A snapshot of our week!!!

3/14/10

Today, Sunday, marks the first full day here at Orphanage Outreach in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic. In the morning various groups of volunteers were assigned to creatively come up with a way to teach an Orphanage Outreach value to everyone else. This provided an alternative venue to present information about this organization and its mission without monotonous lecture. My group got the value “It’s not about you”. Our presentation consisted of acting out various self-directed complaints us volunteers may have here, followed by collectively responding as a group to the complainer “It’s not about you”, or its Spanish equivalent “No se trata de ti”. We had several more sessions of orientation afterward, but that was okay given what followed. Seasoned chicken wings stewed in peppers, fried sweet plantains, and ripe watermelon, for lunch. I could get used to this Dominican culture.

While we were sitting most of the morning, the afternoon got us on our feet. We got our first opportunity to hang out with some of the kids after lunch during free time. I participated in a joint game of kickball (in which we won) whereas others engaged the kids in sports like volleyball and basketball. Then, we had to organize all the volunteer donations – that is, all 170 of us here unloaded donated food, clothes, medical supplies, and toiletries from our suitcases and neatly packed them into the almacen (a storage room). The afternoon also involved an opportunity for us to prepare our teaching lessons at our assigned school and classes. My group is to teach English words for “emociones” (emotions) to kids in both a first grade and a fourth grade class tomorrow. Our lesson plan involves matching and acting games in what is sure to be an educational and entertaining morning.

Later on at night we were invited to attend church with the members of the community. Though we were cramped into an extremely small space and suffered unbearable heat, we were able to connect with the community. This was how they did church, this was how they celebrated life. Being an outsider looking in allowed me to take everything in with a new light and fresh perspective. I guess I can understand why we were asked to follow such “strict” dress codes. It wasn’t a meticulously calculated maneuver to make this experience inconvenient but an invitation into their traditions and lives. A welcome to the family if you will. One of our wonderful group leaders translated in English what was being said in Spanish by the preacher and the message still rang clear; never getting lost in translation.

Anyways, quiet-time just started and I better get sleeping so I can be a good teacher/friend to the kids on the first official day tomorrow.

Buenas noches,
Kenny & Nehemie







3/15/2010
Monday, Day Two

We woke up earlier today to get ready for our first official day of teaching. Nerves were kind of high for our group, not knowing what to expect from the schools and more importantly, the students. All of the (approximately) 30 groups are assigned to volunteer at different local schools; ASB Maryland got assigned to Francisco Javier which is just a short walk down the road. During orientation, we were told that the school system in Monte Cristi consists of early morning sections (particularly younger kids) and afternoon classes that held sessions for the older students. Maryland got split up into 3 different teaching groups. Our group (Emily and Zev) started the morning with “initial” students (pre-kindergarten). Putting aside the fact that our lesson plan wasn’t completely adequate, the students were eager to learn and sat patiently as the “Americanos” tried their best successfully communicate in only English. We began the class with introductions between ourselves and the students, and then quickly followed into introducing and pronouncing our vocabulary of the day: family. In each of these lessons, we’re required to get the students familiar with 10 provided words that are associated with the category. The pronunciation session went as well as expected and a silly song to the tune of “Farrah Jacques” (forgive us for the misspelling) reinforced the new English vocabulary. After a long 45 minutes of class time, the recess bell was just as exciting to us as it was to the jittery students. We got the opportunity to play with the students during their recess time. Within the limit of one small basketball court were exciting games of basketball, soccer, baseball, jump rope, Frisbee, and tons of snacking. As the bell rang to bring the children back to class, the volunteers left to walk back down the road to the orphanage for lunch. As I (Emily) was walking back, I was really excited to continue the week of teaching because of how smoothly our lesson went (for the first one) and how great, fun, and well-behaved the students were. I think that for almost everyone, though, the afternoon with the older students gave us a more realistic experience of teaching…
After a huge portion of rice and chicken it was on to the afternoon session of teaching with the third grade. We were also teaching vocabulary of the family with slightly different activities. As we walked in the classroom the kids seemed eager to say the least. During this session we began to realize the true universal nature of kids. A table of attentive girls was next to a table of not so attentive girls and across the room was a group of boys who were talented in throwing bread. So, we did our best to juggle these “interests” while teaching the material. Aimee also noticed that boys will be boys as a couple of them sent her rumors of secret crushes…(Sounds pretty serious, Careful Mickey!)
Orphanage Outreach also gave a short talk on Orphanages and Dominican culture. These were helpful in understanding certain cultural communicative differences such as ones we experienced walking through the community. Although the information was interesting and enlightening it’s always important to receive the information with a critical eye. We have seen that in many ways service in another country is politically charged and we believe that this must be kept in mind, as well as the critical eye, as we try to do what is best for the community and the children. As we move through the week we will continue to improve our teaching and ability to serve and build community.
All things considered our first day of teaching reinforced the idea that wherever you are kids will be kids…throwing bread…playing baseball…and secret crushes on Aimee…

