Day 15: Jenessa’s Reflections
Today, both the education and nursing teams had the morning off. We spent it laying out on the beach, gathering supplies to hand over to Caminante, and hanging out with each other. In the afternoon the nursing team taught at Caminante, and the education team visited an orphanage. The orphanage was interesting to explore. We … Read more
Day 13: Kelcie’s Reflections
Today (Saturday) the education team began the day by teaching at Caminante. It was a great teaching session devoted to children’s right and feelings. The kids and adults that attended the lesson were so attentive and really understood what we were trying to teach them. Some individuals shared really personal stories about their lives that … Read more
Day 12: Kimberly’s Reflections
In the morning, the nursing team and the education team both taught in La K today. It was our first time in this classroom and it turned out to be a rough day for us. There was was only a couple small rooms and barely enough desks. The desks that they did have were all … Read more
Day 4: Sylvia’s Reflections
On our way to Los Cocos that morning, the van was stopped due to a worrisome sight. There was a young girl, probably around the age of 3, she was crying and it appeared as if she was lost. Cristina and Yocasta jumped out of the vehicle in order to help the young girl. There … Read more
Day 3: Challenges and Flexibility for the Nursing Students
As we prepared for this trip we tried to plan our schedule and activities as much as possible, but already we have had to make a number of small adjustments. We did talk with the students about this ahead of time, but they are now in the midst of it. One challenge we are … Read more
Day 2 and 3: Chelsea’s Reflections
The children’s selflessness is very shocking. The majority of the children are very concerned for the group and if everyone is taken care of. While passing out supplies during a craft, several little girls stopped participating to help me hand out supplies. From what I could tell, one child was asking other students if they … Read more
Day 2: Our First Working Day
After a warm welcome and orientation this morning from our amazing host organization/NGO in Boca Chica, Caminante, this afternoon was our students’ first day teaching their lessons to school-age children. Cristina & I lead and accompany the group of six Hiram students who are not nursing majors. Alyssa & Kim did a beautiful job engaging 17 children in their very important lesson on children’s … Read more
Day 15 for the Microfinance Team: Rachel’s Reflections
The best thing about our microfinance project is by far its future. What we did with our group of women, our skits and PowerPoints and brief education, was fun and doubtless important. But what matters is the long term impact of the project. Visiting the homes of women who began to participate in microenterprise a … Read more
Day 12 for the Nursing Team: Javonne’s Reflections on “Visiting a Boca Chica Hospital”
Today the Nursing Team had a short day, but we had the opportunity to see a hospital in Boca Chica. I found some good and bad things there. I’ll start with the bad, for now. The hospital is located in an area that doesn’t receive 24 hour electricity. They didn’t seem to have any in-patients … Read more
Day 12 for the Nursing Team: Kelly’s Reflections on “Visiting a Boca Chica Hospital”
Today we had the opportunity to tour a small community hospital in Boca Chica. We also had the chance to talk with a nurse from the hospital. This helped us to gain perspective on how the role of a nurse in the Dominican Republic differs from that of a nurse in the United States. Although … Read more
Day 12 for the Microfinance Team: Natalie’s Reflections
The thing I enjoyed most about the microfinance program that was conducted during our time at the Dominican Republic was to see how eager the people that were to be part of our group were. Coming into the Dominican we were not sure what to expect since our program’s schedule kept changing, and many times … Read more
Day 11 and 12 for the Sci Ed Team: Lacey’s Perspective – “Appearances can be deceiving.”
The first homework room we taught in (located in la Caleta) was converted into a teaching space after previously serving as a house. It really wasn’t that bad at all. At this point we thought we had seen all of the spaces we would be teaching in and this is the best by far. I … Read more
Day 10 for the Nursing Team: Shannon’s Reflections on “working in the Batey”
Today was very interesting. First we had no idea where we were going or who we would be seeing. We were told the community was a group of people who had newly arrived from Haiti. The science group and the nursing group were packed into the van and taken to our destinations. We pull up … Read more
Day 10 for the Microfinance Team: Javonne’s Favorite Memory
Acting out the skit for the group the first day we all met the future beneficiaries of the program was by far my favorite memory from our group sessions. This session was very well attended with over 40 interested individuals. The title of the skit was “6 meses despues”, which means “6 months later”. I had a great … Read more
