Field Trips

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Today was an AWESOME day! We decided to take some of the kids on field trips. So, in the morning, along with 17 great volunteers, we took our group of older older girls up the mountain in a cable car. We all squished in the bus we rented - Dominican style, and headed to the "TeleFerico". We were able to pair each girl up with a volunteer, so everyone had some great one on one time.

We had to split up into two groups for the cable cars, but we all met up at the top and walked around together.
We walked around the top of the mountain, and despite the misty rain and slippery paths, everyone really enjoyed themselves. The girls had a blast, and most of them had never been up before.

After we dropped off our big group of volunteers, we took the girls for lunch at the provocone. We had yummy chicken, rice, fried plantanes, and french fries. The girls were super excited about the day, and when we dropped them off at the center, they all left with huge smiles on their faces.

In the afternoon, we took some of the little boys and some of the older boys to the old Fort. It is really cool there, and there are lots of places to run around, and lots of old pictures and artifacts to look at.

We paired each older boy with one younger boy, and they walked around together, and sat together on the bus. A lot of the older boys are really good with the younger ones, and helping us out with them. It was really nice to see.

There are several different sections of the Fort, and we tried to keep the group together and move around together - this was a really good idea. The kids had so much fun, and they too, left with huge smiles on their faces.

I think it is really important for the kids to get out and experience new things, away from thier every day lives and neighbourhoods. I love doing special days like this with the kids, and this is partly what I fundraise money to do. I can't wait to do another trip with the other groups of kids next week.

Busy busy!

I can't believe a whole week has gone by since Christmas! New Years Eve is here, and a lot has happened this week. We had two more volunteers from Canada arrive this week, as well as three of our board members. We have been with the kids every day, since it is their Christmas vacation.

On Saturday, Jenny and Jencen, our volunteers taught the kids Michael Jackson dances. The kids LOVE MJ, and Jenny and Jencen are awesome dance teachers. It was so funny, and a lot of fun. Some of the kids that I would have never expected to get up and dance actually did.


On Monday, we held our very first computer class. It was only the first one, so we took away a few things for next time. One of them being, maximum two kids to a computer...it was a little hectic! But the kids loved it, and were really trying hard. I realized that I really do take my knowledge of technology for granted.


In the afternoon we did a camera class, with a fun activity to follow. We gave the kids 10 things that they needed to take pictures of, i.e. a preganant lady, a black dog, and they had to go out in the neighbourhood and take the best pictures of these things.

On Tuesday, we had the girls for an hour in the morning, preparing letters to send to thier sponsors. Then we had the kids that had participated in the camera activity in to view all of their pictures...we actually had some pretty amazing pictures. And then at noon, as always on Tuesday's, we had boys club. We did sponsor letters with them, and then took a break for lunch. After lunch, we had all the boys back for a sports activity. We took them to the huge baseball field around the corner from the club, and they had a blast playing baseball.


So far the week has been super fun. Not only have the kids been having an awesome Christmas vacation, but I have too!

Merry Christmas!

Well it is Christmas day, and today has been an amazing day. We spent the morning at the beach - my favourite place to be. It was such a gorgeous day today, and I got a little (unevenly) burnt at the beach - go figure for me haha.

Later in the afternoon we picked up two of our volunteers, Jenny and Jencen and went to Playa Oueste. They wanted to visit thier sponsor family, as did I. I had a gift for Heidi and Adrianna. Heidi was with some other family, but Adrianna LOVED her new doll. She is so cute and sweet, and loves to talk.


For dinner, we went to a restaurant and ate a yummy turkey dinner!

My first Christmas away from home

Today is Christmas Eve, and I have to be honest - I am a little homesick. I have been visiting our Dominican families all day, and I see how important family is here to people - they do not care about getting presents - of course they will recieve graciously, and the kids LOVE new toys, but it is not important. Today in Girls Club we went around in a circle and each girl said what Christmas meant to them - almost every girl said it was about being with family.
And this is what made me homesick - I thought to myself; if family is so important to people here, then why am I here right now and not with my own family back in Canada? Here I am in this beautiful paradise, and still I am missing my family.