Hasta la Vista Bebe!
Emilia y Zev




Tuesday-Day 3

We’re finally more used to the way of life here in Orphanage Outreach. Today most of us who decided to go see the sunset, woke up and left by 5.45am. A lot of us who decided to go in fact changed our minds but nonetheless I went. I knew if I did not go then I would probably regret it after but I realized I would not have missed out on too much. The weather wasn’t the most ideal in the morning so it did not work out as well as we wanted it to.
Afterwards, we came back in time for breakfast. We did our review of our lesson plans whenever time permitted us to. We had pancakes and eggs for breakfast today which was quite yummy if I must say so myself. We had our reflections after wards from the first day of teaching from yesterday. It was interesting being able to exchange our stories of our experiences and improvise for the rest of the week.
Today was also nice for our group especially because we got to do more group bonding than any other day. We went upstairs and played games after our reflections. We played a M&M game with each color representing a fact that each of us would have to share. For example, if you got red= most embarrassing moment, etc. Then we played a game to enhance our cultural/individual awareness of our group members. We would have to take a step back if the situation applied to us and a step backwards if we felt disadvantaged by the situation. For example, if we did not speak fluent English by the age of 5 then we would have to take a step back. All of this helped us to see the diversity in the group, as well as the privilege and power that some of us had growing up. It was a very personal and powerful activity.

In the afternoon, we went into the schools again to work with the older kids. Yesterday, several of us had had problems with the older kids and we were already expecting the worse. However, it seemed to go a whole lot better today. It may be because the kids were better mannered, or maybe we had just expected the worse, so it was not so bad. LOL!
After dinner, were had a lesson on the history of the Dominican Republic. We ended the night watching the movie In the Time of the Butterfly. It was a very informative movie on the history of the DR based in the time of the dictator???. Several of us had already seen the movie, but it was still a treat.
That was our day!!!! Stay tuned for tomorrow!!!
Amanda and Lakshe


Day 4- Wednesday
3/17/10

Today started off like any other. People went around and got ready for the day, screaming about and dodging bugs along the way. Breakfast was quite good. We had sweetened cornmeal, which tasted similar to grits. It was delicioso. Later, we proceeded to our first classes of the day. The young ones were a little more rambunctious than usual, but we still had a good time teaching and spending time with them.
After lunch, which consisted of rice, chicken, fried oatmeal (very yummy), and some fruits and vegetables, our group gathered for reflection. Today, we played another game to get to know one another better. We each created a web of four words that define who we are and then presented them to the rest of the group. They were words like woman, Christian, artist, Ecuadorian, and friend. We each also chose one of our words to talk about in terms of how we have or have not felt accepted by the group of people that we identify with. It was a great way to get to know each other a little more in depth.

Afternoon classes were good. Most people seem to have gotten a pretty good handle on how to work with the older kids to get them to behave and to keep their attention. After classes, we were one of the groups that got to go to get ice cream! We walked from the school to a hotel, and most of us got this ice cream called dulce de leche. It was soooooo mind-numbingly good. It tasted sort of like caramel with a hint of coffee. Then, we went back to the orphanage.

