DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Building a Sustainable World – July 21 – August 10, 2014

Snorkeling/Sosua – Last Day

Today we had to wake up at 8am, but most of us decided to wake up at 6 to go to the beach and watch the sunrise, something alot of us wanted to do before leaving, so the last day was the perfect time. After taking multiple pictures and walking along the beach, we went back to home base and waited for breakfast to be served at 8:30. We enjoyed the usual eggs, sausage, and toast. After breakfast we loaded onto the bus and headed to Sosua.

We pulled into the parking lot of the beach and walked onto the perfectly soft sands and crystal clear waters. We all hoped onto a boat and head out to the snorkeling site. Once we arrived, we all put on our flippers and goggles and jumped into the water to see all the colorful fishes and beautiful coral reefs. After spending about 2 hours swimming,snorkeling, and doing, flips off the boat, we went back to shore and spent about an hour and half looking at all the cool shops around the beach, at 12:30 we got back on the bus and headed to Cabarete for lunch.

We had lunch at Gordito’s, a mexican restaurant which specialized in burritos. Once we all finished our excellent burritos we went to the Lazy Dog, the usual place we go to hang out, enjoy virgin pina coladas, and use wifi, conveniently located right on the beach. We spent the time buying gifts for our families and just hanging out.

We went back to the homebase at 4, and relaxed until dinner at 6. Once we finished dinner, one of our mentors, Scott, talked to us about his time in the peace core and we learned about the returnees program if we chose to come back next year. We then had to go fill out evaluations on our overall thoughts on the whole GLA experience, once everyone finished that we went to the beach for a bonfire.

We got to the beach to the sight of a huge pile of burning wood. After taking a bunch of squad pics in front of the fire, we got out the flashlights and started a dance party with the dominicans. It was so much fun, and a great way to wrap up the last night, by laughing and dancing with all the friends we had made over these 21 days.

– RJ Estrada

Dajabon

Today was by far the most impactful of all, the day that we would see poverty at its worse. The people here have always been friendly, but today the air here was filled with an intensity we hadn’t yet experienced. For those who do not know, Dajabon is a town located right on the Haitian-Dominican boarder that opens every Monday and Friday. The Haitians will gather everything they possibly could sell and bring it to the market place to sell and trade for food from the Domincans. After four long hours on the bus we reached Dajabon, ate, and then went to the border to see the river in between and Haiti. Fact: While Rafael Trujillo was dictator of the Dominican he started a campaign to get rid of all Haitians in the Dominican Republic. Close to 30,000 Haitans were chased and murdered in the spot where we stood. Surreal.

After this, we split into two groups to walk through the market place. Walking through was one of the best and one of the worst experiences of my life. You can see the “face of desperation” in any non-profit add or documentary, but I’ve never looked at desperation and had it stare back at me. The intensity from earlier, thickened, it polluted the air. Thousands of people crowded into this area and their sales of that day would dictate weather they and their family at home got to eat for the rest of the week. I’ve never seen so many people in my life. Imagine five people and a motorcycle all trying to step in the same spot. A frustrating thing was seeing what the people of Haiti had to sell. Everything there was from NGO’s. Like: bottles of lotion, plastic sand shovels, coasters, baby strollers and name brand purses. I’m sure that the donators of these products had really good intentions but helping people in 3rd world countries requires so more attention and consideration than a simple donation. It makes me wonder how many times people actually ask a community, “What do you need?”

The “What do you need?” concept is something that I want to carry with me for the rest of my life. Before this trip I felt like I had my life planned out and I knew all I needed to know. Not. I still want to pursue a serving career but there’s so much more than just getting up and going. I’ve been a very impulsive person, and sometimes talking things through and educating yourself could make a huge difference on the difference that one makes. If you’re going to put so much effort into helping a community, why not do it right? One person cannot change the world, but someone has to make a step. Let’s put our best foot forward.

