As always, it has been too long. I know you have all heard this song & dance before, but I've been busy!
First off, I can't believe the year is coming to an end and Thanksgiving has come and gone. I have so much to be thankful for including many of you - my supportive family (and new nephew!!), my wonderful friends, a job I love and a welcoming community. So thank you to all of you!
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| And I'm of course thankful for these rug-rats! |
I arrived home late Friday night from a week long stint away from my community. A quick overview of the past month - I spent a few days in an all-inclusive resort celebrating one year in country (and celebrating the Cardinals winning the WS!), 5 days in Creole training and I spent time preparing our beat up field for our co-ed soccer league. I won't say much more about that other than we had a good time celebrating, I can't speak Creole (yet) and we won our first game, and possibly our only!
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| A few of the girls on the team!! |
The last week was one I will tell you about. Last Saturday, I took five girls from my community to an overnight conference in the mountains. There were five communities from the Southern region of the Dominincan Republic, four volunteers, including myself, and 26 girls between the ages of 9 and 18. I have attended/brought girls to a number of girls empowerment conferences but this one was special to me because I planned it. Exactly a year ago from the date, I attended a similar conference to learn more about the girls initiative fellow/older volunteers were working on . I had only had about one month in my site and I can honestly say I was lost 90% of the time due to my Spanish speaking ability. Yes, I still struggle with my Spanish (and now Creole) but a year later, I have come a long way and I was proud to see the girls enjoying themselves at the conference.
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| Obstacle course |
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| Learning about changes our bodies will go through during puberty. |
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| Team Work!! |
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| Beri giving a charla about being unique |
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| Butterflies |
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| Doing a HIV/AIDS activity. |
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| Chica's Brillantes! |
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| Me with my Chicas!! |
After camp, I had one year IST (in service training). Myself and twenty-one other volunteers from my group came together to share our successes and challenges over the past year. It was great to reflect on all we have accomplished and share many of our ongoing battles. From one year IST, we all traveled to the capital together for our traditional Thanksgiving feast. As always, it was a great time and we shared many laughs!
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My group after karate chopping our wood.
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So here I am back in my community. Although still hot, hurricane season has come to an end and the air is getting a little cooler. The young boys have started making and flying their kites on the soccer/baseball field, an annual tradition. Community members are making plans for the holidays and one by one, people are coming to the Cuchilla to spend time with their families for Christmas and school will soon come to a halt.
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| Discussing design mechanisms. |
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| Take off. |
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| Antonio with his kite made out of plastic bags & sticks. |
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| Little helper. |
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| You should see the sky!! |
December 1st is International AIDS day. Myself, a few other volunteers and neighboring communities will be doing a activities to bring awareness in the area we are living in. I hope to write again at the end of the week to share how it went. Stay tuned!!!
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| Invitations for World AIDS day! |
