“Que lo que” from noah and erick

We started the morning off by playing some music at their doors. (maybe they liked it, maybe they didn’t).

The day started off with a quick trip to a local school on the outskirts of Constanza. We split up in groups and went to different families homes to help them with chores and get to know each other.

Irené (first picture below) was a delightful and happy mother of three girls and had contagious outlook on her life as a fulfilling and happy, even with it’s simplicity. She explained her daily routine of hard work to keep her home a welcoming and warm place for her family and her visitors. Her smile as she talked to us never wavered. They even shared their joy and love of music with us and as we danced we all felt a part of their family immediately.

Miguel, a hard working father told us about the difficulty of life in the DR for those with less money have few opportunities of health care and social support (second picture below). Yet, Miguel works hard everyday to provide for his family regardless of the social and political circumstances he is faced with.

As a group we all were humbled by the privilege and opportunity each of us have and were inspired by the joy and outlook on life that others have without them.

Jugadores

We all went back to the school for lunch and had an opportunity to play games with the kids: basketball, freeze tag, volleyball, and “pañuelo” (“catch the bacon” – a game a little like capture the flag.

As we got to play with the families and kids, everyone got to get to know each other a little better and we became each other’s “panas” (a name for a dear friend).

All too soon it was time for us to leave with “chocalas” (high fives), and hugs. We all hoped for another opportunity to visit soon and were forever changed by the experience.

CAP (preview)

For the last part of the day we visited our CAP (Community Action Project) site. We drove a short distance across town to a “Asentamientos Informale” (Informal Settlement) – a community that was developed outside of formal planning and regulations without basic services like sanitation, clean water, and sound housing.

We met four families with whom we will spend three days preparing the land, building forms, preparing a base, pouring concrete, leveling it, and finishing the surfaces for their homes. It will be hard work to bring the cement up the steep hills, but it will be worth the effort to do what we can to help some families with safer and stable homes.

closing statement

When we returned to our place of stay as we reflected about our day, Ms.Jenkins couldn’t have put it into better words – that the individualized society that we have grown used to in the United States has left us with a warped perspective on the connections or relationships that we have, easy to throw or run away from issues and feel confident that we are better off alone. But these communities have demonstrated how important our “comunidad” and “familia” is and that we must cherish the bonds we have created and work to overcome any challenges that arise.