched some of our peers make up some moves of their own.

Much love,

Carlin and Audrey

Wednesday July 4, 2018

Ready for an exciting day, we left the lodge early so we could begin the long bus ride to La Grua, a Haitian batey. After some napping on the bus, we arrived at La Grua and began setting up our stations so we could begin seeing community members in need of medical assistance. The first station was registration, in which we signed in patients before sending them to be interviewed. People at the interview station practiced their Spanish skills as they asked the patients about their medical history and reason for coming to the clinic.

After being interved, patients went to get their vitals checked. We were able to take blood pressure, temperature, height, and weight of members of the Haitian batey. After vitals, patients were sent back to see the doctor. We were able to observe the consultations the doctor had with the patients. At the pharmacy station, we were able to distribute prescriptions to the patients. Some of us were also recording information into a computer.

After a rewarding day of work, we had a quick tour of the community and got to play with some of the Haitian children who were running around. We took a trip to the supermarket which had A/CJ. We got back to the lodge and jumped into the pool to cool off. We finally had some good-old fashion American food which was mac-n-cheese and we were all excited. The group had a lecture about happiness and then hoped back in the pool for our round two Fourth of July celebration. And then we all went to the beach for a bonfire and sang some American tunes and we introduced s’mores to a few locals and counselors as well. THE END

-Jordan and Lizzie

Thursday July 5, 2018

Today was our second of three excursion days here at this trip and we went to the ever great DuDu Lagoon, the same place the group B kids went for their first excursion day. The day began with roosters and livestock going insane over who knows what but at this point we are used to the livestock cutting our sleep short. Some of the students and mentors went with the usual mentoring routine of weightlifting in the morning but today we were joined by mentor Javier and our new friend Junior who was a translator at the brigade. Once we all regrouped for breakfast at 8am we ate French toast which was pretty good. Breakfast is usually good most people can agree on that and we all changed into bathing suits for a day full of swimming and adventure.

After an hour long ride to the Lagoon past a tourist city with the bus driver playing some Spanish-reggae music we made it to the secluded lagoon where we got our tickets. Then we immediately rushed to the restaurant to get free wifi because some of us don’t have data plans and it was our first internet in a week which high school kids usually can’t go a day without. I think that after this trip we will use the internet a lot less because we have been having a great time without it and we have learned social skills we wouldn’t have otherwise learned if we were on our phones.

The zipline jumping was something else. There was a giant drop into a very deep crystal blue pool with a zipline with no harness going across it. Then we went to a sonotee (cave overhang with water in it) where we tried to see who was brave enough to go to the very end. Nathan was the first to make it there but many had to turn back because the water was deep and they weren’t able to tread that long. Then people tried jumping into the Sonotee and that was fun. In the morning Hilary said she had a surprise for us and after lunch and some volleyball (chicken and rice of course) she took us to Playa Presiosa which was a secluded beach with a great setting. At that beach we also ran into all the staff selling some Dominican jewelry along with hair braiders. A lot of the girls (and some guys) got their hair braided for very cheap and we enjoyed the beach.

We came home very late an after many showers we ate dinner which was some fried chicken and fries which was almost as good as Chick Fil-A from back home. Then after a small break we had a lecture with Micalea (Makayla? Micaleaka?) about ethics and medicinal ethical situations with mock situations (what would you dos) and quote analysis. Then we went into mentor groups like usual to work on our capstones and went to bed. Also Athena says “hi mom”.

Sunday July 8, 2018

Parents and friends!!!!!

We have had an adventurous, awesome, and adequately proportionate 11th day here in the Dominican Republic. Its Emily Marquis and Caroline Burkhard coming at y’all (#texas) live from our nightly studies and discussions.

Today, we brightly woke up to a fresh day of vitamin distribution. We drove over to Cano Dulce to help out kiddos and some pregnant mothers!! We worked sufficiently and efficiently to finish off our clinic at around 1:00pm.

It doesn’t stop there! We strolled along a palm tree forest, a picture straight out of Where the Wild Things Are, to discover a land of colorful pieces of…. Trash. We had to fix the situation in a fun way by… making super duper uber amazing mosaics. Splitting into three groups, one group made a smiley face, the other an outline of a person, and lastly a swinging palm tree. For dinner we had… you will never guess it… RICE AND BEANS WITH CHICKEN.

We ended a wonderful day with a powerful speech over our worlds struggle with equality of religion, ethnity, age, gender, race, nationality, social class, sexual orientation, and physical ability. Our hearts were touched by the stories the speaker Sarah told. Lastly, we divided to discuss with Hilary and began to practice for the Sunday Night GHI Group A Talent Show. Thank you and GOODNIGHT America and other places your family might be from! Peace!!!!

-Emily and Caroline

Monday July 9, 2018

Good evening families!!

This morning our breakfast consisted of pancakes, ham, oatmeal, pineapple, watermelon, papayas, and hot chocolate. Cara´s pancakes were sadly stolen from her plate from the rest of the hungry GLA students.

