Moses Brown Dominican Republic Service Trip 2010

Moses Brown Dominican Republic Service Trip from Sarah Rheault on Vimeo.

Hey everyone. I made this slideshow as a thank you for the congregation of my church who donated supplies, and my mom has been bugging me to post it here for a while so that other people can see it. Just a short video about what we did, etc.

As I haven't posted yet, I thought I would now even though the trip is over. However, in trying to determine what I wanted to say, I realized that I would never have enough time, or maybe even the words, to express what the trip meant for me.I had an amazing experience and loved every minute of it. I am so proud of the work we all did, and am so lucky to have had such a great group of students.

I'm also a little suprised at the huge culture shock I feel after returning. I drove home by myself after leaving the airport, and felt a huge impact for driving my own car, and being on my own for the longest amount of time in a week. I took a shower, in one that had a door and hot water, and felt a little angry that I was able to come back and do things people in the batey will never get to. I'm overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I own (that I believe I need in order to survive) compared to the poverty we saw in the bateys. This trip has left me with a lot to think about.


I agree with Noah. It was the perfect week. Thank you for such an amazing experience.

I am so glad Noah and Neil decided to blog after the trip. I completely agree with everything you two have said and I think that everyone can relate. It seems that no matter how long you are there, playing with the kids or scribing for the doctors or even organizing the pharmacy, it never feels like enough. You always want to do more. I know I am not the only one who hopes to return again, either next March or possibly some other time during the summer. But even if I can never go back, I still want to do as much as I can for the people in the Bateys, no matter how small. If there was one thing I learned going back it is this. You can never forget. The memories of the smiling children and the intense feelings of loss for all the new friends may fade, but they'll always be part who you are. It is amazing to think how much each person has matured since we boarded that plane Sunday morning. In just one week, we have become a family. A small family of students with such a big heart. Thank you everyone for being you.
One memory I have was at the airport after our last RoseBudThorn. We were all thinking about how we never wanted to forget the last week in the DR. I thought to myself that we should have written the words "Never Forget" on the back of our T-shirts. Only now do I realize that it is almost unnecessary, not because its not true but because it is something that will always be with me. I can't forget. It's impossible.

I feel the same way Neil does. For the first time, waking up in my own bed seemed strange to me and I did not like it. This week has been so intense, we were busy every second and it flew by at the speed of light. But I enjoyed every minute of it and tried to hold on to it as long as possible. Overall my week was a more moving, sentimental, humbling, life changing, and joyful (except for when I got sick for a morning) than anything I have ever experienced in my whole life. A combination of bonding with school mates who I have become family with, experiencing poverty (a reality well hidden by the shelter of the East Side), being able to use my Spanish for the first time in an authentic environment, and pouring my heart into helping those in dire need to care made this week an unforgettable one. In La Romana and at the hospital we experienced a compassion from everyone and patience from our sometimes sub-par Spanish speaking. The thing I will miss the most are the smiles. Knowing I have made a serious impact on someone’s life in a positive way is such a nice feeling. It is not everyday that you can literally give someone the gift of sight. I was also so happy with how smoothly everything ran, even on “Dominican Time”. We got to do all the awesome things that were planned. This week was the ultimate combination of vacation and service work. “Perfect” is the only way I can describe it. I would do anything to go back for one more day. This Sunday has been really hard for me to adjust back to my normal life after such an awe inspiring trip. I don’t know how I am going to make it through the year when all I can think about is getting back to the Dominican Republic (and maybe even being legally there this time).

Due to time constraints on the last day, I unfortunately got bumped out of writing a blog entry! Now I want and feel obligated to write a reflection on what I experienced. I personally want to reflect on the over all trip rather than our daily routine, which I feel has already been fully described in previous posts.