-Alicia Root (Conard)

Caraballo Continued…

We headed out of the home base early today to begin our last day working on the bottle school at Caraballo. This also marked our last day of service on the trip. It was exciting to see how much progress our group had made in the few weeks we have been here. On our last day, we split into groups to finish the last couple of classrooms. It was a bitter sweet ending saying goodbye to all the children and locals we have been working with over the last few weeks. I wish we were able to see the finished project, but I am very excited to see pictures in the near future.

After putting in our last bottles, we headed back to Cabarete to have delicious burritos at a local restaurant for lunch. After lunch, we returned to the home base. We rested for an hour in preparation for a game of kick-ball in the hot sun with the locals. Thankfully, the beach provided a perfect breeze and it was a super fun experience. Everyone had a good time. The game got a little competitive, with the GLA team winning 14-4. However, the locals have a running lead of winning 4 games against previous GLA groups. After the game, we headed back home to do the final preparations on our projects and eat another delicious dinner.

Following dinner, we had a leadership session. We watched a Ted Talk about a teenage girl who managed to take a huge stand against child soldiers, despite her young age. We related this back to our group, and how we are able to take a stand for what we believe in no matter what your age, race, or education level is. After leadership, we began our presentations. We started with the Keystone Pipeline, then Mining in Bonao, Farming in Constanza, and the Drought in California. Each group had very informative and interesting presentations pertaining to each problem and how they relate to the 7 elements of human security. It was a great ending to the day, and gave me a lot to think about and bring back home.

– Robyn Burnside

Caraballo

Today offered a very nice look into a community I had only seen the outside. The group started the day by waking up at 7:00 am and having breakfast. I’m pretty sure I’ve become a psychic, because I’ve figured out what we have for breakfast every day. The menu goes Eggs, bread, fruit, meat, and mashed potatoes. Not to insult the food or anything, it’s fantastic. After we had breakfast, we got on the bus and headed to Caraballo.

We were originally going to Caraballo to paint the inside of the bottle school we were working on there. However after we got there, Dave told us that instead, we would be picking up trash around & inside the bottle school. But before we did that, Dave took us on a 30 minute tour of the community. Caraballo is a town that has received a good amount of attention from different NGO’s, resulting in things such as schools, basketball courts. I saw three different basketball courts but no one was playing on them. But as Dave mentioned, a lot of these facilities won’t really help if a child is too sick to attend schools or play sports, which is the case a good amount of the time.

As we walked through Caraballo, I saw a lot of stores along the way, which struck me as weird because in an impoverished town like Caraballo, putting a store here would be a terrible idea. But then Dave told the group that the stores are really dependent on NGO’s coming in and buying their items. The dependency that the people have developed is a direct result of the constant attention NGO’s give them without a good exit plan, something I remember Dave saying earlier during the course.

After the tour, we spent an hour cleaning up around the bottle school. After that, we went to Cabarete where we had a good lunch and relaxed on the beach for a couple of hours. We left for the home base at 4:00 PM and after we got there, we had research time to finish up our projects followed by a delicious dinner. We capped off the night with a lecture by Dave and an interesting documentary called Food Inc. Overall today was a very interesting eye opening experience, because I got to see the conditions some of the people were living and understand the reason behind this. It’s one of those experiences that’ll just stick with you forever.

– Yusuf Ali-Halane

Las Canas

The alarm going off at 7:30 early in the morning would mark the beginning of an extremely significant day. At 8:30 we loaded up into the bus and headed out to the clinic back in Las Canas for the final preparations of the official completion. I was excited to be the group present for the completion of the project. The clinic was cleaned and decorations and paint were applied. Personally, I worked on taking the plastic off the doors, cleaning the walls, and removing excess construction materials lying around.

Shortly after finishing the clinic, the local children lead the group on a tour through Las Canas. I noticed how friendly everyone was while we reminded them that the clinic would open at one in the afternoon and that there would be a gathering. After the tour we headed back to the clinic and had lunch with the locals. When it was time to cut the ribbons, everyone gathered around. To be a part of laying a foundation and changing the future of others was certainly a proud honor.