We left for Caño Dulce at 9am for our last work day. We spent the day cementing and finishing up the remainder of the bottle bathrooms. A local girl even helped us with the cement to get the job done faster. The most interesting part of the day was the journey to get water for mixing the cement. It consisted of crawling under a fence and walking down to a local stream with large buckets, and having to carry them back full of water.

Lunch was in a locals house and consisted of the usual rice, beans, salad, and fruit. Afterwards a bunch of us went on a soda run to a local store and then we went back to working on the same tasks from the morning.

At around 3pm, we were finished with our work early and hopped on the bus to get some ice cream. To spend our free time, we went to the beach. Dinner was taco night which consisted of tortilla chips, chicken, rice, beans, lettuce, cheese, and salsa. The lecture tonight was an interesting talk on different types of leadership, and we experimented with our leadership qualities. After, we had a talent show to help close up our trip with many funny and entertaining acts. It had Suhas´ jokes, Madi´s vines, a group of girls dancing, and many more.

-by Bella and Jenna aka the Leaders of the Day

Click here to jump down to the most recent post! 

Monday June 11, 2018 

Everyone arrived safely and soundly in the Dominican Republic today! … as per usual in the Caribbean, some took longer than others! The students had an exciting day getting to know the Lodge, and its two mascot dogs, Ernie and Oscar. The afternoon was spent exploring, chilling by the pool and getting to know each other. Our program Mentors Averia and Michaela completed health checks and one on ones with every student. Excitement and energy is high!

The group enjoyed a nourishing and typically local dish of rice, beans, chicken and salad, followed by mouthwatering pineapple and melon. After dinner, the Local and International Directors led an orientation, introducing the students to the country, its culture, as well as covering program policies and itinerary information. Leaders of the day were selected and put to their duties.

Already, the students are learning new cultural essentials, such as how to deal with huntsman spiders in their rooms, understanding dominican Spanish and how to get inside a mosquito net. Tomorrow, the group will complete their Brigade training with Javier, one of the local Directors, and visit the first clinic. All of the student´s seem very eager and enthusiastic to get started with their service learning adventure.

Tuesday June 12, 2018 

Hello Parents!

This is Zoe and Samia reporting from the Dominican Republic. Today was fantastic. We prepared for our first medical brigade tomorrow by learning how to take vitals and can basically single-handedly run a hospital now (you would be so proud of me mom -Zoe). We got ice cream, went swimming, laid on the beach, set up hammocks, and got to know our new friends!!! We are Mc’loving it here.

Currently sitting in a hut during a lightning storm, next to a field of cows. And chickens. So far, 3 clogged toilets, 2 meals with rice and beans, and one broken ego. No phone service, no air-conditioning, no privacy, cold showers, 5 baseball-sized spiders, and spent my emergency money on ice cream, no regrets and sorry dad. Don’t worry, we’re fine.

See you in two weeks! We hope the first paragraph didn’t scare y’all too much.

Zoe and Samia

Unfortunately the cell service wouldn’t allow photo uploads, but keep an eye out for photos of the upcoming days of the program!

Wednesday June 13, 2018 

Hello parents! This is Jack and Tristen live and in stereo from the Lodge. Today, we were able to apply the training from yesterday to the clinical brigade that we visited in Nueva York Chiquito (Little New York). We started the day with two bowls: one with Cocoa Puffs and one with Mashed Potatoes (Dinner for Breakfast?). An interesting combination, but it still worked. The village was an hour away, and on our voyage we picked up two translators and two doctors, seeing as we are neither fluent in Spanish nor do we have medical degrees. We were surprised on our arrival to see that the clinic was set up in someone’s back yard and in their home. 60 patients waited eagerly as we set up. There were several stations, which included Registration, Vitals, Interview, Waiting Room, Doctor Consultation, Pharmacy, and Data Transcription.

Vitals and Pharmacy were particularly interesting, as we assumed the roles of literal nurses and pharmacists. We measured the patients’ height, weight, blood pressure, and temperature. This means that we also filled, without legal certification, actual prescriptions for the patients. Trust us, it is much harder to do these things when you can’t communicate with the people! For example, an elderly woman stood on the numbers and dial instead of the actual scale.

Our shift started at 9 AM and ended at 3 PM, with a nice lunch at noon that was prepared by a local woman who invited us to dine in her living room. Lunch consisted of rice, broccoli, pasta salad, and pork. While the kids were waiting to be seen, we taught them to play Tic Tac Toe, Rock Papers Scissors (Piedra Papel Tijeras), and how to blow bubbles (burbujas)! After we got home, we were all very excited to jump into the pool after a very hot day.

Dinner was fantastic, as the cooks prepared comfort foods such as french fries and fried chicken. Our daily lecture was a simulated debate between the South African government, a large pharmaceutical company, and a human rights organization over the high prices of anti-HIV/AIDS medications. It got a little unruly and confusing, and in end the judges ruled in favor of the pharmaceutical company.

