Al Fin, El Servicio!

Saludos!

During our time here in the DR, we will be helping facilitate un campamento (camp) for students ranging from 7-14 years old in la ciudad Santa Maria en la Otra Banda. The majority of this week’s classes en el Dominico have focused on getting to know the ciudad (city) where we will be working, understanding the systemic issued in the community, as well as getting to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses as leaders. Our group divided into 4 teams and is responsible for planning, organizing, and executing their own camp schedule for their group…they even get to set the rules for their Dominican students!

After spending the week hearing lectures about the challenges this small city faces daily with poverty, pollution and lack of resources and watching videos of some of the children we will interact with, the students have been anxiously awaiting the day where they could finally experience all the things they have been hearing for the past week….that day was TODAY!!!! We went on a short tour of the school where we will work and the kids are now officially ready to begin summer camp on Monday!

After visiting Santa Maria, students watched “En el Tiemp de las Marioposas”. The film is about the Mirabal sisters who fought against the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican, and were murdered in 1960 for their role in a secret plot to overthrow the government. The movie sets the stage for our day trip tomorrow, where we will visit el Museo de las Hermanas Mirabal, where we will learn even more about the sisters’ role in the overthrow of Trujillo’s dictatorship.

There’s a look at what we did today, and what we will do tomorrow! Below are a few pictures from the past few days!

P.S. Keep your eyes open for some guest bloggers coming in the next few days!

Hasta pronto,

Kathryn (Program Leader)