I can't seem to stop thinking about my trip to the Dominican Republic. I find myself wondering about some of the smiling children that I met and what they might be doing today. I pray for the the Peace Corp volunteer and know that at times she must feel overwhelmed, but I also see that she is doing something so worthwhile and making a difference in a village... I wish that I could do what she is doing. I think about that cheery guy who made the most delicious omelets every morning for me .
AND I think about all the wonderful new friendships I made with the people that I travelled and worked with all week. I truly feel blessed to have met everyone and feel like I have several new buddies. I also enjoyed working with all of the teens. They were a great group of workers that were fun to be around! I wonder if Justin, Carol, Christine, and Debbie are as tired as what I was for several days??? Please say YES!!!
I also enjoyed seeing Paul and Aligda Giudicelli again as well as all of the Dominican teens. They were all so friendly and helpful, particularly with Spanish translation.
I had a great time experiencing all of this with my son. Although we joked alot, it was so rewarding to be there with him. I got to jump off a 10 foot plank into icey cold water with him. I got to dance the merange with him. Even though he told me before the trip not to bug him or always take pictures of him, he asked several times to take a picture of "me and my Mom." I got to experience working really hard in a mission trip to make a difference in our world with my son.
I had never done any type of international mission work before and I struggled with why I shouldn't do more here in the United States??? Why should I ask my friends and church family to support me with mission work in a foreign country? Well, why shouldn't we? I learned that we all need to be more aware of our world. We all need to take care of it. We all need to learn about each other's culture so we can better understand why we need to perserve it and avoid conflict. Hopefully the folks we encountered realized that we do want to help and we do care. If everyone thought about all of our foreign neighbors, wouldn't this world be a better place? I'd like to think that it would be a more peaceful world, and a cleaner one.
I think that each one of us made a difference in what we did on that trip. We helped with school supplies, we helped paint desks for a school that will eventually have a permanent structure, we educated youth on the importance of ecology with some simple crafts....all of these things affect their community in a positive manner. Perhaps it seems small, but it can continue to reap benefits to many. YES....international work is so important for the 4-H to continue to support. Everyone needs to be a better steward and neighbor on this planet and this can be most effectively learned through international experiences.
Of course, we all learned how blessed we are with the things that we have. I think it is easy to think about what we don't have....but, we have so much compared to many people that we saw in the DR. I will always remember the cement floor shack with mattresses and mosquito nets that I saw near Macao. I am so thankful for the infrastructure of the US (I won't complain about our roads anymore!). I never really thought about our waste management so much until I went on this trip. Can you imagine not having adequate landfills and where all waste would go? We had to always plan to have bottled water with us on this trip.
I would like to thank Carol and Christine for all of the work that they do and did for this trip. Their passion is making a difference in so many Dominican and American lives.
Would I go back? YES, when are we leaving?
Contributed by Suzanne Loveland, Chaperon, Shenandoah County
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