Back at home base, we went to the beach to cool off and then went on to research our individual projects until dinner. After eating, we played some volleyball and proceeded to listen to a lecture on economics and development. Then we watched Ted Talks. The speaker disclosed information on the power of why, what inspires us, and why people buy into passion and beliefs. Overall, it turned out to be a day of great significance.

-Adam Lor

Puerto Plata: Cable car – Amber Museum

Today we woke up at eight and ate a delicious fulfilling breakfast consisting of eggs, sausage, and fruit. After breakfast we packed our bags, piled into the bus and started off to Puerto Plata. Once we arrived in Puerto Plata we boarded a cable car and ascended up a big mountain to a big statue of Jesus. While exploring Big Jesus’ mountain top we discovered a gift shop, a lagoon, a cave, and many more beautiful sights of nature.

After the cable cars we drove to the Amber Museum and learned about the ancient tree sap and its many varieties and qualities. In many pieces there are bugs and leaves fossilized and frozen in time for thousands of years. We also learned that amber floats in salt water which is the way they can tell the real pieces from the fake pieces. After the museum tour we walked through the gift shop on the bottom floor which was twice the size of the actual museum.

Once we got home we all went to the beach to enjoy the suns warm glow and the oceans refreshing waves. After our excursion to the beach we hopped in the pool at home base to talk and relax. After lounging in the pool we were challenged to a volleyball game by the ten day group. Volleyball has been an important activity to strengthen friendships and practice our teamwork since the beginning of the trip.

-Luke Torchin

Cano Dulce

Day 14 in GLA started like any other day wake up at 8 o’clock, breakfast at 8:30 and get on the bus at 9. The bus ride was about 10 minutes. Cano Dulce is not that far from home base. When we arrived at Cano Dulce we had a mini tour around the place. It was incredible to see the first bottle school completely finished. If you take a look at the beautiful peach school you wouldn’t believe it was made out of bottles. I was also amazed by the beautiful image of “El Mapa Del Mundo.” (The Map of the World) When I saw this bottle school I could only picture how beautiful the bottle school in Caraballo will turn out to be. After that we had to cross a bridge that was pretty scary. The bridge led to the place where Johnny processes his honey. Johnny sells his honey to make money to support his family. We have about 200 bottles of his delicious honey.

After the tour we were divided into our teams. There are 4 teams and each of the teams had different task to do. For instance, team one had to work on building the bridge, team two was focus on planting the trees from the reforestation project, team three worked on cementing the platform for the bridge, and lastly team four was working on cement for the kitchen walls. I was part of team two so my job was to plant trees. Planting trees might not seem much compare to the other teams, but trust me it was heavy work. First, we had to find an open area and take out all the weed and trash. Then we had to dig up a hole to place the tree. Since the dirt was dry and hard it was difficult to dig up. We finally placed the tree to its new home and water it.

We had lunch at noon and after that we went back to work. We went back to home base at 3 o’clock. Most of us were really exhausted. Some of us dipped our feet into the pool and enjoyed each other’s company. We then had dinner and after that we watched one ted talk and after that Dave introduced us to some of the returnee’s that are still here. The returnee’s spoke a little bit of themselves and of the projects they are working on. It was amazing how some of these returnees were younger or the same age as me and they already had great projects to help the community here. Afterwards, we watch three more incredible ted talks. Even though two ted talks were about 5 minutes long they manage to impact my life. I will always remember those two amazing ted talks that made me think about having guts to stand out. It was the perfect way to end my day.

