4-H Day Camp from a Teacher's Perspective

Over the previous two days, I have learned a great deal about the Dominican way-of-life through my interactions with the children.  Though tiring and (at times) frustrating, it was a memorable experience to watch the day campers participate in the variety of exercises, crafts, and games Carol and Christine arranged.  It is my understanding that the children are on summer vacation from school, and they only attend school for a few hours per day when it is operational.  Many of them, especially the more underprivileged from Veron, lack opportunities be engaged in extracurricular activities and organized fun.  Before committing to chaperone the trip, I didn’t really know what to expect; I had some idea of the purpose of the project, but I finally saw it all come to fruition today.  The 4-H Clubs, the coordinators, and the teenagers have done (and continue to do) wonderful things for these children.

As a teacher in the U.S., it’s sometimes difficult to have much “fun” with children given the rigorous educational standards and lofty benchmark expectations.  It was nice to be able to cut loose today by designing a fish project made out of CDs and coffee filters, simulating the effect the coral reef has on the entire environment, coordinating a game regarding the water cycle, and playing a variety of card games with the children.  Though we come from different backgrounds and speak different languages, we still managed to have fun and create memories that will last a lifetime.

P.S. Hi, Kait!  I miss you and apologize for not having emailed you.  There is no internet access as a I type this, and my cell phone, of course, does not work.  I love you, and can’t wait to see you next week!  Finally, GO TEAM U-S-A!

Contributed by Justin Broughman, chaperon from Bath County

A Look at the First Day of 4-H Day Camp

Today was the first day of the 4-H Day Camp at the Puntacan Ecological Foundation.  43 campers arrived  with 19 of them coming from Veron on the scholarships we provided them.   They were divided into 4 groups with every group having 4-H teen leaders and our Dominican teen partners.  The Dominican teens are friendly and helpful and a delight to talk with about their culture and education.  Many of these teens go to private schools as the public education system is not well developed as ours.  As adult chaperones, we prepared the various crafts so each child could work on them. 

In the morning, they colored reusable cups to have for the remainder of the camp to use to drink water.  This is one way that we try to teach conservation and to avoid using a lot of plastic cups as garbage disposal is a huge problem and concern of the Dominicans.  The children made necklaces using the colors of both of our countries flags (red, white and blue), tie dyed t-shirts, painted picture frames which we will place a group photo in tomorrow. 

We toured a ranch and an iguana farm which are also a part of the biodiversity center here.  We actually walked among the iguanas -something that we could not do in the U.S.  Because the iguana is endangered, the Ecological Foundation is working to increase their numbers and last month released 15 into the wild.  Other parts of the ranch included showing research to improve their crops of vegetables and sugar cane as well as a petting zoo.  This tour helped the children realize the importance of preserving nature as well as growing foods in poor soil through their composting efforts.

 

In the afternoon, we continued with many games and ended the day with water balloon relays and games. 

We really enjoyed meeting Kayla who is a Peace Corps volunteer in Veron and learning about her efforts to improve the quality of the drinking water.  Kayla stayed with us all day and helped with the children.

 

Jake Kheel also talked with all of us about his job as the Environmental Director of Grupo Puntacana, as well as being the Director of the Ecological Foudation.  It all started for him when he became an exchange student in the Dominican Republic and fell in love with the country, the language and the culture.  He encouraged all youth to take every opportunity available to them.

Today I felt very special to be a part of these children’s lives in trying to teach them about Americans as well as about their environment.  The children were so gracious and happy, frequently giving hugs to all.  This is a very rewarding experience for everyone. 

Contributed by Suzanne Loveland, chaperon from Shenandoah Co.

Live from 4-H Day Camp - Bobby and Grayson

This Bobby Loveland and Grayson Love reporting live from Punta Cana. Today we had our first day of 4-H Day Camp and it was challenging but rewarding.  The campers had a ball tie-dyeing and throwing water balloons and the smiles on their faces were glorious!!  

           

We started off the day with a nice breakfast and shortly after we were on the road with a singing Dominican named Fernando on the back of the golf cart. He had the voice of an angel.  Then we arrived to the biodiversity center and greeted our campers.  Day camp started off hectic with balls flying all over the room, children yelling, and chaperones being chaperones.  But the Day Camp ended with success.

After camp we were harassed to buy stuff from vendors and I, Grayson Love bought a new hand made palm leaf hat J. Then we ate dinner and had our meeting. What a wonderful day.

Contributed by Bobby Loveland, Shenandoah Co. and Grayson Love, Rappahannock Co.

Team Building and Day Camp Prep Day

Today we met the eight Dominican teens, and Bryan Liskey, and prepared for our 4-H Day Camp. Before heading over we had time to eat breakfast at the breakfast buffet where the food was amazing and by far the best meal of the day.     

 We started with team building activities and get-to-know-you games to learn about the Dominican teens. Afterwards we tie-dyed t-shirts and everyone had a different design. We all took a break and ate lunch as a group in the employee restaurant. Next, we got to pack up all the school supply donations we brought with us and we divided them between three schools. After cleaning up we listened to a lady from the Peace Corps talk about her work with water systems in the village of Veron.

