A Service-Learning Trip to the Domincan Republic

7/11/2010
Spanish teachers Stew Steffey and Patty Whitney, along with colleague Jeremiah McCarthy, recently took a group of students to the Dominican Republic for a service-learning trip. What follows is Mr. Steffey's account of the trip. To enjoy a variety of pictures from the trip, please follow this link.

After a canceled flight out of Boston and a crazy van ride through New York City, our brave group of Belmont Hill volunteers finally boarded our plane bound for Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital. Upon arriving, we were greeted by our trip leader, Priya, a doctoral candidate in Cultural Anthropology from Brooklyn, New York. The boys were adequately nourished with soda and pizza—Priya’s subtle way of saying that that would be the last familiar “American” experience.

We then boarded our van headed for Jarabacoa, the “Swiss Alps” of the Caribbean. Within the central mountain range lies the tallest point in the Central Antilles, Duarte Peak. Although we were in the mountains for most of our stay, it was still very hot. The trip up the mountains was quite slow, but we eventually arrived in the town of Jarabacoa where we partook in two days of orientation before heading to the village.

Our time at the hostel provided good team building activities and preparation for the home-stays. Two members of our team, Danny Anderson and Xander Brown, both did similar trips last summer to Belize with Global Routes. We felt very lucky to have their guidance and knowledge.

On the 17th of June, our group boarded the bus once more for our trip to Buenos Aires, our new village and home for the next eight days. The locals were very welcoming, greeting us with a buffet lunch of “arroz y habicuelas”—rice and beans. After the pairs of boys met their families, they headed off to get settled in their new homes. Buenos Aires lies about 30 minutes from the city of Jarabacoa, spans about a mile and has roughly 500 inhabitants. After only a few days, we walked down the small road, being greeted by many of our new friends. The intimacy and small feel of Buenos Aires made it an ideal working environment.

The next day the boys came armed and ready for our project: reconstructing from scratch a community center. This involved doing everything by hand with the guidance of our project leader Manuel and his work crew. We were constantly in awe of how much precision and craftsmanship went into everything they did. Several of the boys noticed how different it was not to have cement mixers, trucks and other mechanical devises that the first world is so accustomed to having.

After eight days of intermittent rain and sunshine, our boys helped to erect a nearly finished community center. We were a bit stalled and hampered by the rain, but were told by Manuel that we only lacked the roof and floor—projects that would only take the work crew a few more days. With the guidance of Matt Ricotta and Miss Whitney, we also, simultaneously, had a map project that we donated to the community. Several of the boys paid homage to Mr. Prenatt’s mechanical drawing course in helping them construct the map. The project was extremely elaborate and detailed. Please take a careful look at the pictures to understand the colossal undertaking.

On the 24th we said goodbye to our new neighbors in the Caribbean, giving both the map and community center as our lasting gifts. We enjoyed a festive “despedida” or farewell party from the community in which several people were thanked for their efforts in making this project possible: namely Priya, our exceedingly positive and talented guide from Global Routes who took such good care of our Belmont Hill boys.

Now that our boys have returned to their more predictable and familiar lives back here in New England, I’m confident that from time to time they’ll be reminded of their service trip to Buenos Aires, República Dominicana. Ms. Whitney, Mr.McCarthy and I thank them, more than anything, for taking that first brave step towards the trip--often times the most crucial. Thank you as well to the parents for supporting your boys on our challenging but worthwhile trip.

Hasta la próxima (until next time)--

Stewart Steffey