However, everyone had their own opinions on the outcome and thus we are conducting the same debate in two weeks. Overall, today was a very eye-opening and humbling experience in which we were first able to dive into the community and culture of the Dominican Republic through a medical and global health framework. We are tired of typing now so be prepared for the next update in the blog post.

-Jack and Tristen

Thursday June 14, 2018 

Hey y’all, Zaria and Tatum in the house! We’ve just read yesterday’s blog and are extremely intimidated by its quality, but we’ll try our best! (Thanks a lot Tristen and Jack; your writing is a lot to live up to, jeez.) Today was sweaty. We won’t lie. Lots of sweat. Lots. Our day began when the cows and roosters decided to hold a screeching competition at the crack of dawn. We were then treated to a delectable breakfast of eggs, sausage, frosted flakes, coffee, and hot chocolate. Stomachs full and heads held high (yet somewhat tired), we boarded a bus heading to Caño Dulce.

At this site, we aimed to construct two bathrooms, using empty plastic bottles as insulation. (Innovative AND eco-friendly!!) After our arrival, we split into two groups and were handed nails and hammers. We began cutting chicken wire, stacking bottles, and hammering away.

After a morning of hard work, we met back up for lunch, which was served to us by a local mother. (Our hands were almost too tired to lift our forks). We then hoisted our hammers and set back on constructing our bottle houses. We completed today’s work around 3 o’clock and drove back to the lodge.

No sooner than our bags hit the floor, we hit the pool, completely exhausted and drenched in sweat. After lounging, tanning, and swimming, we cleaned up and headed to dinner: TACO NIGHT!!!! Tonight’s charla (lesson) was a joint leadership and identity activity with another program. So ladies and gentlemen, that means it’s time to hit the hay! The sweaty, mosquito-netted hay. We’ll be expecting some sore muscles tomorrow, but it was worth it; we’re looking forward to tomorrow… We’ll keep you posted!

-by Tatum and Zaria

Friday June 15, 2018 

Hello parents who are patiently waiting for an update on the blog. This is Kate and Annabel. It’s currently day 5, and we’re still at a consistent count of 19 people (surprisingly)… Today we woke up bright and early to some ferocious hammering that we’re not quite sure where it came from, given it was 6:50 in the morning. We enjoyed some wonderful pancakes, bacon as crispy as Annabel (sorry momma), eggs, and our dose of daily fruit.

We hopped on our bus that was definitely hotter than a sauna and opened every window until the driver told that we would be much happier if we closed the windows and let the AC do its job. Let’s just say he was right. We made a quick detour to the grocery store to exchange some money before we turned around to start out first adventure day. We got off the bus to meet the family that would take us down the river to our perfect tanning spots (or burning spots). Before we embarked, we got to take a tour through their family zoo where we met Blanco the dog.

We got on the boat and took a scenic ride that took us to the “beach.” We laid all of our towels out, applied sunscreen (Yes mom we did wear sunscreen and reapplied), and enjoyed the sun. After a hard swim, we made it to the other side of the river. We then took a quick lunch break where we had some fried chicken and rice and beans of course. We headed back to our perfect spot and encountered some mean wind that pelted sand at our fried skin. Once we realized that the sun did as much damage to our skin as it did to our energy levels, we mopped onto the even hotter bus after sitting in the sun all day.

At the lodge we took the nicest freezing showers ever. Something we never thought we would say. We applied our bucket loads of aloe (thanks Alise). We then had lasagna for dinner (not as good as yours momma, don’t worry) and sat down to learn about the Dominican and Haitian relationship. We are passed exhausted given that we could barely hold our heads up to write this blog (given the numerous spelling errors). Now we are off to bed in our not so very comfy beds and semi-protective bug nets. Peace out y’all.

Shout out to my fam bam & Dawson I love y’all and can’t wait to see you guys but I am having a fabulous time.

Love, Kate and Annabel

Saturday June 16, 2018

Hello it’s the best LODS(Leaders of the day), Emilie and Bella, coming to you from the lodge. Today has been the most grueling day yet. We started off with breakfast at 7 am, an hour earlier than normal!! By now we have been able to ignore the loud chickens and cows in the morning but today we really needed them to help us get up. After a delicious breakfast of cinnamon oatmeal we headed out on a 2 hour bus ride to a community called La Grua. Once we arrived in the batey, a community of Dominicans and Haitians, we were greeted with 9 bags of cement. Before we had even started working we were already sweating, fun tip: long pants and the humidity do not work well together. Our challenge in the community was to construct a cement floor for a single mother and her daughter. We got right to work and made fast progress, despite the intense heat. The strenuous workout of mixing and carrying cement wore us out so much that everyone needed at least seconds of our lunch, that consisted of BBQ chicken, beans, chips, queso, and fresh fruit.

After lunch we were still worn out so we decided to take a community tour and go see the Haitian part of La Grua. Seeing the Haitian part showed us all how necessary our work is and we got a fun surprise by seeing 2 little piglets running around with their huge mother. Then we got back to work, and luckily, we had worked hard in the morning so we did not have much to do. After finishing the floor we headed back to the lodge on another 2 hour bus trip. We made a pit stop at a grocery store, where we were pleasantly surprised with air conditioning. Even after refueling ourselves on ice cream and other sweets, we still needed further cooling down with the ice cold showers. Then we were treated to another dinner of, surprise surprise, chicken and rice. We concluded our day by learning about how poverty can be shown in many different ways. Goodnight, don’t let the mosquitos bite!

