Monday we had to say goodbye to the older boys...we had a fun day with them, and then when it finally came to say goodbye I had a lot of anxiety. I know that I will be back, but it is still hard to say goodbye for that long. It was a short and sweet goodbye, and more of a see you later, but I hated driving away that day. Tuesday was even harder; this was the day we were flying out, but we still ran Boys Club in the morning. As soon as we pulled up, Hilda, Sonia, and all of the boys were there waiting for us. We said our usual hellos, and how are you’s, and when I asked Sonia how she was, she responded with “I am sad today”. She knew that we were leaving and was not happy about it. Andrielli, Sonia’s 13 year old daughter was there, even though she did not have club. She wanted to say goodbye, and started crying right from the beginning of class. I tried my best to keep it together throughout the class, but Sonia was there, tearing up, as well as the kids. The class came to an end, and now it was going to be hard. Hilda (who is the woman that I am sponsoring her family) approached me, and balled her eyes out; basically pouring her heart out to me about how much she has appreciated us being there, and my sponsoring them, and how God is taking care of us. It was not a fun goodbye, and I made it clear to everyone that I do not like goodbyes; it is more like “see ya later”. There were a lot of tears, and it is when I see kids crying, it really gets to me. Some of them even wanted to come to the airport. At the time, it was so overwhelming, I was not even sure how to handle it. Now that I think back to that day, it is hard to believe that we had such an impact on people to make them so upset like that. I have dealt with goodbyes before, but never have I a)spent so much time with families and actually gotten to know them very well, b) been able to have the freedom with doing so c) felt so valued and appreciated in my life.
Liz dropped us off at the airport...it was really hard to say goodbye to her as well. We became super close, and she has taught us a lot over the past couple of months. She opened up her world to us completely in the DR, and this trip would not have been as amazing as it was without her. She is keeping our Strawberry Shortcake room open just for us.
Nikki and I even put a sign on the door that reads "Welcome to Nikki and Melissa's room". Although, it is there for visitors as well :) (In our room in Liz's apartment there is a huge wall painting of Strawberry Shortcake). Liz is doing some amazing work in the Dominican, and I am excited to continue to work with DOVE missions in the future. *** Also, just as a sidenote, DOVE is still looking for some sponsors for the family sponsorship program. $30 per month will buy one of our family's groceries. They get a food voucher for the grocery store, and are only allowed to use the voucher for food...no alcohol or smokes - just food.***
These past two months has had its rewards and challenges. Both have taught me to become stronger, and this has been a huge learning experience for me; not only with the work we have done, but also with learning about the culture, and living in a different country, away from home. I have gained a lot of independence in the past two months, and I will be able to take everything that I learned and apply it next year. I want to thank all of my supporters for this trip, and everyone who followed my blog. It gave me happiness and motivation to know that people were interested in what I was doing down there. I hope that my posts have sparked some emotions, and maybe even motivated you to do something; to make a change.
In August, I will be travelling to Mexico for 10 days with my little brother and cousin, to build a house with Hero Holiday. I am not sure yet if I will have my computer with me, but I do plan to post something about the trip, along with some pictures...you can also check out Hero Holiday on Facebook,(facebook name is Absolute.org) or at heroholiday.com for updates and photos during our trip.
