PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
Here are a few things to know and expect:
- Blog posts are written by onsite program staff and/or students and sent to our Headquarters team who will post the blog on this page.
- We typically receive 2-3 blog updates per week from each program, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post every day – that’s totally normal.
- Blog updates received late in the evening or overnight will be posted the following day.
- Blog updates received on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
- Due to many factors such as internet accessibility, program staff aren’t always able to send photos, so some blog posts may contain text only.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.
For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.
-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team
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BLOG POST FOR JUNE 30
Bienvenidos a Republica Dominicana!
Today we welcomed our 13 young leaders ready to take the challenge of new environment, new culture, and demonstrating what true leadership is.
We picked up our 12 students all through out the afternoon at the Puerto Plata airport. While our student Lola was dropped off by her family at the home base. Everyone came excited and filled with so much anticipation for the next 14 days.
Before dinner, everyone had a chance to gather on our first chow circle and get to know Johnny and Toussaint, our very friendly fur-mentors! It was then followed by a traditional Plato Dominicana cuisine for dinner, which compose of rice, beans, chicken, salad, and fruits.
After dinner, we went back to the “comedor” and started our night with a group activity that’s all about sharing what we like and our similarities, which is then followed by our GLA orientation.
We just cant wait to see these leaders in action in the coming days! So dear parents, family, and friends, please keep supporting our leaders in this journey by checking our daily blogs and showing your love by commenting below!
Gracias!
RJ, Mentor
BLOG POST FOR JULY 1
Today was our first full day in the Dominican Republic. We started the day with a full healthy breakfast at 8 am with eggs, toast, and delicious oatmeal. After that great breakfast we finished orientation and had a fun game of volleyball. Once we were done with that we headed out on a 1 kilometer walk to our service site.
After a long and tiring, yet fulfilling, task of mixing cement and smoothing the walls of concrete, we started our walk back and got some ice cream and made a pit stop at the beach.
Once we got back to the homebase, it was time for our swim test, we all passed! When our dip in the pool was over we got ready for chow circle and dinner. Finally to end the day we had our medical training with Dr. Caho.
Josh and Nathan
BLOG POST FOR JULY 2
Today we woke up at 7:00am for breakfast and had pancakes and eggs. After breakfast we returned back to help build the family’s house by making concrete and then applying it to the house. At 12:00 we walked to the beach nearby the house to rest then had lunch at the family’s house. They made us rice and chicken.
After lunch we continued working on building the house until 3:00. Then after we walked back we had free time and we decided to buy ice cream and empanadas at the local store. And some of us went of to the beach, leading to dinner at 6 of sancocho de pollo!
Then we had a talk about the 7 Elements of Human Security, which lead to a very insightful discussion. Then we went to our mentor groups and finish off the day!
Jake and Lola
BLOG POST FOR JULY 3
¡Hola chicos!
We started off the day with plantains, eggs, and a cup of passion fruit juice, to wash out the melatonin of the past eventful night! Then, at eight am we went to the medical brigade where we rotated through stations varying in registration, taking vitals, medical history, shadowing a doctor, and pharmacy. Our personal favorite was pharmacy where we got to translate the doctor’s notes from English to Spanish on a paper bag. Then we collected the right prescriptions and put it in the bag, but you best believe that we didn’t pass on a good photo opportunity, check the pics out please! (Credits to Valentina’s Digital camera, Kodak Pixpro WPZ2)
At 2:30 we headed home and cooled off with some helado and beach time! The helado didn’t fill us up so you best believe we got seconds at supper. Supper consisted of fried fish (not a personal fav of Valentina but Rachel liked it), fried sweet potato, rice and beans (fue muy delicioso), and a passion fruit drink coupled with Kendrick’s passion fruit song. We finished off our night with a very reflective talk: a danger of a single story. Yes, we are still reflecting.
¡Buenas noches!
Valentina y Rachel
BLOG POST FOR JULY 4
We had an amazing excursion day exploring a beautiful lagoon followed by swimming at the beach.
We started our day at 7 in the morning with a breakfast of French toast, sausage, fruit, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and oatmeal.
After that, we departed by bus about an hour to Laguna Dudu which included rock jumping, fresh water pools to cool off, and more fun things to do. We started off by all jumping into the pools and then explored a cave they had at Laguna Dudu. Afterwards we played an intense game of beach volleyball!
Once we finished at Laguna Dudu we headed over to Playa Grande 25 minutes away to enjoy an afternoon of sunshine. We started our time there with a delicious lunch of pasta, rice, beans, fruit, fried fish and plantain, with a beach view. The rest of the afternoon was spent either swimming in the ocean bodysurfing the waves or getting braided by the locals.
At the end of our time at the beach we all went back to home base to relax and to clean up for dinner. Today for dinner we had quesadillas, bean salad, salad and fruit and it was so good!! Afterwards Dr. Caho came to home base and gave us a talk about malnutrition, how it happens, what it is, and what it causes, and what he does to help fight against it or prevent it. Today was so much fun for the whole group to spend some time together aside from our service projects!
Your Leaders of the Day,
Ella and Carmen
BLOG POST FOR JULY 5
¡Hola!