-Melissa Flores

27 Charcos

Today we woke up at eight am and prepared for an exciting day of adventuring. We had the privilege of going to visit an ecotourism site named 27 Charcos which is a site filled with beautiful waterfalls and land made slides. Once arriving to the site we hiked up into the waterfall sites for about thirty minutes and once arriving to the first slide we realized how low the water levels were, it was sad to see such a beautiful spot so dried out. Yet we were all able to enjoy the first slide and begin our journey out through the park.
As we ran through all the slides they increased in size and velocity. Personally I tend to act tough but once I’m confronted with the act I get afraid and back out. On this trip I told myself that I would do everything so that I wouldn’t regret anything, and I was faced with an obstacle as we faced a waterfall from which we could either slide down or jump from a small cliff. I put my big girl pants on and walked onto the small platform to jump of, and I froze! I looked down it was only a ten foot drop yet it looked like a forty foot drop. I was too scared so I decided I would only slide down. But I heard all my group members cheering for me so I got up and jumped! It was awesome! We then ran through a few more and were finished with our tour.

After our big day at 27 Charcos we came home and had a mellow afternoon which then lead into dinner and leadership. Our leadership focused on the privileges that we have in the United States and the privileges that the Dominicans have here. It was great to discuss the cultural differences and privileges that we share. Overall the day was full of adventure and intellectual discussion which makes our group who we are.

-Cynthia Olivares

Las Canas

Today, I woke up at 7:00 am. Though I dread waking up at any hour before 8, I became accustomed to waking up this early and started the morning off by taking a shower and having a good breakfast. After, I went right to work with my group and we drove to Las Canas where we continued with our project on the clinic that provides not only a decent placement of health service, but also a good educational system for the children in the area who have almost to no education. I focusued mainly on putting up “trim” on the walls of the clinic to create a good structure for the place meticulously hammering down nails on the wood. After, even the kids tried to help by painting the wood red. Being in that clinic honestly made me reflect back on my experience in high school. My high school wasn’t the best nor did it do a good job on making the kids from low run inner city ghetttos profesional young adults. I imagined how the kids must have felt when they have never gone to school, so I felt content when I did my part in finishing the project for the health clinic.

-Aaronn Brown

Dudu

Today was a very fun-filled, adrenaline rushing day in the DR. We started out the day by waking up at 8 a.m., eating breakfast, and heading out to Dudu Lagoon. There was something for everyone at Dudu. Whether it was zip lining (and dropping 35 feet) into the lagoon, throwing yourself off an almost equally high cliff into the lagoon, exploring the underwater caves, playing volleyball and soccer, or just swimming around in the crystal clear water, I think it’s safe to say that everyone had a blast enjoying (or fearing for their lives) this break day. After eating lunch and waiting for the last minute decision makers to jump off the cliff, we left the beautiful waters of Dudu around 3 p.m. and made our way back to the home base.

We enjoyed our dinner of rice, beans, potato salad, ham (not chicken!), and fruit and waited for our guest speaker to arrive. In the evening, Dr. Kerolle, a local physician, came to talk to us about health care in the Dominican Republic. He explained to us the importance of giving proper medical attention to those who either can’t afford it, have no access to it, or both. He told us how him and some of his fellow physicians work with five communities at a time and strive to help those communities get up to par in terms of the overall health of that community. Many of the patients Dr. Kerolle treats suffer from one or more water-borne illnesses, which are very common in the Dominican Republic due to the contaminated water that we’ve been learning more about, along with water filters, throughout this trip.

After Dr. Kerolle’s presentation, we ended our day with watching a documentary called “The Dark Side of Chocolate”, which disclosed the horrors of child trafficking in the cocoa industry, mainly taking place in Africa. The documentary uncovered the selfishness of the owners of some major chocolate companies that choose to ignore the illegal ways in which their products are manufactured. It’s so important to raise awareness about things like this that go on in the world because it’s too often that people are blind to crimes that take place in other countries, yet affect so many people, in this case, innocent children.

-Marissa O’Donnell

Cabarete – Leadership – Teams research

First of all, I am tired and apologize for any typos that will most likely occur. Today was 100% amazing, probably because we got to hang out all day…like literally ALL day! We got to sleep in until 8. This might not seem great but it is much better than 6:30. After double coating ourselves in sunscreen, we headed to Cabarete: home of a beautiful beach as well as aggressive vendors. No matter how many times you tell them “NO gracias” they always find their way back and practically demand that you buy something. I’m not gonna lie, I have a hard time telling people to back the heck up so I got ripped off quite a few times. You learn from your mistakes (so they say).