Love,

Bella and Emilie <3

P.S. we both love and miss our families and friends but were having a blast!!(:

Sunday June 17, 2018

Sup y’all it’s Sunday!!

Happy Father’s Day! (Sorry most of us didn’t call) P.S: we noticed your salt in the family group chat when you wished the other Dads a happy Father’s Day before we texted you -Rayna and Jaya. (Hope your father’s day was great and your flight was even better *even with the ferret* -Jaya) (have fun in China without me. I swear it won’t be as fun -Rayna)

Today we went to Caño Dulce again to work on our previously started bottle house bathrooms. #bottlebaño. We had to mix another three bags of cement. Then came the water. After what seemed like hours of cutting chicken wire we ended up finishing the walls of the bathroom. Then came the process of slapping wet cement onto the walls with our bare hands. It’s a cute summer look. After a sadly short bus ride home, we took our cold showers and sat in our hammocks. Pretty sure we turned 3 shades darker. Meanwhile, the best of us are fighting the battle of using scented conditioner and attracting bugs, or having hair as dry as the cement. We made friendship bracelets after. Jack decided to get a hair wrap (attached photo) and none of us are sure about the outcome. Although we are super tired we had an absolutely amazing day!

Monday June 18, 2018

We kicked off our second week with a (much appreciated) hour-later start and some good old fashioned “Dominican” (Salty, not sweet) toast, as well as beloved Coco Puffs and refreshing banana smoothie. Everyone rejoiced at the prospect of laundry day, filling pillow cases with dirty clothes from our various daily embarkations. With everyone accounted for, our daily adventure began, taking us for the first time to the community of Polanco.

Today’s task was to dig trenches, but instead of for hiding from artillery we built them to lay down piping to provide clean water to an area which previously had limited accessibility. It was undeniably a laborious day, but the work was well worth it because of the good it provides to their community members. Queque (Sounds like Keke) was a phenomenal host, distributing ice to our exhausted selves in the midst of a heat-marred (?!) and ever-humid afternoon after having already fed us a tasty meal of pork, rice (What a surprise!), broccoli, salad, and fruit. Following a quick bus ride home, we arrived back at the homebase excited to cool off in the pool, only to discover that a thunderstorm was approaching. The group concluded the day with a constructive discussion about international food security (and a lack thereof) and much excitement for the following day’s excursion to Dudu Lagoon (Stay tuned to learn more!).

Over and out, Luke and Tanush

 

Tuesday June 19, 2018

Hola! Alise and Aaliyah here! Today’s morning was your typical breakfast of eggs, fruit, granola, frosted flakes, and coffee with a special twist: nutella and bread! You can say we were all pretty excited to have a treat that tasted like home.

We got on the bus at 9:15 to embark on our adventure to Dudu Lagoon. After a 45 minute bus ride, we arrived! We were already in awe at the beautiful scenery before even catching a glimpse of the lagoon itself. After dropping off our stuff and settling down, we cheered on our peers as they dared to plunge off of a zipline into the 85 foot deep lagoon. As some people did a perfect pencil, others belly flopped into the depths of the pool. Don’t worry we are all a-okay! We enjoyed our time at the lagoon and nearby caves, restaurants, and volleyball courts before heading out again.

Our next destination was Playa Preciosa, a stunning beach with soft, white sand and clear, blue waters. About a quarter into our swimming, a few vendors came down to the beach with hand-made, authentic souvenirs. After some bargaining, everyone was satisfied with their purchase! The rest of our time was spent relaxing in the shade, swimming in the water and sipping on our (virgin- don’t worry mom!) pina coladas. It was the perfect way to rejuvenate after our community service days!

-by Alise and Aaliyah

  

Wednesday June 20, 2018

¡Hola padres! The roosters crowed at 4 AM, signaling our periodic awakening. We officially wake up at 7:30 AM, rush to brush our teeth and sprint for the picnic tables, (A.K.A breakfast. A.K.A BECK’fast). On our conformed Dominican time, we left a little after 9:15 for our last visit to our bathrooms in Caño Dulce. After manually mixing cement, forcefully cementing walls, endlessly cutting and hammering chicken wire into the wall, GHI-A went on a community tour! This community tour consisted of our aquatinted dog Boca Negra, “Black Mouth”, a [literal] wire bridge most people expected to break, and many people resisting to swat at honey bees. Most of our group ate honey comb freshly sliced from the comb, as others fled in fear of the bees shouting “BEES, BEES, BEES!” On our way back from the community tour many of us learned that thorns can grow on trees. We also learned about cacao farming and other native plants to the DR. We headed back to the Mateo’s house to eat lunch with his expressive 11 month old son, and chihuahua.

