The days spent volunteering at the orphanage for stateless children were very enlightening and opened my eyes a little more to some important aspects of life. First, upon starting work the first day I quickly came to notice that the children were very eager to step in and help. Here were kids who were of a different ethnicity, spoke a different language, had never seen us before and whose lives so far have been far from easy. Not only did they step in and help they clearly loved doing so. Secondly, it often appears that people in the USA and other well-developed nations have an obsession with material goods. Most of what we do tends to revolve around the trading, acquiring, and consuming of such goods. Lots of us also tend to believe that these interactions with material goods will make us happy. Therefore, it was pretty enlightening to see the kids at the orphanage very happy despite the fact that they have almost next to nothing. I believe it is because they have grown up with simply each other and their community around them. Their happiness seems to stem from simply being with the people they enjoy and having interactions with them. I feel that if maybe everyone lived a little more like that it would be a valuable lesson learned.
-Frank

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As we stepped off the bus at the orphanage for stateless children a swarm of smiling, cheering kids descended upon us. Out of a crowd a shy girl stood out to me standing away from the group with wide curious eyes. I went over and kneeled down next to her and asked, “como te llama?” She grabbed my hand, smiled and softly replied “Amallida.” From that point on she had my heart. Her sweet quiet demeanor among the hoards of rowdy kids was absolutely precious. We were given a tour of the village and walked to the river, Amallida by my side, holding my hand the whole way. When we returned to the orphanage the next day Amallida was standing at the gate and when she saw me her eyes lit up as she ran to give ma a hug. I know very little Spanish and she didn’t speak any English, but I got the feeling we understood each other. On the third day when we were leaving I knelt down to give Amallida a hug and said “adios chica”. She kissed my cheek as a tear rolled from her eye and shyly whispered “adios”. I could have burst into tears myself. I will never forget sweet little Amallida.
-Claire

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When you have so much it is hard to appreciate everything as we start to lose appreciation for everything from the roof over our heads to our family. At the end of our first day at the orphanage the kids took us on a tour of their town and down to the river. At the river I went and sat between these two kids, a little boy and a girl who was no older than twelve. As soon as I sat down the boy started to cry. I picked him up to try to offer some comfort and as soon as he could see her again he reached for the girl on my other side. I put him down next to her and he grabbed on to her like she was the last thing he had. After talking to the girl some I found out that he was her little brother and I realized that she really was the only person that he had.
These two little kids over the course of ten minutes made me reconsider my entire life. They made me appreciate everything again. They made me realize that we should cling to everyone in our lives like they are the last person we have while giving up everything that we have like we have ten more, because our friends and our families will only last us one lifetime which is not even close to enough time to tell them how important they are.
-Tegan

This week I’ve played many roles. I have been the niece that my Dominican family has not seen in a while, an excited teenager find out what colleges I was accepted to, a volunteer in a life changing community service project creating a foundation for a school, and most importantly, I’ve been a translator. Attempting to erase the language barrier while staying on my toes very happily awaiting requests on how to say things, what certain words mean, etc. My favorite of being a translator is being able to be a part of every conversation. Stories about childhoods, sharing of future plans, translating favorite colors and favorite foods, and telling somebody how to say, “I love you”. I was such an important role in communication this week. It was nice to see everyone’s Spanish improve as the week went on and seeing them rely less on me. The excitement in their voices when they would walk up to me and say, “oh my god Patricia! I just had an entire conversation in Spanish! I wish you could have heard me!”
-Patricia

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Today we went to an orphanage. It was really dirty with trash everywhere. I was shocked to see how happy the kids were. In America kids with ten times as much are still unhappy with what they have which is so much compared to these orphans. The first day we went we cleared out some trees and put trash that we found lying around into trash bags. The next day we put all of the trash into some kind of hole that was dug up. It was very sad to leave those kids knowing that they had so little. It really made me think of all the opportunities I have and what I have been taking for granted.
-Doug

The city is a big place and I am a small person.
The world is a big place and we sail it on a small boat.
Santo Domingo purrs at night like a cat filled with satisfaction.
So does my fan.
So does my belly.
The rain comes often
So do our smiles.
So do our wake ups.
-Iyla

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On our way there we sit and watch as the people stare at us. We stop at this lot on the side of the road with a gate. Children rush the gate cheering and chanting with joy. We get off the bus and enter through the gate. The children lead us in to their school and show us around. Their school consists of two tarps hanging from the trees acting as a roof. They have old broken plastic play ground toys and beat up old desks. Despite the minimal things they had we all still had a ton of fun playing with them.
-Matt


Finally we have arrived in the Dominican Republic. For the first couple of days we are staying in Santo Domingo at the Amistad Center. At the Amistad center there is a house keeper named Pedro. He is a short guy. He is really funny and kind. Even though he does not speak English we can still some how understand each other. We will miss him when we leave the DR.
- John

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SPINNING WORLD
The life that we live
Is no longer ours
The life that we give
Is what fuels fires.

Decades ago
I did not exist.
Now that I am here
My name’s on a list.

How can I stand out?
How can I make a change?
What can I do to prove
That time has gone by?

Offer a hand
Offer a lift
Offer a smile
That’s the greatest gift.
When you’ve moved on
And all that’s left
Is a grinning image of you
And your love for the rest

Your job has been done,
You’ve made a change
And people now know
What they must arrange.
-Meg

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