Then tonight I started thinking, and I realized some things. Yes, I miss my family and they are the most important people in my life, but they are also supporting me in being here. I am here for a reason, and they get that. They are encouraging me, and they are proud of me for what I am doing. And I love and appreciate them so much for that. I should not be upset about missing them, but embrace what I have here in the Dominican Republic, and all of the love I am recieving from the people I am here to help. I am spending Christmas in a beautiful country, doing something I love - and what is so amazing is that my family gets it and they are supporting me. I have them to look forward to when I return home. So I may not be with them for Christmas, but I am so glad that they are behind me in what I am doing.
Another thing that I realized is that I am so lucky to have the resources to be able to travel to a different country for Christmas. Part of the reason I came for Christmas was because I wanted to experience the holiday in another culture - and since my heart is in the DR, I want to try and understand every aspect of this culture. I wanted to see what it felt like to give instead of recieve on such a traditional holiday. I am so grateful that I am able to travel, and that I have loving people to spend the holidays with here in the Dominican. And I am so lucky and blessed to have a loving, supportive family waiting for me at home. I would not be where I am today if it weren't for the support and encouragement from all of my family.

So to all of my family, thanks for everything. I love you all and Merry Christmas.

Twas the day before Christmas...

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Well last night, just before sunset, the rain finally stopped, and we saw a gorgeous sunset. A huge, beautiful, full rainbow appeared, and I knew that the rain was finally over - just in time for Christmas festivities.
This morning Nikki and I went to deliver some gifts that people had sent down for thier sponsor families. The girls are so excited and everyone was in such a good mood today - I know it has a lot to do with the fact that the rain has finally stopped.
We had the girls club at noon, and then Nikki and I went to visit Sonya and the familia. Sonya considers us her new "white family" and she insisted that we get a family photo. For some reason, Yohandi's ear kept bleeding, and we found out that it was because he tried to pierce it himself. - It didn't work out so well for him apparently.
Tonight we are going to try and watch a Christmas movie - if it downloads in time, and eat chocolate fondue with fresh pineapple and bananas. Feliz Navidad!

Ahhhhhhhh more rain!!!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Seriously, the rain has still not stopped! It POURED all night long, and although Nikki and I had planned to go to Arroyo Seco, we have decided to take a rain check, since getting a moto down a dirt, mud road for 30 minutes in the pouring rain probably is not a good idea. So Nikki went to do some home visits - in the rain, and Liz and I did some errands for the club.
We spent a couple of hours at the club because Cathy and Liz decided to give the Mother's thier food vouchers for January, early. All of the Mother's were so happy, because they wanted to be able to buy groceries for a holiday meal. While we were waiting for all of the Mother's to meandor in, once they heard the vouchers were available, some of the kids were hanging around, and we just hung out, played some games. The club's roof is still leaking...this rain has to stop before Christmas.

More rain!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Today was another rain day. It rained all night, and when we woke up this morning, it was still raining. So this morning we did not do much before the club - we went to the club at regular time and most of the kids were soaked when they got there. We gave some of the kids dry shirts and our warm sweaters.
Sonya told us that everything in her house is wet - their clothes, thier beds, everything. If Sonya's house is wet, and her's is one of the better homes; than I know that all of the other kids houses are wet as well.
After the club, there was not much we could do - the rain was just pounding down. So we came home and I had a chance to do some computer work that I have been putting off - I finally got some pictures uploaded and updated. I hope the rain stops tomorrow.

Rain, rain go away!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Today we hosted some AWESOME volunteers. There were two families, so 11 people total,visiting from the States. We picked them up at their hotel in the pouring rain. Seriously - it POURED rain all night, and continued into the day.
Our first stop was Mustard Seed Orphanage. This is a very clean, and good orphanage, for mentally and physically disabled children. The entire group was really great with the children.

Our next stop was the public hospital. We had a lot of donations to give out, including a suitcase full of baby clothes for the new babies ward. We visited the new babies, some were only one hour old. We handed out new baby stuff to every mother. There must have been almost 15 new borns in total. One of the girls in our group was sharing a birthday with all of these newborns - so how could we NOT sing Happy Bithday?

Next we headed down to the Melacon to view the Fort, and show everyone the view of Playa Oueste. You can see the garbage filled, polluted, smelly area where a lot of our kids live, right from the main tourist attraction in Puerto Plata - pretty sad eh?

Everyone in our group wanted to have some authentique Dominican food. So we took them to the Provocone - where you can have chicken, rice and beans, fried plantanes (my personal favourite), and fries. So we ordered some of everything to try. One of our kids, Jose Manuel was out shoe shining, as usual, so he came in and ate with us along with another shoe shine boy on the street looking famished.
After lunch we headed over to the club. We had some kids come, and play board games, some went to the basketball court with three of our volunteers, and others hung around and played diffrent games inside the club - it was still raining at this point. At the club, we opened the major donations our group brought - including 4 brand new lap tops, and brand new cameras. This will be awesome for our computer class, and helping the kids learn English with online learning tools. The cameras will be great because we want to start a photography program as well.

So we spent the afternoon at the club, hanging out with the kids, doing activities and playing games. Our last stop of the day was to see where the kids live. We took everyone to Playa Oueste, and Sonya being as gracious as she is, let everyone in to view her house.

