A New Perspective: Landfills, Music, Unity

Students were immediately welcomed into the Dominican community with their service project, museum visit, and a progressive dinner. 

Service Learning:

Students with the Cometas de Esperanza staff prior to the orientation and tour of the school, community, and landfill.

Cometas de Esperanza, a local non-governmental organization in Santiago, provides local children with education, meals, and medical care. Cometas de Esperanza provides children the chance to be kids rather than work in landfills. Some students have gone to the university. 

Students from the United States began exploring Cienfuegos, a local neighborhood, walking through neighborhoods, and touring the nearby landfills and the school, to gain an understanding of the community.

Students walk to the location of the landfill, behind the hill.

Student Quote: “I asked why [they continue] to drop garbage in the already trash-covered mountain but the only reply came with the fact that nothing is being done to stop the flow of garbage trucks dumping trash on the dump site. This environment is a prison for the kids and the people” (Nani A., 2024).

High schoolers display the mango trees that they will carry and plant.

Students also planted a mango tree as a symbol of hope that the landfill will disappear one day.

The theme for the first day of service learning was physical activity. Students embraced cultural exchange from the high schoolers teaching the dance moves to songs, and the Dominican students teaching our students bachata, Tambora, etc. Hours of dancing and dancing led to smiles and laughter throughout the room as music is a way bonds are created as you feel the beat. 

Here is to the making of many more memories of the service-learning project to come! 

Students learn about the importance of physical activity.

Centro de Leon:

Students toured the Centro de Leon museum to learn about the history of the Dominican Republic. The dimmed light in the back emulated the tone of how stories are hidden or not talked about, thus creating the importance of raising awareness. 

Centro León - Listening to the tour guide.

Progressive Dinner:

Students live with host families to better immerse themselves in the culture and language, whether it’s learning a new word, or making memories such as learning to cook Dominican cuisine. As a group, students would visit their peers and their host’s homestay. Each homestay had a different part of the meal, one with the appetizers, the other with the beverages, entrees, etc. Students got to know the other families, further creating a reminder of the community supporting students inside and outside of the classroom. 

Progressive Dinner at a student's homestay with their host families for part of abefore meal.