Hello students! Here is a poem to help you relive the memories from your trip to the DR!
Still Be The Change
Do you remember those 2 weeks in the summertime?
And all of those 10pm bedtimes?
What about the first and second day?
With the unknown places and faces and all the of the children that wanted to play.
It was difficult learning everyone’s names
But by the end, we couldn’t stop playing games
Playing Dutch was great
And shouting Spit up until 10 minutes meeting at the gate
The constant wait for the swimsuit to be dry
And giving new experiences a try
Chasing waterfalls
And Soccer balls
The 2 minute walk to the beach
And all of the days that Surfer Sarah came to teach
Her passion for catching a wave
And getting up on the board was something to rave
The ride to La Grua was rough
But it was all worth it to feel like we did enough
We worked morning and afternoon to make a space
Where children would play base to base
But it is more than just a field, it was for the batey
It was for a community that deserved a field to play
Learning about Haitian and Dominican relations
How could 2 countries on the same island be such different nations?
This fed into the fire of how to BE THE CHANGE
But what could we do to get that exchange?
That was when the Go Fund Me project was started
And a lot was donated from the good-hearted
There are more questions we have now than we had when we arrived
But this summer we survived
Survived to share our summer story with family and friends
But what we have done to continue to be the change depends
You can only look back to see how far you have come
And only look forward to see what you will become
Keep striving to live outside your comfort zone
And maybe look a little less at your phone
Being in the present moment is all you got
So give it your best shot
What has this summer taught you? it’s up to you to choose
Do you listen more than refuse?
Do you seek to look from different perspectives and away from your point of view?
Remember that being the change is up to YOU
-Written by JoLyn, International Director
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