Release the Hero Within!

This past reading week, I had the opportunity to take part in a trip to Monte Cristi (Dominican Republic), as part of the Alternative Spring Break program at Humber College. The experience was amazing, and was shared with 9 other Humber College students and staff members.  The trip started off with an interesting twist, as we were unable to secure flights for the desired O-O arrival times.  Because of this, we were forced to take O-O up on their offer to arrange for "alternative" transportation from the airport to the orphanage.  I must say that our midnight arrival into the Puerto Plata international airport definitely sounded better on paper then in actuality.  We were still 2 hours away from our destination, and had a lovely bus ride to look forward to.  Awesome - where's the bus?  Let the adventure begin!

After several minutes of phone calls, several ride offers from the local taxi services, and utter panic by the students (not me, I was as cool as a cat), the group was greeted by a friendly gent by the name of Andreas our bus driver.  We loaded into the bus, and headed off to the Orphanage. Although I was in a different country, had no idea where I was or where I was going - there was only one question at that point floating around in my head.  How could Andreas have been so late when he drove so dam fast!?  You'll be happy to know that we made it to the Orphanage safely that evening much to our delight.  We were showed to our accommodation, and attempted to get some shuteye all while the town's roosters made their presence known to us as well.

When we woke up a few hours later, there were likely 80 people casually going about their breakfast under a pavilion quite near to us.  We later learned that these were other volunteers from the participating schools.  We learned more about Orphanage Outreach that day, and that it's a group that’s aim is to "release the hero within" children that are orphaned, abandoned, and/or disadvantaged within the Monte Cristi community.

Orphanage Outreach - Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic

I met most of these children that first day, when we wondered over to the orphanage and played a game of volleyball with the kids.   Most of our downtime during the week involved hang outs like these, and spending time with the children was encouraged as much as possible.  Of note was the night that we were invited to participate and attend the orphanage's church service.  The children were responsible for running the service mostly, with the direction of the Orphanage pastor.  The songs and readings from the children were interesting, and made for a unique experience! 

Although the orphanage children were a focus for part of the week, the majority of the week was spent travelling to the local schools within the community to teach English. Our group travelled daily to a local school known as "Solomon Jorge"; a primary school located at the edge of San Fernando, Monte Cristi.


Solomon Jorge - Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic



Teaching "Emotions and Weather" at Solomon Jorge

The team hiked to and from the school twice each day, in order to teach English to the children that attended Solomon Jorge. The experience was positive, as each day the group was warmly accepted and welcomed by the Monte Cristi community.

To end our trip, we were again presented with the same dilemma.  We arrived a day late, so we were there an extra day at the end. Because of this, O-O arranged for us to have a special tour of the communities that neighboured Puerto Plata.  Yep - Andreas was back, and was our tour guide for the day!  The group headed out first to Sosua, and then finally to Cabarete for the remainder of the day. Overall, the experience was fulfilling, providing many attendees with a different perspective of global citizenship and the value of service learning.

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Orphanage Outreach