When we were done in Playa Oueste, we took everyone back to their hotel. We had a mini debriefing on the bus, and everyone shared thier favourite part of the day - or the part that hit them the most.
Today was a very enjoyable day, and I hope to see this group again - they may join us for another day!

Best Party Ever!

Today was our big Christmas party! Just as I expected, all of the kids showed up in their very best clothes. The two girls we gave new shoes to were wearing them proudly.
We all met at the club, to load the bus. I went with the first load, and the kids were so excited they could barely contain themselves. We paired up everyone - one older girl with a younger girl, and boys the same thing. They all held hands with their partners, and sat with them on the bus. When we got to Maria's house (where we were holding the party), I had to make sure that the kids stayed with thier partners, in a straight line. This was to ensure that nothing got broken on the HUGE, beautiful Christmas display. They kids were enthralled and amazed with the display, and were very polite in Maria`s house. They also didn`t touch anything because before they left the club, Cathy told them that if they did, they would be shocked.
There was a live DJ at the party, and some of the kids started dancing. When the second load of kids arrived, the festivities really began! We had contests to win prizes, like hoola hooping, merangue dancing, and lots more. It was A LOT of fun, the kids loved it. Maria cooked a lot of food, and we took a break to enjoy it. She made chicken, rice, potato salad, cole slaw, and cupcakes. Everything was delicious, the kids really loved it. After we ate, there was more dancing and contests. It was so hot, so the kids had to take a lot of breaks from dancing - one of the kids taught me how to merengue.
When the party was over we threw another small party for the Mom`s back at the club. We served cake when the kids got back, and then handed out their gift baskets. It was very chaotic but so awesome to see the looks on their faces when we handed them their bag.
It was so amazing today to see all of the kids SO happy. They had good food, good friends and a lot to celebrate. This was one of the best days ever!

-Pictures to come. More problems with uploading.

A Busy Saturday

Saturday, December 19, 2009

What a busy busy day! We had a full day of clubs - Saturday we split the kids up by age and gender. So basically we normally have 5 clubs on Saturday's. Well today we spent the entire day, the kids coming in and out, getting ready for our big play production at 4pm. All the parents were scheduled to come and watch the kids. We spent the day rehearsing, preparing the costumes, and having fun!

So, at 4pm, everything was chaos. Some of our characters were missing, the kids weren't in costume, and everybody was everywhere. Around 4:20, we finally began the play. Despite the few little quirks, like our set falling apart, the kids did an AMAZING job. They were so cute, and their singing and dancing was awesome. The parents loved it, and everyone was cheering and clapping.

It was a long and hot day today, but SOOO worth it. It was chaotic, but in the end everything worked out, and went so well.

Girls Club Reunion

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Today was Girls Club and it was LOTS of fun! First, Cathy's dentist came in and gave the kids a dental lesson. He talked about how to brush your teeth properly, cavities, and just a general nutrition lesson.

We rehearsed for the Christmas play, and then just hung out and played thier oh so FAVOURITE game, Stella Ella Hola. My Mom really bonded with the girls and loved playing the hand clap games with them.
Sunday is our big Christmas party for the kids. There is going to be games, raffles, food, a live DJ - everything needed for an awesome party! This is a huge deal for the kids, and they will all be in their best.

Well, after the club, two of the girls really wanted to talk to Cathy. Neither of them had shoes to wear to the party. One of the girls had her Mother's shoes on, and the other girls shoes were liturelly falling apart. We told the girls we would see what we could do. So Cathy had an extra pair of shoes for the younger girl, and my Mom and I bought a new pair of little dress shoes for the older girl. I am excited to give them to her - we plan on delivering them to her on Saturday before the club.

Randomness!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Today has been a very long, but awesome day. Mom and I went on a hike in the national park first thing this morning. We spent the rest of the morning with Cathy -we travelled the Ranch where her works tours take people. It was very peaceful and calm, it was good to get away from the noise and pollution in the city. We had lunch there, and then I wanted to show Mom around Puerto Plata a bit. I knew that we would probably run into some of the kids who work the streets shoe shining. First we saw two of the boys downtown - they were just out riding thier bikes from the bike program at the club. So we walked along the melacon with the boys, and then ran into one of the older boys in the club - his younger brother (10 years old). He was sitting beside a police woman crying and shaking. It turns out he had been arrested earlier for shoe shining. He had been released but the police would not give him his shoe shining kit back.

