Today was again an early wake up call from our student
leader of the day. We had to eat
breakfast earlier than usual because we had to have our LAST academic seminar
on Aid and Development…YAHOO! After our aid and development seminar that James
and I conducted we had a guest speaker Gertrudis from Fundasep an NGO that
works with three counties Aswana, San Juan, Elias Pina and help virtually
anyway possible through many departments such as education, housing, health,
etc. She was talking to us about how
Fundasep has helped many people in the poorest area of the DR, which happens to
be the southwest. She gave numerous
examples far too many for me to remember but it appears that this is one of the
largest NGO’s here in the country.
After her talk we had a field trip to one of the communities
where Fundasep has help establish numerous projects. We boarded the guagua and headed on our 30
minute ride to the community of El Batey.
Our first stop at this community was a bathroom break…too bad the
restrooms were locked so we ended going to the church and used theirs. After our pit stop, we were asked to go to
the adjacent building of the church where we were introduced to many of the
leaders of the subdivisions of El Batey.
Once all the introductions were done we were treated to a traditional
song and dance “El Palo.” It truly was
memorable because I don’t think anyone was expecting that it would sound like
the way it did. The community was so
thankful that we had arrived and paid them a visit that they played another
song and invited our students to join in and dance. That for me was nice to see, and it appeared
that the students had fun. As that came
to a close a couple of community members recited a few poems and we made our
trek throughout the community to see some of Fundasep’s projects.
We split into two groups and the group that I was in saw the
latrines that they were install throughout the community. From there we went to see the stoves that
they are constructing in the houses that use barro and have chimneys so the
smoke doesn’t fill the house! We then
went to learn about the hydration program they have for kids and adults so they
learn about dehydration. Our last stop
was going to see the aqueduct but we were running pressed for time because of
the show the community put for us so we decided to head back to San Juan and go
to lunch. Lunch like always was amazing
and so filling that we all said we’re eating too much. I know for a fact that I have eaten more
everyday here that I do on a normal basis…I guess it’s time to hit the gym when
I get back! :)
After lunch my CAP group decided to do more price checking
for materials for their project. I am
pretty impressed thus far since the students seem to be way ahead of the curve
on this and have allotted time and are being very efficient with the
budget. We had some down time once we
got back from the hotel and I wanted to go out and get some stuff from the
market. Was it my luck or an omen…but
the market was closed…really at 3 pm?!?! Wth…anyway so I came back to the hotel
to actually get some rest, which I’ll be honest was nice. By the time I woke up it was time for dinner,
which wasn’t that great…you know me and pasta…but beggars can’t be
choosers. Had a great time with my table
group and got in some games of speed and played a round or two of burro.
After dinner we came back to the hotel and had our nightly
meeting, which was nice since it was short and sweet. We finished early, my student leader of the
day wrote the blog and believe it or not I was in bed early yet again…the
downfall of the night was the part that I was bit twice while in the lobby as I
was waiting for her to finish. But otherwise
it was a chill last Friday in the DR.
Can’t wait for tomorrow though…FUNDAY at the Mayor’s house!
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