Post lunch, we flung cement at the wall, and finished the bathrooms as much as we could. We fled the bathrooms to the bus, only to sprint into the supermarket with limited time, not finding what we needed, but what we wanted: SNACKS! We headed back to the lodge; Some of us stuffed our faces with the snacks we bought approximately 15 minutes before and others went swimming with our mascots, Ernie and Oscar. We ate dinner and headed to the beach to see the beautiful sunset. While many were photogenic, Natalie was not. Very few of us got too friendly with the ocean and felt it reject us after being slapped by a wave, which left our gluteus maximus’ soaked. We enjoyed an informative Charla with the lovely Liv about world consumerism and the raise in degrees of Celsius and Fahrenheit. Directly after, groups separated and met with our mentors. Finally your favorite and most comical LODs (Leaders of the Day), Natalie and Rebecca met and typed the blog.

-by Natalie and Rebecca

Thursday June 21, 2018

We’re reaching the end of our trip and finally getting used to our eating and sleeping conditions. We slept perfectly fine throughout the night some to wake up for a morning workout on the beach before our desayuna muy sabrosa (very delicious breakfast) of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. After our vitamin distribution lesson with Javi, we were on our way to the school in La Cantera, where we would be distributing those vitamins to the children of the school.

The stations were the same as they were at the clinic on day three, except they were bit more chaotic because the children were playful and goofy. We collected their vital signs and weekly dietary intake, afterwards, they picked up the vitamins that the kids saw as delicious candies. To finish our time in La Cantera, we went on a community tour, where we hiked half way up the side of a mountain to see a giant Virgin Mary and a breathtaking view one would expect to see on television.

We headed back and gathered into our debate groups to prepare our arguments over the Big Pharma vs South African government court case. After our discussion, we ate our cena muy rica (very rich dinner) of chicken tenders and fries with vegetables. We watched the documentary, Poverty Inc, during charla. We held a deep discussion in our mentor groups over orphanages in developing countries, such as Haiti. Now we are half asleep, typing this Leader of the Day blog as we close our day.

Good night parents. We love you. It’s been real. <3

Friday June 22, 2018

Hey GHI families!

Today´s leaders of the day are Zoe and Jaya (the bestest LODs of the day). I would like to let everyone know Zaria fell out of her top bunk bed last night and I don´t think I´ve ever laughed harder (Zoe). This morning we had a nice 9am breakfast before hopping on the bus to Polanco where we dug trenches for a few hours to provide plumbing to the community. It was very rewarding work. At lunch we had chicken, rice and beans; then we begged for pizza and had a dance party in the community contacts´ house to Childish Gambino. Then, ever on the #grind, we picked up our shovels and got back to hauling dirt. Soon, our sweet sweet prayers were answered, and we had finished our final community service project and left the beloved Polanco trenches.

Upon return home, there were many quibbles between roommates over who got first shower and Hilary, our Director took some students to practice meditation on the beach. At 5, we had our long anticipated debate over a lawsuit between South Africa vs. Big Pharma. We discussed the universal human rights of property ownership vs. the right to life and in our court of law, Big Pharma won. We analyzed the ethical versus logistical aspects of the case and how it posed conflict between our hearts and our minds, as one mentor put it.

Then for dinner, more rice, chicken, and beans in our hearty tacos that we loved, and then we were back on the raw wood benches to learn about Voluntourism in Global Health. Voluntourism is volunteering in a foreign country and the ethical dilemmas this can pose. After an informative Charla, we learned the statistics of our brigade and vitamin distribution (picture below!) Then we broke into mentor groups to discuss our capstone projects and now we are tired and ready to hit the hay. In conclusion, today we pursued God, Gold, and Glory and came out victorious.

Signing off,
Jaya and Zoe

Saturday June 23, 2018

Hello for the last time! Annabel and Tristen here to go out with a bang. We started our day with not as crispy bacon and fried eggs with some French toast (and fruit of course). We got ready for our last day and we were out the door by 9:15. After an hour drive we arrived to Gri Gri Lagoon where we boarded a small wooden “boat” and motored out into the ocean. We took a quick stop in the lagoon and the headed to a cove where many of us got out to swim. We then boated to the beach where we would spend the rest of our day in the sun, at least we thought. After many fun hours of swimming, snorkeling, and tanning (not burning this time we all learned our lesson) we were interrupted by a small drizzle from a sun filled sky which later turned into a hectic down pour. We struggled to grab our stuff and run to the bus. We then had a very wet and sandy hour long bus ride back home.

When arriving home we all took our last cold shower (yay!) and filled out evaluations for our wonderful past 2 weeks. Since our hammocks were soaked we played cards until eating our last dinner together. After dinner, we had our capstone projects to present which we worked on every night with our mentors, pretty much a reflection on what we have learned. One group talked about the bathrooms we built and the other about our medical brigade. We had our final charla (another yay!) in which we learned how to stay connected to GLA and 7 elements (the company which partners with GLA). After that we had a very emotional time while writing each other good bye notes on our own sheets of paper to take home. As we sit here writing this, we are playing cards, listening to music and enjoying our final night together.

