“Vision without action is merely a dream; action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world”- Joel Baker.
This quote was given for us to keep in our thoughts throughout the whole day. Most students in the group agreed with this quote and interpreted it as: people who have a certain perspective on how the world should be do not usually take action to change what they believe. We discussed connections to the quote and realized because of aid and development people usually donate money to organizations without knowing what the organization is actually “fixing.” Our day revolved around the aid that the Dominican Republic receives and offers around the world. Global Glimpse students debated the controversial ideas of whether or not aid really helped the community. Students also analyzed the idea that aid may not always help in the process of a better and/or new development. We entered a poor community that was one of the six towns being slowly improved by an organization named FUNDASEP. Glimpsers meandered and surveyed the people who were living in the homes within the community of Sabaneta. We walked around to find out some issues within the community only to discover there were many problems left unsolved. Many members of the community stated that they didn’t have electricity, clean, running water, sturdy homes or a roof that had low porosity.
However our biggest dilemma was that many members of the community stated they haven’t heard the organization Fundasep. We wanted to have an impact on the communities the way the organization is attempting to, but also to tell them know more about the organization, so they would know they weren’t alone. Later, in the day we spoke to members of the organization and had an interesting debate on whether Fundasep is really making a difference in the community. During the debate, glimpsers argued that the issues in the community needed to be tackled differently. There were multiple departments that needed to be fixed such as the education, sanitation, electricity, water, and etc. Glimpsers had multiple ideas about ways to approach the ideas they felt most passionate about, and were able to show their inspiration and point of view towards them. Together we were able to work to begin the process of discovery and design towards our community service project.
After briefly discussing our community action project, we then prepared for our English tutoring class. The Global Glimpse Administrators told the group we would have many more students in our class and the anxiety and enthusiasm increased within the group. As one of the leaders (Ingrid), half-way through the class, I walked around and checked every class. I realized the development of the students and their teaching skills and the improvement in the students’ comfort with the English language in speaking and writing. Many of us felt comfortable teaching older students and actually learning Spanish as well. Finally, all the students in the group felt very proud for teaching their students because they all felt an improvement in their English and felt comfortable because many people doubted their teaching skills and were very excited to teach the next day and hope for new students.