Hello students!
It seems like it was just yesterday that we spent our amazing week together in the Dominican Republic for the Spring Break Community Impact adventure! We started things off with a tough two-hour hike up Mount Brison but it was all well worth it once we all reached the top. We were surrounded by the beautiful view and enjoyed a delicious lunch provided by Doña Maxima. We learned to walk in the shoes of the locals which inspired us to view things from a different perspective. This was the beginning of our life-changing experience in the DR!
I was so proud to see the hard work you all put in while helping build a safe home for Heriberto. We set up the wire on the wood framing, filled the walls with recycled plastic bottles, and also mixed cement for the first layer of the walls. We made new friends in the community including sweet little 7 year old Ashley who was always around helping us at the work site. Not only did we work towards making a life-changing impact in Heriberto’s life, but we contributed to making a positive impact to the environment as well through recycling. The community clean-up at the Cabarete Caves was also a huge help for the environment. Your passion and dedication was evident in all of the service activities you participated in. Way to go team!
Now, let’s not forget about our fun days to relax and enjoy the hot sun after a hard day’s work. We swam and sunbathed at some gorgeous beaches in addition to playing some competitive soccer matches on the shore. As a special treat, we enjoyed some delicious tropical drinks in pineapple and coconut cups. We will never forget our adventures off the zip-line at Dudu Lagoon as well as our friendly volleyball match where even a couple of locals joined for the game. To end our week off, we took a boat ride to go snorkeling in Sosua beach and later shopped for souvenirs for our family and friends.
Back at the lodge we got to enjoyed our pool parties and got to show off our awesome dance moves when we learned how to dance salsa, batchata and merengue. Our final goodbye dinner was not complete without celebrating Matt’s birthday and enjoying some delicious Dominican style cake!
The 7e staff misses all of you including Ernie, Oscar and Bert who send some wet kisses for all!
We send a big THANKS to all of you for committing to being agents of change. We hope you got the BEST out of your experience here in DR and hope to see all of you very soon for another great service-learning adventure.
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