Aside from the extreme poverty that we all saw in the Bateys, I was particularly shocked at the social structure in the Dominican Republic. (At least what I saw in the La Romana region.) Even in the city where our hotel was located there was widespread poverty. When we got off the bus for Jumbo (the Walmart on steroids) immediately elementary, shoeless children begged for money and food. At Bon ice cream parlor, through the large glass panes, children begged for water from our filled bottles. Most of these children seemed to be of Haitian descent and only a few seemed Dominican. None were Caucasian. (Even though in many of the pictures and descriptions of Bateys show unimaginable poverty, the doctors in our group saw very few malnourished workers. Despite their poverty, these sugarcane workers had enough food.) The city seemed to be inhabited by mainly the poor and lower middle class. While the poor begged, the lower middle class had jobs that barely covered the cost of living in modern society.

At the other extreme, Casa de Compo (the resort) was only for the wealthy. While in the resort, the temperature seemed more pleasant, bugs did not exist, water was clean, and the houses came well equipped with large lawns, driveways, cars and swimming pools. At the beach and later at the restaurant I saw no Dominican or Haitian who lived in the resort. Every resident of the Casa de Compo was Caucasian (probably foreign born).

Now looking back I don’t believe that this registered with me until we were leaving the resort. While being stopped at the gate by security, I noticed a second security booth where resort workers were leaving at the end of their shifts. None of them were Caucasian. As they passed through security, the women were forced to open their purse as the security guard, also Dominican, checked for theft.

People have told me that the United States is famous for a full economic distribution: poor, middle, and wealthy. In the Dominican Republic I saw no middle class and the economic classes seemed directly correlated with race.

It was not until the end of the trip that I could comprehend all that I saw. I feel proud for all the help we were able to provide but despite all the work we put in, there is still many more people who need our help in the Dominican Republic.

I just woke up and I can believe that I am home. I feel like I have just woken up from a dream. This entire week has been a truly amazing experience in every sense. Listening to the morning news, I am disappointed to realize that I am back in reality. I feel like our week in La Romana has been much longer than just one week. If we could have all stayed longer, I think we all would have. I already miss the hotel, the hospital, the bateys, and the gorgeous beach where all of our memories for the week were made. I am happy to know that I will be able to share my memories with Jen, Amy, and the other students on the trip once we all are back in school. In addition, I am eager to see the 500+ pictures that were taken on the trip. I don't think words can expain the feelings that I have about the week, but I will try to give them in simple terms: Happiness, tranquility, and accomplishment. I have really enjoyed getting to know everyone on the trip, and I think I have made great friends. I really hope that I can go back next year, and for other students who read this, you will not regret going. This trip has been the best experience of my high-school career, and I can't wait until next March comes around.

Neil

P.S- I feel like our experiences in La Romana have allowed us to wake up from a dream that we live in here in the U.S. to see the more real side of life that the majority of the world lives in. I will really miss it.

Hi, So this is actually Noah, not Zoe


Today all of us were really tired in the morning from an entire week of working as scribes, pharmacists, and blood pressure takers etc...The bus ride to the batey was silent because we had all just passed out. We really haven't been getting enough sleep because there has just been so much going on and so many exciting things to do. But when we got to the fields, a shift happened and we were all suddenly awake and ready for our last day of service. I think that made us work especially hard today. But it was interesting the reaction that all of us had when we walked into the church where we set up our clinic. This batey, unlike any other, had one generator, fans in the church, and some glass on their windows and we considered this an incredible luxury. This gives an idea of how much poverty we experienced over the course of the week. We were so thankful for the fact that this church had a stone roof (as opposed to the ones made of tin). This trip has truly been a life changing experience, one which I really did not see coming. The bateys were nothing like I expected. I did not think the children there would wait outside of the church where we were set up for hours just to receive one single toy car. This is probably one of the only personal possessions, where as I have thousands. This made me feel a little guilty not having enough toys and pencils for everyone in the bateys. Finally, the most amazing thing about our trip is that the doctors we were with in combinations with the donations we handed out helped about half of the people in only 5 bateys. There are about 300 in the entire DR. There is still so much more work to do and so many more people to help. I look forward to doing that in the near future.


Noah Jennis