PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
TIME CAPSULE LETTER
Hi everyone!
Time flies, it’s been a couple of days since you left our home base in Bayahibe. Guys, first of all thank you for your efforts these last ten days. We really enjoyed getting to know many of you and learning about what made each of you incredible people. we’ve grown so much learning a new culture, connecting with new friendships and becoming better leaders. Your efforts cleaning up the national park Cotubanamá and painting signs meant a lot to Padre nuestro community and our staff.
Also, did you remember the day with the kids? They had the incredible opportunity to learn more the English language and spend time with students from all over the world! We knew you loved that moment. Thanks to all of you we are also able to contribute, support and improve their skills! I hope you are able to keep focusing on positive changes in your communities back home and remember… if you do what you feel you will win even if you lose. As you knew we do not have any power over nature, although we couldn’t see turtles as a team we are very grateful for your resilience and flexibility on the walk, you demonstrated your values and we were able to understand the reasons for our impact as human beings on the environment, and we learned that it is up to us every day to be a change with our actions, no matter how small, they must be consistent.
For all of the above, with the ONE Meaningful Goal activity we could realize about how important it’s to carry kindness, compassion and patience during our experiences even if we don’t get the desire results, and that among this experience together in DR we could find the results of the effort and the challenge of teamwork, how communication is truly the key in order to live well as a community and bring that to your hometowns. Finally, remember to always keep an open mind in life and strive to challenge yourselves every day by getting outside of your comfort zone. Be kind always!
Diego Soto Lagos, Mentor
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 14
¡Bienvenidos a República Dominicana!
We welcomed our young leaders willing to take on the challenge of new experiences that demonstrate what true leadership is. We picked up our group of students throughout all the day at the Las Américas airport, the first group arrived on time and was able to head to the hotel, see the surroundings and have dinner before going to sleep. The second group arrived during the night, we had time to eat and headed to the hotel to rest.
Today, the second day, we will meet with the last two students, Kate Wegis and Tajem Fraihat, due the weather and flight delays from their boarding port, they were unable to be present, but don’t worry, they are fine! Despite the extra hours, everyone came excited and full of anticipation for the next 10 incredible days.
Ready to start!, today after breakfast we will go to the “Los Tres Ojos” national park and then return together to our home base located in Bayahibe. We can’t wait to see these young people in action in the coming days! They have already demonstrated resilience in the face of unforeseen events and climate phenomena when beginning this experience. So, dear parents, guardians and friends, please continue to support our leaders on this journey by checking out our daily blogs and showing your love by commenting below.
– GLA team
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 15
Written by Myra M. And Isabella T.
Hi everyone,
Today was the first day of the GLA trip, during the morning we visited a national park called “tres ojos” as well as the super market. The cave was so cool and unique it was a very exciting experience! We got to learn unique things about the Dominican culture and practice Spanish with the locals. The drive to the Hotel was beautiful even though most of us fell asleep. Also, we were happy when Tajeem and Kate finally arrive to our home base. By the afternoon we had orientation to cover the basics and got to meet everybody and get to know them better, after dinner we had an a cultural night and we learned interesting things about this country and how to dance merengue! Everyone is so nice and sweet we’re very excited to get to know them more.
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 16
Written by Luke P. And Tayeem T.
Bienvenidos!
Today at the GLA program in the Dominican Republic, our group did community service with padre Nuestro at Parque Nacional Cotubamana. We were very fortunate to get the opportunity to see the lush landscape around us, but most importantly, it was a good feeling to pick up the trash surrounding the place. This gave us the feeling that we really made a difference in benefiting this country. One step at a time, we realize that we can work to putting a stop to the pollution that humans our doing to our planet, even if it is only in one limited place at a time. In addition, we also got the opportunity to repaint a little house for the people of padre nuestro. We put in a lot of time in effort to making sure that the work we put in was meaningful to the people.
We later went back to the Bayahibe hotel and participated in a debate activity. This brought us even closer together as a group, giving us the opportunity to know each other’s opinions and selves even better. Tomorrow and the next days that follow, we strive to continue the hard work that comes our way. This is a group effort, as at GLA, working together is better than working alone.
Muchas gracias!
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 17
Written by Valeria I. And Isabo I.
Hola a todos! Today we opened our day with breakfast, per usual, and then went straight to service at Padre Nuestro. When we arrived, we got to work on painting some signs for the tourists that want to visit the underwater cave and some of us finished up the gazebo. As we were waiting for the paint to dry, we were separated into different groups representing a different perspective and started preparing our arguments for our mock debate that was to take place after dinner. Once we finished our service, we took a moderately challenging hike to the underwater cave in which we all got in. I’m confident in saying that we all enjoyed ourselves while there. Once we were done, we took a path back and returned to the home base.
