Sustainable Development

Today our LDDs were Olivia and Katia. This morning we woke up to the beautiful view of oceanside cliffs and boats on the horizon, eating breakfast at the hotel on the beach. We made the 4 hour journey back to Constanza with Buche on the bus. We were vibing to music and half the bus was knocked out at any point throughout! In the middle, we made a pitstop for snacks, which were enjoyed by all on the bus. Rice, beans, beef & onions and garlic vegetables, alongside “Guayaba Fresa”, a native juice to the DR. We went to see a speaker, Bernardo, who described how his organization “FundacionAlegriaInocente” provide clothes and school supplies for lower income communities. They have helped rebuild 17 new homes from scratch with 45 active members of the group. We returned to the villas, for laundry, a seminar for Community Action Project design, followed by a pizza dinner! After our nightly meeting, we passed the torch to Paul, Eric and Toby, who showed us their amazing talents. Then, we hit the mics with karaoke, including performances by our GGLs and PCs.

LDD Olivia

I woke up this morning, breakfast was bomb and the view was crazy beautiful. Recently, our group has been connecting super well and we’ve been creating so many new memories, which I love. The bus ride back, I knocked out and woke up to a new morning. The trip has been so amazing and talking to everyone on the bus, and sharing snacks, has brought us so close. I love sharing laughs with everyone! The speaker inspired me so much to help communities who live in more low-income areas. He’s made me feel so proud of why I came here to help. We were talking about the Community Action Project (CAP) and how all of us came together as a family to come up with a plan to develop a new home for people in the community. The whole trip I was waiting for pizza, and TONIGHT was pizza!! After the nightly meeting, we had karaoke where I got to perform to Despacito with Genesis and Durga. Everyone was clapping, we were dancing. The night ended on a great note.

(P.S. Love you and miss you so much, Mom, Dad, Leo & Vivi. Can’t wait to tell you all the fun stories when I come back! And to my BFF, I miss you so much and we def have to come to the DR on our vaca cuz I LOVE IT HERE!!)

LDD Katia

This morning, I awoke to the prettiest ocean view and shook Olivia awake so we could wake up everyone else for the morning. Despite a crazy schedule, we made it onto the bus where I got to chat with everyone and catch up, while Olivia knocked out on my lap for two hours and Durga on my shoulder while we took on our 4 hour drive. I really loved chatting with everyone but especially Mia on the ride over to Constanza. The pit stop along the way was the perfect moment to fill up on snacks and try everyone else’s. Post-nightly meeting karaoke took on Bruno Mars, Kendrick Lamar and everything in between, even with our GGLs having shocking & entertaining performances.

(p.s. missing y’all like absolutely crazy. mom, dad & niko, hope you guys are well & missing me, because i miss & love you all so much!! can’t wait to see you on friday!)

Written by Olivia Thillard and Katia Chatskis