Successes all around

Lately things have seemed to be going surprisingly well! Between both of my Escojo groups and the mentoring group, all three projects have experienced recent successes that have felt very gratifying. First, the Escojo group in La Saona. They continue to give weekly talks to community organizations, of which I accompanied them last week at one of the few local schools in our area. Two Escojo members spoke to around fifty youth about abstinence, which got both teachers and students surprisingly animated. I love the energy that the teachers at this school carried; it felt positively different from the teachers in my local school. They spoke to their students with a sort of honesty that is rare among educators. The entire experience went so well that we will be returning to the school to discuss another Escojo theme on Wednesday! The group experienced another high last night when we organized a movie night as a fundraiser. The community center was filled with youth and parents, eating popcorn and soda and watching a Dominican movie. Apparently the community of La Saona has not had a movie night in over a year and a half because they have no available projectors. Even more, the vast majority of the community would never be able to pay for a trip to a movie theater. But, with the help of Peace Corps in obtaining a projector, we brought the movie theater to La Saona and it was a huge hit!

My Escojo group in El Mani is also going great. I gave the group a talk on decision making and values last week, and they could not stop talking about the two subjects. They asked some amazing questions and it felt great to see such an animated group of youth in supposedly the most disorganized and marginalized barrio of Bani. There are a few youth in particular that are just stars. To see such enthusiasm and desire to get involved is so inspiring, especially when these kids have so few resources.

My mentoring group also had a very successful week, as each girl in the group memorized the location of all the countries in Central America and the Caribbean! Now I can confidently proclaim that each of those girls knows where in the world they live. Simple knowledge of geography has always felt like essential knowledge to me; I reviewed geography religiously with my students in Boston as well. I guess I feel like you can’t raise yourself out of poverty unless you understand how big the world is.

Underlying the greater successes of my groups, a few friendships have been strengthening, which feels like an even greater success in some ways. I have really been enjoying my time with Kenny, a friend from Haiti who lives with and supports his three sisters. I have been hanging out with Kenny in the orphanage where he works; Bella plays with the kids as we talk. I am also helping him with an English class that he teaches in downtown Bani. Another friendship I am lucky to have comes from Teresa. She has started visiting me twice each week so that I can tutor her in math. Teresa is trying to graduate from elementary school after working until a very late age. She is twenty years old now and is trying to get into high school next year! Teresa and Kenny are also in my Escojo group in El Mani. As frustrated as I occasionally get by the lack of ambition among Dominicans, I just have to remind myself of Teresa and Kenny to remember that there are some remarkable exceptions to this stereotype.

I think the recent succeses in my work as a volunteer can be largely attributed to my increasing integration among youth in Bani. Youth from my groups are beginning to drop by my house to hang out, a real sign that friendships are building. It feels awesome to feel like all my hard work is paying off and that I am beginning to form real relationships with the adolescents in my groups.