Some of us will be waking up tomorrow morning to see the beautiful Dominican sunrise before our departure from our home for the past 2 weeks. We are going to go cry now and spend some more quality time with the people we will miss so much. We are all very excited to come home and see you, parents! Also, we are all expecting a good welcome home meal of our favorites American chain restaurants (In and out, Panda Express, Chick fil A, Noodles and Company, Chipotle and many more. It is safe to say you will be eating out all week, not that I don¨t miss your cooking, mom). I guess this is our final blog post, we have had the most amazing time and hope you all have enjoyed coming along with us. You will hear so much more when we are home!

Saying goodbye for the final time, much love for everyone, Annabel and Tristen.

Click here to jump down to the recent posts!

Sunday July 8, 2018

Hello from The Dominican Republic!

We were so excited to welcome new students to The Lodge in the Dominican Republic today. Although some of our students are won’t be arriving until tomorrow, we had an awesome introduction day getting to know one another and beginning orientation. We can’t wait to meet and welcome the students arriving tomorrow and have an incredible BSW Program over the next 21 days 🙂

Monday July 9, 2018

Our first full day was quite spectacular and full of new experiences. Although we were nervous at first, we’ve all made new friends and are excited for the weeks to come. We played a lot of card games while at the lodge, and started construction at a community center for the locals in Nueva York Chaquito, which means, Little New York. We also threw a surprise birthday party for our new friend and fellow student, Malia! It was all very new but in the end it was fun making new friends, building a community center, and meeting the locals.

From,
Amrita and Gabe

Tuesday July 10, 2018

Today is day three and we went to Nuevo York Chaquito to work on the community center. We continued building the walls with bottles and making concrete. We also enjoyed connecting and playing with the little kids who live in the neighborhood. Over all, it was very fun and we are excited to continue to work on the community center with everyone.

Wednesday July 11, 2018

We started our 4th day by working more on the bottle building, taking intermittent breaks to play volleyball or tag with the local children. After lunch, we visited a local jewelry store. Then instead of continuing to work like previous days, we were surprised with a visit to a beautiful nearby beach. We all had piña coladas or coco locos. A few of us even got a new hair-do. Afterward, we returned to the lodge for dinner and a lecture on poverty situations.

-by Michael and Ruby

Thursday July 12, 2018

Today we got up at 7:30, ate breakfast, and took a two hour car ride to Santiago. In Santiago, we went to a museum with unique and meaningful art work. After, we went to a monument and walked all the way to the top, the view was stunning. Finally, we returned home and relaxed in the pool.

– An and Gunner

Friday July 13, 2018

Today we went to Cano Dulce where we were building a latrine. Our exact tasks were mixing cement and putting it onto the walls that have already been bottled. After lunch we had a competitive game of basketball with the local kids and learned how exciting connecting with this community can be. We left the project site today feeling super thankful for our homes and all the hard work that comes with construction. We started our capstone projects tonight and finished the evening with a walk on the beach. We are all excited to go to the capital tomorrow!

Adiós

– Luke and Malia

Saturday July 15, 2018

We started off the day at 8 leaving the lodge. Our drive was 5 hours but we finally reached the capital. We visited multiple historical sites, one of them being the first cathedral in the Americas. We also passed many shop and even sampled delicious Dominican chocolate. For dinner we went to a really cute Italian restaurant and ate fantastic pizza and pasta. Our day in the Capital was a success.

-Amber and Hugo

Monday July 16, 2018

Today we went white water rafting! We learned to face our fears by braving the rapids. Although most of us were nervous, the raft guides and the views helped calm our nerves. Besides the 4 hour long car ride, back in the end it was a fun day!

Sincerely,

Your Leaders of the Day
Anastasia and Gabe

Tuesday July 17, 2018

On day 10 we found ourselves back at NY Chiquito! We focused on cementing the walls and finally finished bottling. While we were working rain abruptly started and poured all through our lunchtime. We took a break to take in the rain and play with the children of the community. Around 2 we packed up early and headed back to the lodge.

-by Cole and Renee

Wednesday July 18, 2018

Day 12! Today was our last day at NY Chaquito, which is where we’ve been working on a community center. After growing a relationship with the community, it was hard to say goodbye. Once we finished our work, we took a tour of the community and saw an interesting aspect of Dominican life that we had never seen before.

Later on, we watched a short documentary about the relationship between Dominicans and Haitians since we are preaparing for our trip to Dajabon Market tomorrow, which lies between the border of the two countries. Following the documentary we had a Q & A with one of our mentors who is a Dominican citizen, but comes from Haitian descent. Tomorrow, we’re waking up at 5:30 am which will be difficult, however it will be worth the experience.

Love,

Evelyn and Has

Monday July 23, 2018

After learning how to bottle and cement, we were ready to start a new project today and learn how to plant banana trees. This morning we headed to the community of Cano Dulce to plant around 100 banana trees. The community will maintain and farm the banana trees as a source of food and income for the community. Before planting, we had to clear the land and it was there where we encountered some tarantula friends! Some of the kids from the community came to help us dig holes and plant trees as well. We connected with the children, one kid especially connected with everyone and his name was Dollery. He introduced us to cacao and we all got to taste it! Once we finished, we played basketball and volleyball with all the kids. We had a great day and can’t wait to go back and water the trees tomorrow.

