Dominican Republic Trip 2023

  I’m writing this at 9:30 on Friday night after a long and amazing day.     I use “amazing a” lot     Not once an overstatement.     The group is resting at a hotel before we head to the airport at Midnight to check in for our 3:45 flight.     I’d rather compose this now and attempt to send it via the hotel’s weak Wi-Fi that may revive once the kids log off and take a nap.     It was a day that demands chronicling.   Fully packed, we managed to consolidate all of our luggage and personnel and cram everything/everyone onto the bus after breakfast and make it to the Altagracia school for final goodbyes.  As all of the children lined up for the opening ceremony and national anthem, we saw that almost every one of them was holding flags that they had made of every country in North, South and Central America, and of course the Caribbean.  They were celebrating Pan American Day, a perfect occasion for them to cel...

  When one door closes, another is sure to open.     There was no school on Thursday, but we had a full and at the same time restful day, taking care of a lot of business.     We had the chance to sleep for an extra hour, and after breakfast we had an extra-long team meeting, which gave us the chance to reflect on our week to date. The reflections were insightful and at times emotional. We are so grateful for having had this chance to make a difference, and so pleased that we were able to take full advantage of the opportunity.     We were much more than visitors at the Centro Educativo Altagracia.     We were accepted as partners and friends, and did a lot of teaching and role modeling. Rarely have we heard so many of the participants, particularly our students, talking about returning next year.   After breakfast, we left the hotel and walked five blocks in the 88-degree sun to a nearby nursing home and clinic run by the local Lions Cl...

    We have learned in past years to expect the unexpected on our trips to the DR, and be ready to adjust.  Schedules are schedules, but there are times when events beyond our control change the agenda.  Such the case twice Wednesday, a day that had temperatures pushing into the 90s.  We arrived at the Altagracia school in time for the now familiar opening ceremony, and after the national anthem the Director made the announcement to the students that Thursday’s classes were cancelled and there would be no school.  Just like that, our last teaching day was wiped out.  The students cheered, of course, although many of them later figured out the implications of Thursday’s day off and expressed their disappointment to us.  School was cancelled across the country to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the teachers’ union.  In possibly related news, it was announced Wednesday that Juan Valdez, our good fr...

  We spent the entire day Tuesday at the Altagracia school, and got a lot done on a long day of interacting with students and teachers.     The opening ceremony was the regular flag raising, and then we divided into two groups, and each followed a different path.     I was in the group that first paid a visit to the preschool, where we introduced ourselves to the 4 and 5 year-olds.     They were curious and not the least bit shy.     Many of them introduced themselves to us one at a time, and we returned the favor.     They knew exactly why we had come, and we hope to see them again on future visits.     We then went out to the courtyard, where the other group had organized some special presentations to a select group of 5 th   and 6 th graders.     Jun Chewning, who is an accomplished origami artist, taught the group to fold several figures.     Then dental hygienist Carol Dillon, who was also ins...

  We got right to work on Monday, and accomplished a great deal on a busy day.     We were up at 6:30, ate breakfast at 7:00, and had a 7:30 departure time in order to make it to the Altagracia school in time for the opening ceremonies.     When our bus pulled through the gate (the school is in an urban walled compound topped by concertina wire) we were greeted like rock stars.     Children raced back and forth to get a look at us, and crowded toward classroom windows. Every child we encountered eagerly high-fived or first bumped us as we walked into the school to meet the Director, who guided us to a spot in the large courtyard where opening ceremonies happen every day.     Hundreds of children in plum-colored uniform shirts were lined up in their class groups, patiently waiting for things to start.     After a few announcements on the portable PA system, two children raised the DR flag and students and teachers alike sang the nati...

 Our first full day in the DR was wonderful.  We got to sleep in Sunday morning until 8:15, and enjoyed breakfast, hearing from our students that somehow, the Easter Bunny had found their hotel rooms!     Dressed in our Sunday best, we had a leisurely five-block walk from our hotel to the Catholic church in downtown Cotui, a growing city of 70,000, where trip leader Rita Severinghaus spent three years as a young teenager. We were greeted in the town square by Maria, the Director of the Altagracia School, and one of our hosts for Easter Mass.     We were guided to our seats and were in plenty of time for Mass, with a full church of 400 in attendance.     The service was wonderful.     It was energetic, full of music and call-and-response, and it mattered little that it was all in Spanish. At one point, ushers came down the aisles and generously sprinkled us with fresh-cut branches dipped into water that had just been blessed. It was truly...