The night before we were split up into four teams of 4-5 people. Each team has a project that we will present on near the end of the trip. Using Cabarete wifi, each team was able to begin its research on their topic. We worked until lunch, which was pizza, and then had the rest of the day to ourselves. A group of us played volleyball in the ocean with a few relatives for over an hour and then everyone split up to do their own thing: swimming, tanning, shopping, or being typical “gringos” on their iPhones.

As crazy as it sounds, 5 hours passes really quickly in DR time and by the time we knew it, we were headed back to home base. All of the men enjoy time at home base because we have volleyball tournaments were tensions are high and prides are at stake. I’m sure you will here plenty of stories about this. To close the activities of the day we watched Ted Talks on Global Priorities, Globalization and Countries that do good, a throughout discussion with Director Bea followed. All in all, I speak for all of us when I say this: everyone here has something different to bring to the table and all of us share a friendship that will last forever. I believe it is fate that brought this group together and I am cherishing every moment. Who knew that there were goofballs throughout the US just like me?

-Aaron Darden

Las Canas / The Roots of Division

When I woke up this morning, I was a little bit upset because we were told we were going to wake up at 8 o’clock but the mentors woke us 30 minutes early. So I had to rush to take a shower so I could be on time for breakfast. Today we were spilt up into 2 groups. One group stayed at the home base to help with the reforestation project and the other group went to Las Canas to help finish building the clinic/school. I really wanted to go to Las Canas so I could see how much work was done so far and see what I could to do to help and make it better and I also felt like staying at home base was the easy way out and if I wanted the easy way out I just would’ve stayed home back in Philadelphia.

We arrive at Las Canas 10 minutes after we left home base because Las Canas is not that far from here. The first job I did was paint the dark spots on the walls, so the walls could look perfect. Then my next job of the day was putting cement on the walls so the walls could be smooth. I was doing that job for at least an hour and I think I did a great job puttying. I was very tired afterwards. But I really appreciated the little kids in Las Canas helping us today.

We came back to the home base around 3’oclock and I was extremely exhausted. I jumped right in the pool with my clothes on, and I felt so much better. After I got out the pool, I had to do research with my group for our project. I’m really excited to see the final results for our project. I’m learning so much as I go through this beautiful journey.

After a delicious dinner we had a leadership activity, we needed to line up in silence in groups from younger to oldest and it was a challenge, some teams cheated but we all learned a good lesson. We end up our day watching a moving documentary called The Roots of Division, we learned about the history of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It was a very insightful movie that taught me a lot about the differences between the people on this island and that Haiti was the first independent nation in the Americas created by former African slaves.

-Sarah Kone

Caraballo/Social Justice/E-waste documentary

Today the group woke up at 7:00 and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of eggs, fresh fruit, and juice before heading to Caraballo where we continued working on the bottle school. The school, so far, is turning out beautifully and I still manage to be amazed at how much can be accomplished in such a short period. We all worked together with the locals to fill the walls with empty water bottles, cake them with cement, and let the structure come to life. Many of us really got to know the children, who excitedly helped out and spent time with us. After a delicious lunch made by the locals –rice, chicken, and fruit- we stayed working for a little longer before we hopped back on the bus and headed back to home base.

Exhausted from a long day of work, we arrived back at home base at around 4:00 and we immediately headed to the beach. The cool waves were amazing to cool off with, and we definitely stayed as long as we all could before thunder clouds started rolling in. Later in the day we had a great virtual conversation via Skype with Ric Murry, who spoke to us about social justice. He made some very eye opening points, and I’m sure we all left with lingering thoughts in our heads.

To end a great day, we watched a documentary on electronic waste, which I personally hadn’t known very much about, and it makes me want to be more cautious about where my trash is really going. We’re all going to bed with new information, mindsets, and excitement for the upcoming days of the trip.

