Week Three: Painting Friendships

It’s amazing how fast time is going by. This past week the internet was down in our building so I felt so distant form the world. In some ways it was nice to be closed off from the real world, but then again it would have been better if I was able to communicate with everyone. So the week began as stressful as ever. No internet and the reading I needed to do was piling up. For medical geography we had to a presentation for class on a particular tropical disease. The disease that I chose was Chagas. Luckily, Chagas disease is not found in the Dominican Republic but I was still frightened of mosquitoes for a solid week. I was able to email Shannon Lemrow for some information on where to find the best information. It definitely helps to know an epidemiologist.

Monday was just a normal day. We had class in the morning with a break for lunch and the beach. After hanging out at the beach, we had class for another two hours before dinner. Almost every night consisted of watching a movie for class. The movies that we watched all pertained to health and development, so luckily there were not as boring as they could have been. Out of all the movies that we watched for this class, “The Agronomist” was my favorite. If you have a chance to watch, please do. It’s amazing. It’s a documentary about a man who ran Haiti’s free press radio station. It’s probably one of the most amazing documentaries I have ever seen.

Anyways, Tuesday was probably my favorite and most rewarding day of this Caribbean adventure. It’s going to be hard to put into words my thoughts and feelings of what we did and the relationships that we created in a singe day. I have never been so touched and so apart of the Christiana barrio in Veron (a small town outside Punta Cana). For once I felt that I was a part of the solution instead of an observer. From what I have learned throughout my time in the Dominican Republic and studying development, I believe that one must become part of the solution by working with your hands and being there is the only way to create change. I witnessed this with my own eyes. I saw how working, hand in hand, with people is the only way to help one another. These few paragraphs are only some of my thoughts of how I became transformed from an idealist to an actual believer in the reality of progress in just the short span of one day.

The day began as if it were any ordinary day. I was tired at the beginning of day break, but I knew that this would be a good day. The sun was out to its fullest and the soft tropical air hung over us as we walked to the bus. We drove through the town of Veron, and it looked as it did every other day, sad and poor. I cannot help but think that there are better days ahead for this town, but then reality sets in and I realize that this is what it can only be, just dust and trash. The sun began to hide behind the clouds and our day seemed like another victim of Dominican weather, unpredictable. This is exactly what our day became, unpredictable but more rewarding than ever.

When I saw the barrio for the first time, I was worried. I did not think that it was possible at all for a bunch of rich Westerners to assimilate to these conditions. The streets were unpaved. Potholes were infested with mosquito larva water and trash was littered everywhere. The putrid smell of rotting meat and feces lingered in the air. When one breathed, it was like breathing in the heavy smells noxious gas from a rotting stomach but without anywhere to hide so it followed you as you moved. I felt surrounded by filth. I felt trapped. I had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. This is a barrio. It is a place where outsiders never go and the inhabitants can dream of nothing but escaping. This is poverty at its purest.

We met up with Colleen, a Peace Corps Volunteer who lived and worked in this particular Barrio. We met some great people who were so happy to see us. I wanted to give them everything I had. I wanted them to experience or at least glimpse what it is like outside the barrio; however, we had to use what resources we had to make this dream a semi-reality. We needed to turn this barrio into something hopeful and gentle. We had to turn a trash infected plot of land into a safe playground for the children I thought we might be able to accomplish something but I could not conceptualize what exactly we could do. Whenever I picked up more trash, there was more under it. Whenever I cut the grass with my machete, there was more grass to cut.

We had to think of ways to turn tires, wood, and cement into a safe, fun playground environment. We had to think outside of the box. I really wanted to create some sort of tire maze or snake like formation. I began to dig into the soil, in order to set the tires securely in the ground, but I ran into rock. Luckily Todd had the idea to chisel away into the coral underneath the grass. This part of Dominican Republic is nothing but petrified coral. So unlike Virginia where you dig and find clay, we find coral. In the end, after hours of sheer muscle strength and sweat, we were able to dig enough holes to fit the tires in. It looked amazing. What was once a haven for mosquito larva was now a toy for kids, and what was once the area of trash was now a play ground. Throughout this whole time we were able to use the kids to help us. This is when I began to see the benefits of teamwork between two different cultures and languages. We were able to share our experiences and knowledge to make something great. Although the language barrier created some tough situations, we were able to come through in the end with a finished product that looked amazing. We did it. The process was long and hard but we did it.

The work process showed me that it doesn’t matter where you come from or what you believe in to have progress. The simple act of working together, in a tough environment, allowed us to overcome our surroundings. The kids were excited to see their work turn into something tangible. They were able to feel apart of the project. They also taught me the value of teamwork. I was able to come closer with my fellow students and I also made some new friends amidst all this poverty and destitution.

We were able to make something out of nothing. We were able to help the kids of this particular barrio. It was a collaborate effort that sparked progress and it is my joy to be a part of it.