Today the Global G’s had an early wake up of 6:45 to get prepared for an emotional day involving the immigration issues in the D.R. At 7:45 we had a delicious breakfast of fresh yucca and ham.

Now fueled for a long day, we attended an academic seminar giving insight on the current situation between Haitian immigrants coming to the D.R. as well as their long past. We found that Haitians in the Dominican Republic and Mexicans in the U.S. have similar immigration issues and both are given a hard time. With this knowledge, the Global G’s set off to the Batey Libertad, a community consisting of Haitian immigrants as well as Dominicans.

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As soon as we arrived, children gathered around and clung to our legs, hands, and shirts. We then had the amazing opportunity to get a tour of this great community and have an American guest speaker let us know about some of the hardships the immigrants may face. In 2013 the Dominican Republic passed a law stating if your parents weren’t born in the D.R. that also makes you an illegal immigrant regardless where you were born. This law led to many deportations and other hardships these Haitian immigrants. Thanks to places like the Batey, there are communities for people facing the same challenges. The donations we brought here go to the Batey and the people within the community. The donations included soccer balls, gum, and many books for small children.

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Before we left, we had the traditional meal of the D.R., La Bandera, consisting of beans, rice, and any meat.

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On the bus ride back, to conserve time, we planned for our CAP project while others slept. As soon as we arrived back at the orphanage, we had no time to waste as all of us rushed to the showers to prepare for English classes.

It was an enjoyable class as we reviewed regular and irregular past tenses. The students quickly picked up the lesson with no trouble. As the day continued and class ended we were rewarded with a delicious meal of spaghetti and bread by the best cook, Licelot.

With our bellies filled, we continued to our meeting, talking about our packed day tomorrow, and ending with a self-reflection about how we felt toward the ongoing issue with immigration in the D.R.