-Sarah Kosian

La Grua

Today started much the same by waking at 7. We ate breakfast at 7:30 and were out the door by 8. The drive took an hour and a half and was very worth it. I remember the first thing I saw as I woke from my nap was a small pile of very dirty bottles and wrappers. This type of thing is non-existent in my hometown of around three thousand people. When I see these things it is very depressing, but just makes me work harder. It makes me want to help more and more and give back to those in need.
After we met the people of La Grua who were very welcoming, we helped clean up massive amounts of trash along the river. This trash was thrown there by the people of La Grua because they need to put their trash somewhere, by have nowhere to store it. Our goal today was to give them a cleaner river and to get the trash as contained as possible and to gain the villagers’ trust. They are later going to separate the trash into different bins that we provided as well. After it is all separated, they will sell the plastic bottles and have a source of income into the community.

Today was our attempt to gain the trust of a village never in contact with an NGO before. The village was a mix of Haitians and Dominicans which to me was a cause of concern. Haitians and Dominicans generally don’t get along, and my concern going into the village was that if I started playing with a Haitian, I’d lose a Dominican’s trust or vice versa. I did not see any of this which was wonderful to see.

This experience will make me think twice when I complain about small stuff. I never realized how bad people had it until I had to live like them. These people can find happiness with nothing but a deflated soccer ball and for the most part I have a lot of stress from the things that are supposed to be fun such as videogames. My experiences have also made me think less about my own life and more about others around me and be willing to help whenever people are in need.

We headed back to homebase and worked on our team’s project, we had time to do research and also enjoyed a insightful presentation on Human Security by Josh Skwarczyk, a graduate from Indiana University working as intern with 7e developing a model that will help NGO’s survey the communities they serve.

The leadership activity led by Andrea teach us how to find our true colors, a personality test that shed some light on the different strengths, weaknesses and values people posses.

-Ryan Andreoletti

Las Canas

Today’s adventure started with my alarm blasting, waking me up at 7:00 on the dot. Here follow a strict schedule: wake up, wait half an hour, eat breakfast, and get ready to leave on the bus for a quick five minute drive through Las Canas to another bottle school. Unlike that at Caraballo, this bottle school was almost completely finished all we had to do was clean up the walls and outside and add some more cement. My day consisted of shoveling broken pieces of cement into a barrel, carrying pieces of wood, measuring walls and taking an occasional water break, because if there is one thing I have learned here it is that water is IMPORTANT to drink and hydration is key. For lunch we walked down a hill to a house and were blessed with delicious rice and chicken. Who knew that food cooked over a fire held up by only three stones could be better than anything I’ve ordered at a restaurant. After walking back up to the hill to the bottle, we put on our gloves, grabbed a shovel and got back to work. We worked hard only until we became distracted by passing around a rock with our shovels. However, we got back to work and packed everything up before leaving around 3:00.

After arriving back at home base we only had a few minutes to relax before going to the beach. They say everything runs a little slower here with “Dominican time”, but we seem to be running from place to place. The waves at the beach were huge as usual, perfect for body surfing and wiping out. After getting out of the water and drying off we walked back to home base to relax and play some volleyball. Later, we were called over by Dave to sit down and talk about the seven elements of human security and how they could be applied to the communities we have seen here and how they could also be applied back home. After we had finished discussing we learned more about leadership skills and the importance of understanding your own values as a leader. At the end of the night I start to write this blog entry, others play cards and some of go to bed, but we are all ready and excited for tomorrow’s adventures.