Dinner became a celebration of the birthdays that people have had during the week. We had pork chops, mashed potatoes, rolls, vegetable stew, and birthday cake, both chocolate and vanilla. Then, partly to burn off the food but mostly just to have some fun, some of our group along with others from other groups started up a soccer game. By the end of the game, most of our group was on the field playing, and it was a lot of fun. We played until it was too dark to play anymore.

It’s definitely a challenge to take on the job of teacher in such a short period of time. In general it takes time to create rapport with children and to gain their respect. So it feels strange to go into a class without that build up or time to prepare that relationship. On the other hand some children connect quickly and make going to school a pleasure and quite fun. Speaking so much Spanish these last few days I find myself trying to speak to everyone in Spanish.

Thursday 3/18/10
It was too cold to shower this morning. So by now we all smell awful- unless of course you like the smell of sunscreen, sweat, and bug spray. That apparently still made us hiss-worthy (Dominican men like to hiss when they think a girl is attractive and apparently Americanas are especially attractive.)

Since there seems to be a trend of describing our food, we’ll add that real quick: pancakes, bananas, eggs with onions and peppers, rice, beans, chicken, plantains, and pasta.

But anyways, this morning was our last time teaching the younger kids. Some groups had fantastic kids. One class of first graders absolutely loved learning the words for “rain” and “tornado” by making pitter-patter sounds on their desks and spinning in circles. And, I think the teachers had just as much fun singing “If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops…” as they did. But, some people had some pretty terribly-behaved students. It just made people want to give up. It was the last day, so I think people really were hoping the students would finally just respect them. But, in the end, we all hope that these short English lessons helped the kids in some way, whether they behaved well or not.
At the end of this morning’s lesson, we had to say goodbye to the younger students. Orphanage Outreach had stressed to us that it was important to leave with positive goodbyes—something like “Hasta luego” – because of course we do have the opportunity to come back eventually. They wanted the kids’ experience learning English and hanging out with volunteers to end on a good note. Even so, the kids still had trouble saying goodbye. Even the most mischievous kids clung to us, trying to keep us from leaving. Some even wrote notes to us or tried to tell us in English that they would miss us. That made it pretty hard to leave.
The reflection before lunch that we did focused on band-aid solutions versus systemic change. A band-aid solution is a quick fix, whereas a systemic change focuses on the root causes. We started off by talking about which one was better. Most people agreed that systemic change was the best solution for a problem but that didn’t negate the positive effects of “band-aid” solutions. Someone brought up the FEMA trailers that provided temporary shelter for those in New Orleans. The trailers did not fix the damage that had been caused by the hurricane, but they provided shelters for those who would have otherwise been homeless. Another example that was brought up was the teaching methods used by Orphanage Outreach. Orphanage Outreach has both a long term and a short term teaching system. The long term allows students to learn English every single day for four years. The short term sends volunteers like us to the local elementary schools to teach vocabulary words for four days. Different volunteers come in each week and many weeks there are no volunteers. The reason why Orphanage Outreach does this is because though the Dominican Republic requires that all students learn English, not all teachers can speak English. Some group members believed that teaching English words to children was just a quick fix because they were not fully learning grammar and because rather than training the teachers to teach English, we make them dependant on short term volunteers who often aren’t around. On the other hand, maybe by coming in and volunteering we have inspired a child to do greater things in life, or at the very least learn more English.
Then we got to thinking that maybe English should not be exported to countries around the world. Why is it that Americans don’t have to learn another language when others have to learn our language to make a living? In some ways, we could see that there is a form of imperialism and cultural domination inherent in that. But at the same time, if English is the de facto international language then teaching English abroad is beneficial to the community because the language has become crucial for science, tourism, politics and commerce. So, though the opportunities for advancement increase through learning English, isn’t it strange that in order to survive in your own country, you need to learn the language of a foreign country?
With all that in mind, we went back to school for afternoon classes. The experience was much the same as in the morning but we got to eat POPSICLES during recess!! It was delicious and refreshing especially for those who had particularly difficult teaching hour. We said another round of goodbyes to the kids with smiles and belief that someday we will meet again.
After the dinner, some of the volunteers gathered up to play soccer with the boys here and had an awesome game. They ran around screaming and pushing with never ending energy. It was fun to watch these few volunteers come together to bond and play though it seems like there was a soccer game every evening. Aimee quotes, “ I was so proud of stealing the ball from Zev despite my size and lack of soccer skills.”
Caddi, Aimee, Jheesoo
PS. Some of us had pork yesterday evening and put the leftovers in the scrap bucket for the pigs…DISGUSTING and UNETHICAL.


