Today was our first full day in the Dominican Republic. We woke up in the beautiful villa rented by World Leadership School, to an amazing view of the ocean and the hills that surrounded the region. After a breakfast of fruit and potatoes, we enjoyed some time in the sun by the pool before starting our orientation. After lunch, we packed our things and got into a bus which took us to Cambita Garabito where we will be staying for the next week.
We visited two schools, the poorer public school located higher up in the mountains and another parochial semi-private school run under the strict direction of Sister Louise, a Canadian nun. Sister Louise's school is an inclusive institution, which means it accepts Haitians (which in the Dominic Republic is quite rare) and special needs children. Both schools rely on international support and service groups such as ours, and continuously require more work in order to remain functional and provide educational opportunities to local children, most of whom are from poor families.
After visiting the schools, we drove into the town where we took our bags and walked over to our host families' houses, where we will live for the remainder of the trip in groups of two students. All the families were welcoming and friendly, and the children were very excited to meet everyone. We are really excited to start our work tomorrow, which will begin by a trip to two shelters currently taking care of Haitian earthquake survivors.
Everyone is healthy, and our chaotic journey to the Dominic Republic has come to a happy end in our host barrio of Cambita Garabito.
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