In the evening we all got our own time to go to the beach, swim, or catch up on, much needed, sleep.

Dinner was enjoyable and we had a late night meeting in the pouring rain by the pool. Soon after we experienced a small power outage which resulted in some worried teens.

Next is BEDTIME!  Nighty night.

Contributed by Bethany Gochenour & Dakota Funkhouser

(Shenandoah County)

Travel Day

On Monday we all met at Front Royal around 2:15 am to leave for Dulles airport. Our plane left at 6:30 a.m., which was super early. We had a layover in Atlanta for about 30 minutes. Everyone was really tired and we slept on the plane the entire time. There were cute boys EVERYWHERE at the airport, hehe. The food on the plane was pretty nonexistant which was stinky.


We arrived in Punta Cana around 1 PM and we got V.I.P treatment so we just grabbed our bags, got in a van, and left. The people here are really nice and friendly; they always say, "Hola!" to us. We checked in a little early so we got to tour the hotel and the beaches while we waited for our room. First we went to the pool, then we went to the beach and tanned for a good long while. Grayson caught a HUGE crab and named him Crabby. A couple people also saw a very large sting ray in the ocean (Rachel was about to step on it; Kathryn saved her life.) We're having a great time and we don't want to come home. PEACE. :)

Contributed by Kathryn Flynn and Rachel Harriman (:
(Shenandoah County)

How did the 4-H'ers earn money for this program?

                                                                                                                                                

The Shenandoah County 4-H'ers have been busy fundraising for this trip since the winter months.  They planned and conducted several fundraising activities and events which included car washes, a steak dinner, a county 4-H T-shirt sale, and a BBQ pork sandwich sale in addition to sending letters to local businesses and civic organizations requesting donations.  The group pledged to visit clubs and groups during the next year to share a powerpoint program about their trip. 

Not only were they successful in their fundraising efforts, but they also built teamwork and leadership skills as they planned and carried out these activities.

As part of their service project, all of the 4-H teens have been collecting school supplies to bring to the Dominican Republic to donate to a little school  in Veron that we have helped every year - Colegio Elizabeth.

Why did I sign up for this?

The 2012 Virginia 4-H - Dominican Republic Program participants have a variety of reasons for wanting to participate in this program. 

First timer Bethany Gochenour signed up because she wants to gain more experience with her Spanish and learn more about the Dominican culture.  Rachel Harriman wants to learn some Spanish and to see how the Dominican people live.  She signed up because her sister went last year and she talked about how much fun it was to interact with the Dominican kids and learn about their culture. 

Bobby Loveland participated last year and is returning because he had fun last year. He wants to learn more Spanish this time.  Kathryn Flynn also traveled with us in 2011.  This year she wants to focus on having great experiences with the local kids and spending more time touring the local village.  When in the Dominican Republic, Kathryn thinks the most important thing to experience is the culture because when we learn about other cultures we can appreciate ours better.

Chaperon Debbie Fadeley also wants to experience the Dominican culture because she knows that many of the kids don't have much of a life with regard to food, clothing, housing and schooling.  Compared to them, we Americans appear to be "too rich".  We are very blessed and we need to share more than what we do.  Debbie's daugher, Kylie, participated in this program several years ago.

Chaperon Suzanne Loveland wants to give back to the 4-H program in appreciation for all that 4-H has done for her family.  Her sons Brian and Bobby have been a part of this program.  She has wanted to particpate in an international 4-H program herself and also to impress upon her sons the importance of making a difference in our world.

Chaperon Justin Broughman wants to feel as though he is giving back to people who have not been as fortunate as he has been in his life.  Having participated in several similar service trips during his time as a student as James Madison University, these types of trips stand out as some of the most inspiring, rewarding experiences of his life.  Simply having the ability to serve as an agent of change by contributing to the well-being of another person is a positive experience that is matched by few, if any, others.  Being only slightly older than most of the other participants, Justin hopes to be able to serve as an inspiration to the 4-H'ers, to influence them by increasing their self-efficacy, and to encourage them to enact positive changes in their own lives and to continue to live a life of service.  As a student at JMU, a quote from Mohandas Gandhi became the unofficial university motto: "Be the change that you want to see in the world."  The week in the Dominican Republic is the ideal opportunity to see the Mahatma's dreams become a reality.

During the week, Justin also wants the Dominican children to know that Americans not the stereotypes they may come across in mass media--greedy, rich, self-centered socialites.  He hopes to be inspired by the work of his fellow participants and especially hope the younger participants, particularly the first-time travelers and volunteers, are able to get as much out of this trip as he have gotten out of his in the past.   

4-H Agent Carol Nansel has had an interest in furthering international understanding since she lived in Germany through the 4-H IFYE exchange program.  She helped establish this Dominican Republic program in 2006 and has enjoyed watching the Virginia 4-H teens grow in their leadership and citizenship skills through this program.  The welcome shown to our Virginia 4-H group each year by the Dominican people makes us feel like we are there visiting family.  Many lifelong friendships have been established, and much cultural understanding has taken place over the years.  End of program evaluations from the 4-H'ers show that this program is truly a life changing experience for them.