Today we had a later start than normal! Breakfast was at 8 which gave everyone a little extra time to catch up on sleep. Much needed. Soon after, we headed out to a chocolate factory, (all women owned and operated.) we were able to sample many different types of chocolate and other products made such as cacao oil and butter for our hair and skin! We also were fortunate enough to see the production through the different machines with a woman walking us through how it worked. At the end we got to splurge on some of the fun treats we got to experience at the beginning.
After that we had a fun ride back to the lodge with top tier aux. A yummy lunch and volleyball later we were ready for more service. The group helped sawing, hammering and painting bright yellow bee boxes. We sampled some freshly harvested starfruit which also came up at dinner again. After, we were able to try fresh honeycomb straight from the hardworking bees. Once we got back to the lodge and had dinner we played games, music and read our books. We ended the day with some more activities like would you rather and answered some reflection questions for the mentors. We are now excited to sleep restfully before a big day of shopping in Puerto Plata tomorrow!
¡Adios!
Greta and Chelsea
BLOG POST FOR JULY 6
¡Hola amigas y familia!
Today was Laundry Day! Yay! We were able to start the morning off strong with dirty clothes, begging to be washed, and a delicious breakfast at 7 am. Then we embarked on a 2 hour journey to the city of Puerto Plata, where we visited and toured Fort San Felipe and the Amber Museum. Both equally as interesting and educational! Today was an exciting “shop until you drop” day. In that pre tense, many bracelets, necklaces, and other special accessories/gifts were purchased. After getting to learn about the backstory of Puerto plata and the Amber mines, we visited the famous “Umbrella Street” as well as a well known pink street named Paseo de Doña Blanca. All of this happened before 12 pm if you can believe it!
After a delicious lunch, we drove on over to a large market called Jumbo. (A large version of Walmart!) We were allowed ample time to explore, and in essence, buy anything! After a long day of shopping, we arrived back home for a scrumptious dinner and ended the night with Bachata lessons with Beca! Everyone is a professional Bachata dancer now. We had a wonderful day exploring the streets of Puerto Plata today and buying endless souvenirs!
iAdios muchachos!
Addison and Camille
BLOG POST FOR JULY 7
Hola,
Today we went to Las Canas and started working on a new house! We worked all day and got a lot done. We stopped for a lunch break around 11:40 and ate rice and beans along with other nutritious foods. Then we went back to work and worked until around 3:00.
We walked home and all took showers to wash off the sweat and concrete. Then we went on a stroll and got ice cream and afterwards jumped into the pool to cool off. Next we ate dinner which was chicken tenders and french fries. Then Nilsa talked to us about health care which was very interesting. Buenos Noches!
Julia and Josh
BLOG POST FOR JULY 8
¡Hola chicos!
We started off the day early with sausage, eggs, and a cup of limeade. Then, at 7am we went to the medical brigade where we rotated through stations varying in registration, taking vitals, medical history, shadowing a doctor, and pharmacy. Today we didn’t have as many patients compared to our first brigade as it was a Monday, and most people have gone to work.
At 1:30 we headed to the “bateys” and Nilsa walked us through the village. It was really interesting and eye-opening to see the living conditions of the Haitians who settled at this area. Then at 2:30 we headed home to have some rest and eat dinner. Supper consisted of fish, rice and chickpeas (fue muy delicioso), and an apple drink (we think) We finished off our night with a very reflective debate about sports stadiums being built in low income communities like what we visited today.
¡Buenas noches!
Valentina y Rachel
BLOG POST FOR JULY 9 (PHOTOS ADDED)
Today was excursion day! We started the day off at 7:30 am with a tasty breakfast consisting of eggs, toast, fruit and oatmeal. After that, we packed our bags and drove off to our excursion day activity, which was Kayaking! We arrived at the recreation center to hop on to a safari truck. This ride to the river ended up being extremely bumpy and full of adrenaline. After the 45 minute safari trip, we finally arrived at the river site, where we got suited in our PFDs and helmets. Then we were off to a 3 hour long kayaking journey, filled with excitement and snacks in between.
We enjoyed the rapids, cliff jumping, and the little swim breaks in between. Our guides shared local fruits fresh from the trees as well. After a tiring excursion on the water, we ended the outing with a delicious lunch at a local home. We arrived back at the home base with some free time spent getting ice cream and playing football in the common area. Dinner was a much needed break from the chaos, and we finished off the day by watching the sunset at the beach, playing the beach Olympics, and mentor groups. It was an overall wonderful excursion day!
— Jake and Nathan
BLOG POST FOR JULY 10
Hola!
First, some people went to do sunrise yoga, which consisted of mindfulness and peace while enjoying the sunrise on the beach. After that they headed back and got ready to go and eat breakfast. Followed by service at our second Las Canas house. The last service was incredible as we built walls made out of recycled plastic bottles and covered them with chicken wire followed by cementing them. We finished all the walls in the house!
Then we walked back and jumped in the pool since the power was out, it was free time and some of us went to go get ice cream and empanada. The power came back on then we were finally able to shower and cool off in our rooms. We had dinner and followed by a group activity which consisted of writing out our most important memories, goals, material items and people. Then we had to eliminate them until we had 3 left, which showed us the most important things we cherished in our own personal lives. We followed our activity by journaling and reflections in our mentor groups.
Lola and Carmen