After, most of us got ready to visit the town. We took a walk around it in which we took touristic photos, played a bit of pickup basketball with some of the locals, visited the market nearby, and got some empanadas from a local shop on the side of the road. When we got back, we ate some pizza for dinner, and then did some final preparations for our mock debate. Some funny moments and well prepared arguments took place and in the final moments, a decision was made as to who had the best intentions for the topic of our debate. After that, it was lights out, so we went to bed. Overall, it was a very nice and fun day. Thanks for reading about us!
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 18
Written by Lidia S. And Kate W.
Hi everyone,
Today with our team we visited the community of Benerito as part of our service, there we share and worked with kids teaching english words such as colors and numbers! We enjoyed playing games together, improving our spanish, and dancing to music together. The bond we built was truly special and will forever be an amazing memory. There was nothing but joy and laughter filled throughout all the kids. The service we provided was so impactful to the kids but also to us.
After we finished our long goodbyes with the kids, we visited the local jewelry shop owned by teachers of the kids day camp to provide an income of their own where most of the group purchased many beautiful bracelets and necklaces. We then took a bus ride home where we celebrated Nachos birthday by singing and suprising him with a dominican ice cream cake. Before dinner we debriefed our debate from yesterday, that activity let us understand more about our context here, as a team. Lastly, we wrapped up our lovely day with some delicious beef, rice, and veggies!
Adios!!!
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 19
Hello all!
After yet another great breakfast on the roof, today on our wonderful DR GLA program we took a bus to Hoyo Claro. We hiked all the way on a scenic trail and swam in bright blue, clear water. We ate lunch there before hiking back and hopping on the bus back to our home base.
Once we returned, we walked through the beautiful town of Bayahibe towards the Magallanes beach. We swam and hung out there, enjoying the weather and water, the staff team surprised us with an gelato for us after our days of service.
Upon return to the home base we had our dinner and we split into our mentor groups where we did an activity based upon culture, it was really interesting work as a team and talk about the different features of it and how they can impact on our vision and concept of a new place. We’re so excited for the island tomorrow.
Goodnight!
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 20
Written by Charlotte P. And Marcell C.
Hola a todos !
Today we woke up at our home base, had breakfast and walked to the port to take a boat ride to Saona Island, on the way we stopped and swam in a natural pool. We had a beach day lunch at 12:00. We were very surprised by the beauty and tranquility of this place, with very friendly local people.
On the island we went to an orientation on turtle conservation and how to hatch turtle eggs, there we learned how we should take care of our world so that animals like turtles are safe in our world, and how our actions can impact in the environment. After dinner we did a leadership activity, which brought our group together and showed us how much we appreciate each other and our work as a team. After the activity we play and then turn off the lights!
Buenas noches a todos!
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 21
Written by Lucian I. and Scarlett W.
Hola hola chicos!
Today, we woke up bright and early at 4:30 am for a turtle walk on Isla Saona. Unfortunately, we did not end up seeing turtles, although we did have a nice walk alongside the beach and watched the beautiful sunrise!
Afterwards, we had a great breakfast with fresh fruit, eggs, and cake (our group’s favorite!), We then had a discussion about the impact of people on the beaches and what the specific characteristics of turtles and their nests are. We learned as a group the importance and passion of people like “Negro” who dedicate their lives to caring for an important part of our ecosystem, without expecting anything in return. (During the nesting season, he goes every night in search of endangered eggs and keeps track of nests in good condition!!)
After we played volleyball on the beach.
Finally it was time to come back to Bayahibe! We boarded the boat and had a choppy boat ride that put everyone to sleep. Hannah lost (and retrieved
) her hat from the ocean! Once in Bayahibe, we got gelato and went home to pack our stuff for the journey ahead.
Once we finished packing, we played a quick game of Ninja at sunset circle and finished off the night with dinner and mentor groups. Ready for tomorrow at the city!
Mucha gracias.
BLOG POST FOR JUNE 22
Written by Madison G. And Kaeje F.
Hola a todos!
Today was a great last day in the Dominican Republic. We started the day with a nice last breakfast and left Bayahibe late in the morning. After a long bus ride to Santo Domingo, we dropped our stuff at our hotel and headed out for lunch. We enjoyed pizza as we waited for a heavy thunderstorm to pass over. After checking into our rooms at the hotel, we headed out again for a tour of the area near our hotel, the oldest town in the Americas. We saw many statues, cathedrals, and other pretty architecture. Some of the students bought souvenirs for themselves and others purchased gifts for their family.
We had an hour of downtime to relax and get ready for our farewell dinner in “El conuco” of Santo Domingo. We then gathered as a group for our second to last leadership activity and filled out a feedback form about our amazing experience as the first group of students to experience the Island Service Adventure in the Dominican Republic.
Then we headed out to an amazing farewell dinner. We wrote each other notes and passed them out after we ate. We ended the night back at the hotel in Santo Domingo and said our goodbyes before we leave tomorrow morning.
¡Adios!