3/19/2010
After a very rewarding four days of teaching and learning, today we got to tour a bit of the surrounding areas. We visited a giftshop and “Lilo” a local supermarket and we also got to have lunch at a restaurant instead of the orphanage. At the gift shop we got a chance to buy souvenirs from the Dominican Republic or Monte Cristi for people back home. Many people bought little recuerdos for people who donated towards their trip or those who donated supplies. Though the gift shop offered many crafts, paintings, and other art objects, the more popular items were Dominican coffee and vanilla extract, as well as jewelry. The market was very similar to the ones in the Ecuadorian coast. It was interesting to see the products sold. We got some Dominican seasoning so we can taste some more delicious food back home.

On the way to all of these places we got to see a very different range of houses. The house entrances are very close to the street and people like to sit outside on their porch. The houses are very colorful and they range in size. It is common to see a very expensive looking home with three or four cars parked in their garage, surrounded by much more humble houses. I guess the point is, in Monte Cristi many people don’t move out, instead they build up. We saw public parks and a monument of Manolo (Manuel Tavarez Justo), an important Dominican historical figure. We always wave from the bus, or when we walk as we pass by and people wave back. The community here has been extremely welcoming of “Americanos”, even though Jheesoo and myself are not American. Yesterday I told some students that I was not American, and they were very interested in learning about Ecuador (where I am from).

We also took a tour of the English Institute by the OO. The building was very well maintained and I would have loved to go there to learn if I was a kid. At the restaurant we savored one of the last Dominican meal, and it was a feast. Besides from being cold, the food was delicious and very filling. There was chicken, beef, goat, mashed potatoes, pasta, meat balls, Chinese fried rice with chicken, rice with vegetables, rice and beans, sautéed eggplant, …and it was all Dominican style.

After the restaurant we headed off to a very well deserved trip at the beach. The beach was by far one of the best sites in the Dominican Republic and definitely lived up to all the hype and anticipation of every volunteer. The water was beyond words in beauty, ranging from light blue to a clear green and then a darker blue at deep sea. The rocks and mountains surrounding the water were a perfect contrast that only added to the view. Although the beach was pretty enough on its own, the smiles and laughter that it brought to every volunteer’s face made it even better. The sun was shining and there was a child-like glow of excitement on everyone’s face; it was such an enjoyable and relaxing experience and atmosphere for everyone, it is no wonder why they save the beach trip for last.

After going to the beach we went back to the OO site for a final dinner and closing. The closing ceremony was a very touching experience for everyone. We all truly came together and put our hearts on our sleeves and shared with each other touching moments. Many people became very choked up during their sharing times and looking through the crowd they were not alone. Probably only 1 out of every 4 people had dry eyes, which is just remarkable considering that the majority of us just met the people in our own respective groups, let alone the members of other groups. The camaraderie, trust and respect that everyone demonstrated for each other was truly overwhelming and definitely a great way end things off. The trip leaders Sharon, Julie, and Christine were given well deserved and heart-felt standing ovations and so were all the volunteers. Going back to the principles we learned on the first day, the closing ceremony embodied many of what we were taught: “it’s not about you”, “this is it”, and “communicate love”. From the stories told it was apparent that everyone took on the “it’s not about you” principle full force; almost every story was about the impacts the kids made on them and not the impact they made on the kids. “This is it” and “communicate love” was not only apparent in the stories shared, but also in the warm way everyone else received the stories. There was a true appreciation for every story, every tear, and every person. This may have been the last day here, but the memories and stories shared tonight will be in everyone’s minds forever. Not only do I feel as though I made 17 new friends, but I also feel like I made 140 other new friends as well.