This summer, accompanied by 18 other UMD students, I hopped on a plane to the Dominican Republic, where for a week I helped set up and run the first art camp for the children of the Hogar Esperanza de un Nino (Hope of a Child Orphanage) and the neighboring community of Monte Crisiti.
Along with 38 other volunteers from around the U.S. and Canada, I joined the Orphanage Outreach team to aid in their goal to give new opportunities to orphaned, abandoned and disadvantaged children in the DR. Orphanage Outreach is run by Tom Eklund and his wife Paula from their Arizona home, while Canada’s “Coco” Barrett serves as the country director, along with the two newest program directors, Amy and Bryan Linck from Michigan.
1. Release the Hero Within
2. Communicate Love
3. Poco a Poco
4. Be Flexible/Creative
5. It’s Not About You
6. This is it!
7. You are Orphanage Outreach
8. Acknowledge Yourself
9. Serve, Don’t Help
10. Jump Right In!
SATURDAY (Day 1)
We arrived late on Saturday night, after a two-hour drive from the Santiago airport. The night air was warm, and the bugs quickly came out to greet us to their home. Upon arrival at the Orphanage, we were shown to our “ramadas” and joined together in the “comedor” for dinner, a quick welcome speech from Bryan, and an introduction to the O.O. set-up beside the orphanage.
Orphanage Outreach was invited to build their headquarters on the ground of the orphanage by it’s director, Pastor Ramon and his family. It consists of a “comedor,” which serves as the main dining/activities room for the volunteers, and four housing units. Here, we ate all our meals (cooked by genuine Dominican cooks), had meeting, watched movies and shared in activity nights with the kids. A new building was also recently added to the O.O. headquarters in which a library and computer center, along with a full bathroom (with a bathtub to help bathe the little ones!), rooftop courtyard and Coco’s bedroom adds additional accommodations for the kids.
Our sleeping and bathroom arrangements were nothing like I have experienced before. And for the mere week I was there, I would not have traded it for anything. We slept in “ramadas,” ours #3, separated by gender. The ramadas are built out of school yard fencing, covered in tarps for ventilation, along with a tin roof and cement floors. We slept in small iron bunk beds, furnished with sheets, pillows mosquito nets for protection against the thousands of mosquitoes that seemed to be surrounding us during our stay. Because the clean water supply in the Dominican is very small, bathroom arrangements were very different from anything I was used to. Although the bathrooms had running water, we could not use it to brush our teeth, or shave (we were provided with drinking water). We took cold (amazing for a hot summer day) showers in navy style in which you turn the water on and off three or four times during the shower for the moments you are not rinsing out the soap or shampoo. The toilets rules were simple: “if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.” And because of that we were not permitted to throw toilet paper in the toilet (and if we did, accidentally or not, we were required to scoop it back out with a handy-dandy stick that was provided in each stall). Overall, it was a very simple and economic way of reshaping the day to day hygiene activities we are so used to taking advantage of. An amazing eye opener.
Within minutes of arriving at the Orphanage, we gathered at the make-shift basketball court to meet the kids. We were outside for maybe five minutes before those 43 adorable faces came running up to us to play and greet us as if they had known us our entire lives. I’ve yet to learn all their names, but those laugh filled smiles I will never forget.
SUNDAY (Day 2)
Sunday was our first full day at the Orphanage. We had a chance to walk into town, exchange money, make phone calls home, get ice cream and a quick tour of Monte Cristi. We came back to the Orphanage for some quality lay time with the kids before dinner. They LOVE climbing trees like little monkeys, and find joy in the simplest things. Mike made quick friends with 12 year old Rafael, and I fell in love with Joanni, the youngest of 5.
Santos is the oldest kid in the orphanage a the age of 16 and currently, 2 year old Christopher is the youngest. While you would think that children in the orphanage would come from homes without parents, in the majority of the cases this is not true. Most kids in the orphanage have at least one parent, often two. But in families with so many children and in a city with very little opportunity for jobs, parents often find they cannot afford to house and feed the kids, and send them to the Orphanage. Sometimes the parents come for visits, others can’t afford to spend the time away.
One of the goal of Orphanage Outreach is not only to teach English to better the education and prospects of the children, but to put any of them through the university if their grades qualify them to get in. Santos is graduating this summer, and if he’s lucky, he’ll be joining his four “sisters” in Santiago at the University.
After dinner, we heading into town for their weekly Sunday church service. DR is a very religious country, and the Orphanage in specific is run by the minister of the church. As volunteers, we were invited to attend church with the children on Sunday, while they attend services up to 4 times a week depending on their age. We were asked to dress in semi-conservative skirts, and short sleeved shirts, while the guys wore button down shirts and khakis. The service was held in Spanish and translated to us by Coco. And like what I imagine many churches to be like world wide- the children could not keep still!
MONDAY (Day 3)
This week in Monte Cristi, we are putting on an art camp for the Orphanage kids and the 3rd and 5th graders of the English Institute School (also run by O.O.). The camp consists of two sections (morning section for the younger children and afternoon section for the oldest children after school) and will last four days. It’s being held in the old Coconuts Hotel/Restaurant that was just recently bought by the O.O. team. We have over 100 kids signed up per section and over 40 volunteers working to keep them in line and entertained.