I told him to walk with us and he cheered up quickly. Pretty soon we had two other kids walking with us. We walked along the melacon, enjoying the beautiful ocean and the view. Eventually we got to the end and the kids asked me if we could go into the old fort (it is a tourist attraction now). We found out that all Dominicans get in free on Wednesday's, so we went in with the kids. The security guards kept asking me if the kids were with me, and whichever kid it was would look at me, as if to say - please say yes. When I said that the child was with me, they left us alone.
The kids went nuts in the fort - they loved running around and looking at the old pictures and old things they had. They loved the different view of the ocean.


When they were tired of that, they decided that they wanted to climb the light house. They all climbed the 75 stairs (one of the boys counted) to the very top. They had so much fun and we loved spending time with them.

What a great day today!!!

(photos to come)

Boys Club Reunion

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Today was a Boys Club Reunion for me! We went in earlier to finish off organizing the club. At noon, the kids were all outside of the club, eager to come in and start the club. It was so exciting for me to see ALL of the boys again, and I got warm hugs from all of them.
Today was rehearsal for the kids Christmas play. It was chaotic, but so much fun! The kids were crazy about taking pictures. One of the kids wanted a photo in front of the Christmas tree and before I knew it, a bunch of kids were running to be in the picture, and we ended up with a great group picture! We also took SO many other pictures!

After the rehearsal, we put on a movie (Toy Story) for the kids. They loved it and were liturelly climbing on top of each other to get closer to the TV.

In the afternoon, after the club we decided to head to the beach - one of my favourite places ever.

Overall, today was another great day in the DR!

(Photos coming, having problems uploading!)

Christmas Baskets

Monday, December 14, 2009

Today we spent the day at the club organizing Christmas baskets for the kids. There were SOOOOOO many donations to organize and distribute. We laid out papers with the kids names on it throughout the entire club, and their age. Then we started opening boxes and distributing according to what we thought was appropriate for the kids. We had toys, clothes, shoes, so much great stuff. We had two Mothers helping us - one of them being Sonja, and they said this morning when they saw everything "this is going to be the best Christmas for my kids ever"!
The thing is about these Christmas baskets, is that they will provide the kids with gifts for Christmas that they may not have had otherwise.







Throughout the day, kids were stopping by, a lot of the older boys since there was supposed to be English class today. However since we wanted the gifts to be a surprise we had to cancel the class. But it was great - a lot of the boys stopped in, and I was able to have lots of little reunions, and introduce them to my Mom. It was so awesome.








It was a lot of fun organizing the baskets. I can't wait to see the kids faces when they open their gifts. When we were done the baskets, we spent the rest of the day organizing the club. Sorting through supplies and rearraning everything. It was a lot of work, but it was fun thinking of things we could do with the kids with all of the supplies we have had donated. At the end of the day we felt very productive.

Back to the DR!

Well I am officially back in the Dominican Republic, and it feels like I never left. The past two days have been filled with warm welcome embraces from kids, parents, and friends and I am overwhelmed with the emotion that comes along with reunions. My Mom is here for a week with me, and I am proud and excited to introduce her to everybody. When I first saw some of the kids, they asked me - is that your Mother over there?
Our trip began with 12 hours of travelling, which included spending the night in the Montreal airport - (not so fun) - and as tired as I was when I arrived here Sunday morning, after absolutely NO sleep, I was on a Dominican high and had a second wind. Liz came to pick us up at the airport with three of the boys - Domingo, Eddie, and Andy. Andy's mother Sonja works for Liz, and when we arrived at her house, Sonja had cooked us a Dominican feast. She is an amazing cook, and Mom had a real taste of Dominican style food and cooking.
We spent some more time just visiting, and hanging out with Liz, Sonja and the boys. Later on we drove them home, and headed to drop off Sonja. We stopped at Maria Hernandez's house fist, where we are having our Christmas party. She has this amazing Christmas display set up, extremely elaborate, and stunning. She has daily school groups going through her home to view it.
When we dropped Sonja off, she invited us in to her house. I wanted to show my Mom around a bit, and when we got out of the car I saw a group of girls running towards me. They were so excited, as was I. They all gave me hugs, and when I introduced them to my Mom they started hugging her too. The kids here are so welcoming and amazing. As I was hugging all the girls, all of a sudden, one of the cutest little boys ever, Yohandi who is Sonja's son, came running out of nowhere and gave me the tightest, warmest hug ever.
We had a little visit at Sonja's house, and then left to go shopping at La Sirena for some groceries. One thing I love about being in the Dominican is the fact that everything is so laid back, and I decided that I wanted ice-cream for dinner. So we stopped and ate an early dinner snack of ice-cream...yummy!!!
When we got home we just relaxed and visited with Liz. We went to bed early, since I haden't slept in over two days.