-Antonio Mestre

Falcondo – Moca – back to homebase

Today we woke up at 6:30am at the Primavera Hostel in Santo Domingo. We ate breakfast sandwiches and left the hostel by 7:30am. We rode on the bus for an hour and a half to Falcondo, which is a mining company and worksite. Falcondo employees presented a power point in which we learned about the mining safety, the process of extracting metal, and the process of reforestation. After enjoying a snack we all put on safety vests and hats in order to take a tour of Falcondo. We were able to see the areas where the reforestation was taking place. Lunch was provided at Falcondo, then we continued our trip to Aqua Pure. This company makes water filters which are used by people who do not have access to clean water. On the tour we learned that the filters are actually made from a combination of sawdust and other materials, then molded and put into a kiln. We headed back to the home base for dinner and ended a successful day with a group discussion.

–Grace Marino

Journey to Santo Domingo – Jarabacoa – Constanza

Today, we started our journey to the capital of the Dominic Republic, Santo Domingo. We began our day at 7 am. We had breakfast that consisted of bread, eggs, ham and LOTS of fruit. After breakfast, we packed up the car and like all the times before we go anywhere, Dave yells “Vamonos” to let everyone know that it’s time to go. Before we left, Andrea suggested to Dave that the group sing “Row, Row Your Boat” like we had done in Brison but, since we weren’t all that good then, he decided we wouldn’t do that. There wasn’t much to do on the ride there but to listen to Ivan’s horrible taste in music. We were going up and down mountains that at one point I thought people would begin to throw up. We finally go to a town named Constanza , where most of the Dominicans and Haitians food is produced. We were able to smell all of the pesticides that was used on the crops by just passing by the town. After passing through that town, we continued the very long journey to Santo Domingo.

When arriving in Santo Domingo, we saw so many people! We drove through the very busy city until we got to the Primavera Hostel, where everybody was excited about getting Wi-Fi. After an hour at the hostel, we headed to a local Chinese restaurant, where we sat down and had dinner. After dinner, we began a long tour of the city. We were able to see the Colonial District. In the Colonial District we saw where Christopher Columbus first arrived in the “New World.” We saw the First Hospital, First Street, First Church and the First Home that Christopher Columbus had when he arrived in the New World. After touring the city for about an hour and a half, we headed back to the hostel where everyone went their separate ways to end the day.

– Nancy Corral

Caraballo – Cabarete – Threats and vulnerability / 11th hour

Today we started working on the bottle school in Caraballo. The students worked hard to fill the walls with plastic bottles that were held together by chicken wire. The friendly residents of the nearby villages helped with the workload. Students hammered in the chicken wire and tied everything together. We enjoyed a delicious meal. After a short break we returned to work and put cement on the walls. When we were done, we got on the bus and headed to Cabarete where the students relaxed on the beach and enjoyed smoothies at Lazy Dog. We returned to the home base where we discussed our day. The documentary, the 11th hour was watched, and discussed throughout the group. In my opinion, the documentary was extrememly eye opening and interesting. Most agreed that we we can each slowly change the environmental situation that we are in.

-Fernanda Alvarado

Brison Mountain – Las Canas Beach

Today we hiked mount Brison. We started our day early at 6 to arrive at the mountain before the sun became too hot. After our one and a half hour bus ride we arrived at the foot of the mountain. We then began our trek up the 3 miles of steep rocky road. When we arrived at the top we were greated by friendly locals who greeted us with a warm meal and smiling faces and we were treated to some refreshing popsicles after lunch. After coming back down the mountain and returning to basecamp we enjoyed a refreshing swim in the ocean.

After battling the waves in the ocean we were greeted with a meal of fish,beans,chicken,eggplant and fresh fruit. After dinner found different ways to spend our free time whether it was play volleyball or relax in our rooms. We were then called to an assembly in the restaurant where we discussed the seven elements of human security and leadership. We will all surely sleep well tonight after a long physically tiring day.

-Nelson Pereira

We’ve Arrived!

We had a warm reception in DR, we are safe and sound in our beautiful home for the next 21 days. We visited the beach a block from homebase and after a delicious home made dinner we jump started our program with orientation and leadership activities to set goals and get to know each other.

We’re a lil tired but happy to be here.

Let’s get our summer abroad started!!!

The 19 participants 🙂