The camp is set up into 5 art stations a day where a group of 5 volunteers managed each station, while two more served as councilors, rotating the station with their group of 20+ children. You couldn’t hide the excitement and children begged to get started every morning!
I have never witnessed something so special. Some of these kids have never even seen colored pencils before, not to mention paints and beads and masks. They are amazed by the colors and possibilities, and with a creativity like theirs, you never know what to expect.
After camp we came back to the Orphanage to play with the kids for a while. The older kids had a blast scaring and chasing the little kids with the masks they had made and the little ones could not get enough of their attention.
Us volunteers ended the night at the commons rooms watching movies and playing card games. It’s very sweet getting to know the rest of the volunteers. I came with Mike, Arin, Libby, Saffan and Kristen, but I didn’t know the other 10 MD kids, and to not mention the rest of the volunteers from around the US. They’re all very sweet, and it takes a specific kind of personality to decide to do volunteers work abroad- what a change from the day to day people we meet in College Park!
TUESDAY (Day 4)
Today’s crafts: Mosaic Frames, Origami, Pet Rocks, Redecorating T-shirts, Sidewalk Chalk and Making Bracelets in the Park.
We started playing a game called MAFIA every night in the comedor. It’s a card/who’s the killer game, and it’s a total blast. It’s become a nightly occurrence and really bringing us all really close together.
WEDNESDAY (Day 5)
Today was a very special morning for us. We woke up at 5:15 for an early morning hike to see the sun rise over the beautiful beaches of the Caribbean. It was a beautiful view of the El Moro Mountain (fantastic name, right?) and beach, salt farms around the area and the outlining borders of the city of Monte Cristi. It was an absolutely beautiful sight, and having the sun and moon out at the same time always makes me exceptionally excited.
We came back to the Orphanage only to have breakfast and head out for Day 3 of camp. Today’s crafts: Picture Frames, Game Time, Bead Jewelry, Gak.
After camp we spent the evening playing with the kids until their usual dinner and bedtime at sundown. The boys are very rowdy and LOVE challenging the volunteers into wrestling matches and fighting. Tonight not only did AJ and Bisson get into the action, but Franni and Lexi got pretty roughed up, too. Libby and I took to the little girls who wanted their hairs braided and to play on the swings.
THURSDAY (Day 6)
Today was or last day of camp. By this point the children’s crafts had all dried and they were getting them back to take home. The most amazing part of this trip, was absolutely seeing how selfless and kind hearted all these children are. After a week of getting to experience new crafts and toys and meeting new people, all they wanted to do was give away their crafts to us- so we would remember them. How could you forget an experience like that?
Today’s crafts: T. Shirt Decorating and Decorating Visors with the young kids. And lots of final day farewell play!
Play time with the kids today was exceptionally fun. They were all super excited to have us back from camp, and now the more they get attached the more heart breaking it becomes. It’s been so much fun, and I absolutely love each and very face I have met. But now what? This program is wonderful because it give the kids an opportunity to live a life they would have never been able to have if they were still living at home with their parents, but getting new volunteers year round for a week and then losing them again- how can that be good for the kids?
FRIDAY (Day 7)
As part of the trip, we spent our last day in the DR with a tour of Dajabon (the border between the DR and Haiti). It was quite an experience. People were crossing the border through the river with hundreds of pounds of items to sell on the other side. Fruits, vegetables, flour, eggs, ever live chickens on sticks! We got to visit a small museum, a souvenir shop, go up a water tower in the middle of the city and get a view of the small town, and finally ended at an ice cream shop to spend the last of our money and finish on a sweet note.
We had lunch at a local restaurant, and the food was much like what we had at the Orphanage every day. Potatoes, rice, chicken. All good, home cooked and very simple.
The rest of the day was spent at El Moro beach where we got to relax and enjoy the beautiful views of our group of volunteers.
We spent our last night at camp with the kids. They were allowed to stay up with us a little longer and most of the older kids snuck out after bed time to spend more time with us, It’s so hard saying good bye to people you become so close to, and then have to leave. Especially kids- how can they understand that.
My hardest goodbyes:There was one very special little boy on this trip. Winston was 6 years old and he barely talked. H’s very shy but super flirty and sweet. There are no words to explain how much I love this boy. The entire trip he called himself our “novio” and on the last night he gave me a big kiss on the cheek before saying goodnight. What a cutie!
Sakeo is nine years old. Part of a big family (Jose Luis, his older brother, and Indiana, Nene, Joanni and Luz Maria, four out of his six sisters, were also living at the Orphanage), Sakeo has had to be tough all of his life and fight for attention. But his generosity and kindness are unbeatable. On my last day he grabbed my hand and took me on a “behind the scenes” tour of the boys secret places around the Orphanage. He found a coffee tin, some rocks and sticks and make me a drum, not skipping a beat in teaching me how to play. “Un regalo para que no me olvides. (A gift so you will not forget me)” He said when he gave it to me. I could never forget him.
Odalis is one for the older boys at camp (12, maybe 13 years old). He is absolutely amazing and was working on teaching me how to play the guitar through out the trip. On my last night at camp he snuck out in the middle of the night to give me a present. He had made me a bracelet and bought me a sparkling ring out of his chore points from the orphanage store. How amazing is that?
Adios mis amorsitos! Ya los extrano!
