Now that I have a little bit of time to reflect, going to the DR was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. We raised $43,000 in a school year, and parents entrusted us to take their children out of the country.
Even though our service trip was just a week, our experience working with
Outreach360 was incredible. The purpose of their organization is to enable all children to live a life of choice, which they do by educating kids in communities where there is not really any access to education. (Random fact that will make you smarter: the average child drops out of school in fifth grade in the DR.) Outreach360 used to work exclusively in orphanages, but they have now expanded to all children in certain communities in the DR and Nicaragua.
The motto of Outreach360 is release the hero within. I really felt like I was watching my students grow, stretch, develop leadership, and become agents of change. And watching them speak in Spanish all day long? Swoon. It was the most precious thing I've ever seen, even if it involved extremely militant commands like, "No patear" (no kicking).
Our adventure began when we left Charlotte on Saturday morning. Of my five girls who went on the trip, none of them had been out of the country before, and three of them had never been on a plane. They were incredible travelers, though, and what I loved most was the support they gave each other.
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| My girls—looking ready to go at 7:00am in the Charlotte airport. |
Though our layover in JFK obviously involved them trying every kind of doughnut that Dunkin Donuts sells, we also played a lot of card games, and napped on the floor (yup, we were a little bit embarrassing).
After our five-hour layover, we boarded the plane to Santiago. We rolled into Montecristi at around midnight, and it certainly felt like it. However, as soon as I breathed that ridiculously humid, Caribbean air, I burst out laughing. I could not believe we actually made it.
On Sunday, we did a lot of training with Outreach360 and explored the city. Our camp was in an incredible location—still in the city of Montecristi with access to a park, grocery store, and lots of locals, and five blocks away from the beach.
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| Alexis and Jayla strike a pose while putting their feet in the water on our tour. |
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| The Spanish teacher in me LOVED all the realia. I took pictures of pretty much every sign we passed in the hopes of one day putting it on a powerpoint for a warm-up activity. |
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| Even though Montecristi is very urban, there was still awesome livestock that roamed the busy streets. We saw this herd of goats almost everyday. We also saw baby cows, potbelly pigs, mama cows, and too many chickens to count. |
At night, we had an awesome cultural event as we went to a local church where one of my wonderfully extroverted students (Janiece) PRAYED for the entire congregation. I didn't even realize that she could understand the sermon, but when the pastor invited members of the congregation to pray, she raised her hand and shouted, "Yo puedo!"
She said, "Gracias por la comida, mis amigas, y mi casa," and was done with it. Thanks for the food, my friends, and my house. Simple, to the point, and in the target language. Sweet!
Monday through Thursday began our days of campamento. Our service primarily consisted of running two summer camps for two separate communities in Montecristi—Buenos Aires and Francisco Javier. Since we had a group of 35 (only five were my students, but there were six schools and six TFA teachers who planned the trip), we split our students into two groups.
At the campamentos, the kids were responsible for running five stations: Spanish literacy, English, health and fitness, arts and crafts, and recreation. The other teachers and I decided from the beginning that we wanted to be very hands-off, so that our kids could really take ownership over the camps. Once they were assigned a station, their lessons were up to them.
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| The three rules of campamento |
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| Arts and crafts leaders teach weather terms before starting a craft project |
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| Mi amigo Mateo crowns Yefri king of the Verde group after a push-ups contest in the health and fitness station |
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| Basketball star Tahza plays around with kids at camp |
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| Tweet reads one-on-one with students at the Spanish literacy station |
It was amazing seeing the things they came up with. From writing songs to the tune of the hokey-pokey about washing your hands to creating an art project centering on a
chupacabra, the kids used their creativity.
It was also really sweet to watch the relationships develop between them and their campers. I could tell they loved them and could see the potential in them. On the last day of camp, we talked a lot about that love, and how that is the same feeling that all of their teachers see in them. It was so special seeing my students empowered as teachers.
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| Both of these kiddies (my student Jayla and a camper) are twins! |
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| Beautiful girls |
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| Alexis with her camp group. Their group name was "Las mariposas" (the butterflies). |
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| Catarín and me. I was (and am) smitten by her. |
The kids at camp ranged in ages from one to fourteen—the same age as a lot of our students. Obviously this was a challenge, but our students met every challenge head on. 112 degree heat? Ain't no thang. Baby in the same class as twelve year-old? Let's roll with it. You're bored with our lesson? Let's do something new! I was so proud of their flexibility and can-do attitudes.
This trip made me remember why I love being a teacher so much. Thank you so much to the many people who made it possible!
Con amor,
Profe Procuniar
