We got up very early today at the break of dawn, the sun barely up. The view was breathtaking. Bumping along, we rode in trucks to the farm of who we think will be the future mayor of Cambita, Cesar Lorenzo. This humble business man took us to the house where he was born, a shack on a ridge above a tropical forest. During his youth, his father farmed coffee and now he farms avocado. Some of us slipped down a steep hill we descended through the avocado trees. One other skirmish included disarming an orange tree of its deadly oranges. Not only were they tedious to peel, but also dangerously sweet. As spoils of war we were awarded avocados from Cesar.
The school of Santa Maria was our next stop, where we began our painting extravaganza. Working furiously we were able to almost finish staining the walls of the art room with a sky blue heaven. After lunch with our host families, we returned and finished painting the arts and crafts room while another group painted murals along the street. We painted three panels along a giant concrete wall with images depicting the different international rights of children – right to protection, education, etc. Being dehydrated everyone took turns painting and drank a lot of water. The sun was intense today, much hotter than any other day we experienced.
At the end of a long day of work, we had a final meeting to finish off the “Marketplace of Ideas.” In this brainstorming activity, we developed a strategy for making the Groton-Cambita relationship sustainable for the long-term. We also finished our Leadership Goals and Life Vision class, in which we all capped off our study of leadership, and the different styles of local leaders, by looking inwardly to define our own leadership style and leadership goals.
The best part of the evening was the farewell party. We had had a salsa party on Friday night, where we learned to dance salsa and meringue and some of us actually kept dancing right through a very strong rain storm! At this party there were speeches from Nilsa, our community coordinator, and her husband, Felo. One of the host moms, Arelis, also spoke along with Patrick and Ross. Gifts were given. A feast of chicken, beef, vegetables, and several different styles of rices, spaghetti and other different delicacies were served. Then the dancing began!
It is not midnight and time to go to bed. This has been such a fantastic trip in so many ways. We worked hard every minute of this trip and felt very welcomed by this community. We look forward to returning and continuing this wonderful relationship.
Dan:
About to leave for home, I can’t help but think about how fun I have had here with the group. I admit. I had doubts about the program. Before going on the trip I heard about so many community service projects that don’t get enough work done on the trip. But our group was different. I’m still amazed to how many things we got done here in the Dominican Republic. Not only did we have fun dancing salsa and going to the beach, but we also finished projects at schools and got to really experience life in the Batey. Spending only a week in Cambita, the community already feels like my home. Everyone knows everyone and we all have so much fun. However, I can’t assert that my Spanish has gotten better grammatically during my stay with my host mother and father. But I have definitely gained confidence in speaking the language: sometimes I even get my English and Spanish confused! I also think that the trip gave a lot of chances for self-evaluation. Especially during our leadership workshops and the egg drop experiment, I really got to know not only the leadership styles of others but also my own leadership strengths and weaknesses. Through the projects, I evaluated how I led others and got to see how to make up for my weaknesses from others. I am really going to miss Cambita, especially our home stay family. The trip had amazing mentors, amazing students, and amazing families ready to take us in. This experience has become not only one of the most fun experiences of my life but also the most educational.
Ross have a great sense of humor and did you know pick up the care of people, I mean, your essay makes people who read your articles can report what really happens but also to divert a bit and that makes the reading more interesting, I hope we can continue to communicate until I thought I even join you but still not as I do, but I hope to continue doing the work they did in Cambita, and they did a good and excellent work and I have recognized before because my English and refused to leave because I felt a bit strange but I can assure you I am satisfied with its reception in our village and I hope to return soon, even I hope you all can come back and enjoy a little bit of country at least two weeks. I hope you can understand me because my English is not very formal ...
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