Love,

Luz

Tuesday July 24, 2018

Today was our third day of work at the community Caño Dulce. We had a wonderful morning building off of all our hard work from yesterday. We worked on clearing more land and planting, but our main task for the day was watering the banana plants. Everyone worked as a team to form an assembly line carrying water buckets from the river to the plants (quite a distance). This continued all morning until every plant got the water it needed. After enjoying a delicious lunch we played games with local kids and got a tour of the bee hives from the local bee keeper Johnny. We learned so much about his work and even got to taste some incredible honey that he cut fresh from the comb. It was such a great day for learning about local agriculture and bee keeping!”

Luke and Emma (los primos)

Thursday July 26, 2018

On Day 19 we had our last work day at Cano Dulce. We continued our hard work of planting and watering banana trees from Days 16 and 17. We spent the morning digging holes and clearing the hillsides for the baby banana plants. We quickly found that among us in the brush were baby tarantulas and centipedes. While we were tired at the end of the day, the sad realization that we had to say “adios” to the playful kids and hospitable locals hit us all. The mood was quickly lifted when we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, playing cards, and working on our capstone projects at the lodge.

Friday July 27, 2018

Today was our 20th and final full day in the Dominican Republic. We woke up early to see the sunrise. Some say you’ve never seen a sunrise until you’ve seen one in the DR… it was so cloudy that we didn’t see much of anything, but that’s absolutely okay. It was a beautiful morning on a beautiful beach, and we’re all going to miss those early morning walks. We later went to Sosua and went snorkeling. The water was amazingly clear and you could see the entire ecosystem below the water!

Click here to jump down to the most recent post! 

Thursday June 14, 2018

All students have arrived safely in the Dominican Republic! We are getting to know each other, getting settled into home base, and are all super excited for the next three weeks!

Friday June 15, 2018 

Today was the group’s first day embracing the climate of the Dominican Republic. Though it was extremely caloroso (hot), the group pushed through by enjoying themselves, engaging with the locals, and building the community center for the New York Chiquito. Everyone is safe and sound back at The Lodge, staying grounded and prepared for another day in the DR. Overall, today was such a wonderful experience to enjoy with new friends, locals, and the breathtaking scenery the DR has to offer. We hope these upcoming weeks are as amazing as the first has been so far.

Marissa C. and Becca H. – signing off!

Saturday June 16, 2018

As Ice Cube would say, “today was a good day!” We continued our work at New York Chiquito community center. Yesterday 12 sections of wall were completed, and today we finished the day off with 36 sections! Quite an improvement. The opportunity to be immersed in such a connected community has created an intense feeling of family amongst the group. We are on day 3 and the group has not only bonded with each other, but also with the children of New York Chiquito. To wind down a long day of work the counselors surprised us with a trip to Caleton Beach. We head into the next few weeks inspired and energized to learn as much as we can about the beautiful country that is the Dominican Republic.

-by Kyle C. and Cat R.

Sunday June 17, 2018

Today was the halfway marker of our work completed at Nueva York Chiquito. Our team building skills have improved a great deal today as we helped each other start off the third and highest section of the wall. Not only were we hard at work with the walls, we were immersing ourselves in the Dominican Republic culture by dancing and listening to songs with the locals. After our long day at the site we were surprised by the mentors with a trip to Playa Preciosa. We are excited to visit Dajabon market on the Haitian-Dominican Republic border and experience the rich culture tomorrow.

-by Shay P. & Coni G.

Monday June 18, 2018

Rise and shine at 4:30 am! Start of a five hour journey to Dajabon Mercado. After four stops and some other delays we finally enjoyed our lunch at D’House and prepared for our tour through the market. It was turbulent and chaotic but immersed us in the clashing cultures of the Haitians and Dominicans. We also got the chance to experience the massacre river and the bridge separating the two countries. After our unique tour, we made our way back to the bus for our 5 hour journey to home base.

-by Lily O. & Jude H.

Tuesday June 19, 2018

Today we worked on a latrine in Caña Dulce. We did more bottle walls and began a six foot deep pit, which will be used for a septic tank. Later we raced through an obstacle course on the beach as a team-building experience.

-Taryn and Jay

 

Wednesday June 20, 2018

Today we toured the capital city, Santo Domingo. We arrive at our (air-conditioned, woohoo) hotel around 2 and then headed out to explore the “zona colonial” as a group. We got to do some shopping and visited a lot of cool historic sites. We passed beautiful street art and centuries old buildings such as the house of Christopher Columbus’s son and the first cathedral in the Americas. We then practiced our salsa dancing in a plaza and afterward did a team building exercise, untangling the human knot. Last but not least, we finished the evening with pizza!!!

