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Student Trip Blog

Day 8-Immigration Day

After we popped off with our entrance last night, we started the morning by BANGING on every door (army style) at 6 AM SHARP because of the busy day we had ahead of us. Starting our day the right way, we gobbled up some bowls of cereal, milk, and the occasional yogurt and headed out on our NEW and IMPROVED indoor, speaker-having, seats not even full, PARTY BUSSSS!!!! After bumping to some El Alfa and Childish Gambino for 4 WHOLE HOURS we landed at the new spot in Juan Dolio. After doing some migrating ourselves and eating some lunch we headed to ASCALA  (Asociación SCALABRINIANA al servicio de la movilidad humana) (bare with me). There, we listened to an incredibly moving personal testimony from a Haitian immigrant (Now one of the leaders of ASCALA) about not only his struggles but the struggles of the many many people he has helped in the fight for equal immigrant rights in The Dominican Republic.

After hearing from another leader of ASCALA we switched party busses and headed to the SUGAR CANE FARM. We made a stop to pick up a man with a LARGE MACHETE. Domingo, one of the lead farmers at the fields, told us about the struggles of a sugar cane farmer while also showing us how to harvest the sugar cane! After getting a taste none of us had tasted before but all of us enjoyed, we headed back to the VILLAAAA (Our temporary accommodation) we celebrated the end of our day with some delicious tacos, a celebration of our AMAZING WONDERFUL SPECTACULAR SMOOTH WIT IT  program coordinator, JC’s, birthday. In the end, everyone got to stay up an extra hour in JC’s honor as tomorrow is fun day!! We’ll keep you posted!

-Josh McClendon and Andrea Andrade (D1 LDDs)

Comments (3)

Bernijah

on August 7, 2024 at 9:30 pm

Hiii guys, this is Bernijah from the previous delegation! Hope you all are having fun! Hi Karizma and Braylen!! Happy birthday JC, hope you enjoyed your birthday! Miss you all! ❤️

Janeen Williamson

on August 11, 2024 at 7:02 am

Talk about starting the day off with a bang, alright soldier Joshua! I love how you broke down this day! It sounds like a powerful day of learning and also a day that brought a lot of fun and adventure. Isaiah says cool. We love you so much and can’t wait until your home. Keep having fun! Love you so much! Mom & Isaiah ♥️

Brent Nichols (GG Staff)

on August 12, 2024 at 9:57 am

Hey Josh and Andrea, this was an excellent blog and nice summary of a pretty big day. I like you balanced some humor to keep the reader engaged but maintained the seriousness of the topic of the day as well. The pictures show how you all over the place as well so it shows how much you did today.Also give love to Bernijah for your comment following this group from a previous delegation and giving some students a shoutout. Very cool.

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