This was my first year going to the Dominican Republic and I definitely enjoyed my visit. I would say it was the best part of my summer. Being my first year going, I didn’t know what to expect. Even though I had heard a lot from the others that had been on the trip before, I was surprised at how friendly and welcoming everyone was and how easy it was to make friends. The resort we stayed at was probably the nicest place I have ever stayed and the food was great!
The Service day project was a very challenging project physically in the hot sun. We planted over 100 trees. We discovered that we were planting over limestone, so we had to use pick axes to dig through it. We always found local people staring in at us, we could overhear one of their conversations, and they said, “Ah, gringos can work.” We just smiled and continued to work. When we finished we realized how much we had done and were happy that we were going to make others happy.
One thing that I will never forget was the day camp. Even though it was for only 2 days, there was not a dull moment, from making crafts, to playing soccer with the campers. The kids were constantly full of energy. The campers really enjoyed tie-dying their camp shirts. I thought that the language barrier would have been difficult to deal with, but because the kids were so young they spoke what seemed like basic Spanish so it wasn’t difficult at all to communicate with them.
The most eye-opening day was the trip to Higuey, and I believe it makes an impact on everyone who goes there. You see how different it is from the US and how much we have that they don’t have. Even though sanitation and pungent smells where distracting; it didn’t stop us from enjoying the city. It makes you wonder how they get by on so little. Compared to their life it makes my life look almost perfect. But despite this difference, when we walked down the street everyone had a smile on their face and always greeted us with enthusiasm.
On the last day we were invited to Jean Paul and Joanna’s house. There we ate great food, enjoyed dancing and talking with everyone. They were just like any other teens, but a lot better dancers! Their parents showed great hospitality, and everyone had a lot of fun.
This experience taught me great patience working with little kids and how much joy we brought to them with just simple games and crafts and just spending time with them. I think this program should continue because you do learn a lot about other parts of the world; how different and yet how similar we are. It is a great experience and opportunity.
I would like to thank Virginia 4-H for letting me go, because this was the first year that Alleghany County was invited to go; it was an amazing week and I couldn’t be happier on how the trip went. I had a great time with everyone who went and made a lot of new friends. I am already looking forward to next year!
Morgan Herr – Alleghany County
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