– Luca and Isabella

Thursday June 21, 2018

Today we explored Tres Ojos caves in Santo Domingo. They were beautiful and the sunlight shining down lit up the clear blue waters. Afterward we headed to Jarabacoa, a mountain town. As rain fell from the sky and a brisk breeze hit our faces, we realized that we were not in Las Canas anymore. Toward the end of the day we did a self-awareness exercise called ‘values line’ which was really interesting. We ended the day playing ping pong and having a piggy back riding competition at our hotel.”

-Megan and Alex

Friday June 22, 2018

Today everyone was very excited to start off the day by going white-water rafting in Jarabacoa. It was an amazing experience and at one point as we glided down the cool river, we surpassed a 4 meter drop! Afterward, we ate lunch, spent some time playing games, and celebrated Luca’s birthday. Next, we took a short drive to a powerful waterfall and came back to the lodge later in the afternoon. It felt good to come back to home.

-by Alexandra and Sam

Saturday June 23, 2018

Today was one of our most challenging days yet! Through hiking the beautiful landscape of Brison, we grew physically and mentally, not only exercising our legs as we took on the 4 km trail but also developing our knowledge of the region’s unique culture and history.

We hiked on a road that led directly through the community, which meant we were able to observe their school, houses and water pipes, some of which had been recently set up by the peace corps. When we got to the top, we ate at the house of a local resident, Maxima, who generously shared her culture through recalling her life experiences (and cooking us delicious food!)

Our strenuous hike made us better understand the difficulties of people in developing countries and appreciate the simple privileges many of us have, such as driving to school and getting a glass of water from the faucet.

– Maggie and Marli

Sunday June 24, 2018

Day 12: Today was our 4th day at Nueva York Chiquito. We finished bottling the walls of the community center. After lunch in the community we went to the beach. We swam and enjoyed each other’s company. We left early due to thunderstorms. Dinner was great as usual. We then had a discussion about issues in comunities in the DR and Haití.

-by Becca and Delaney

Monday June 25, 2018

Concrete for days! Today was the group’s first day working with cement. Although it was different and hard the group stuck together and accomplished a lot! Seven bags of cement to be exact. The trip is going by so fast. Within these 13 days, the group has grown so much and are practically family.

-by Kyle and Jude

Tuesday June 26, 2018

Today was a work day. We finished cementing the walls of the community center in Nueva York Chiquito. One thing that made today more significant is that we met more of the local children. Another thing that made today special was our tour of NYC and the Bronx. We were shocked by the living conditions in the community. This made us realize the true impact of our work. Today opened our eyes to extreme poverty.

Wednesday June 27, 2018

Today we took a break from working and cementing to take a trip to Santiago. First we went to Centro Leon, a cool Dominican museum, and learned about Caribbean history. Then we had lunch at a pizza place, where many of us also ordered some very delicious churros. After lunch we then went to a monument and enjoyed a beautiful vista. We spent time as a group at the top, enjoying the skyline and taking silly pictures. We closed the day with dinner and a viewing of Poverty Inc.

-by Megan & Jay

Thursday June 28, 2018

Today was a great relaxing day! Some of us went on a run in the morning along the beach, while the rest of us took the opportunity to sleep in. We enjoyed a late breakfast and later spent some time in the pool. After lunch we went to a gorgeous beach and played in the water for two hours. We capped the day with a yummy dinner at the lodge and are about to have our nightly lecture. We’ve enjoyed this experience so much and look forward to making the world a greener place. Off to gardening in Caño Dulce tomorrow!

– Shea and Connie

Friday June 29, 2018

Today was our first day back to work after our excursion days. We got our hands dirty planting new banana trees for the community in Caña Dulce. While reforesting, we came across many intriguing insects including delicious tarantulas (haha just kidding). After or banana-filled day in the sun, we cooled off with a quick stop at the ice cream shop. After dinner at the lodge, we watched ‘Before the Flood’, an eye-opening environmental documentary.

– Lili and Sam

Saturday June 30, 2018

Today was our second day at Caño Dulce reforesting banana trees. We came together as a group in order to water all of the trees planted yesterday. There is no proper irrigation system in the community, so we formed a long assembly line to transfer 5 gallon buckets of water from the river to the banana sprouts. Today we shared our cohesion and our determination to aid the community through real interactions with each other and the local kids. The work was difficult but proved to be rewarding.

Thanks for reading,

Kat and Luca 🙂

Sunday July 1, 2018

Today was our last day at Caño Dulce (and our last work day here in the Dominican Republic!) As we have for the past couple days, we worked to plant seedling banana trees and water them with water we carried ourselves from the local creek. Before lunch, we took a trip to visit Johnny, a local community member, and explore his environmentally-friendly bee farm.

At the hives, we were even able to taste some delicious honey fresh off the combs— definitely a highlight of the day! Finally, we ended our work day with some time spent interacting with local community children, playing basketball and practicing our Spanish in engaging conversations. Ultimately, our final work day was a huge success with a bittersweet end— we formed memories that will last us a lifetime as we approach our final days here in the beautiful Dominican Republic.