Today was Community Day and our first introduction to the community that we will be working alongside. We woke up early for the long day ahead of us. After breakfast, we took off in our safari busses which allowed us to see more of the city and all the greenery it has to offer. We were in awe at how lush the area was and all the beautiful scenery. After a long hike down, we arrived at Sonido del Yaque. Sonido del Yaque, (which stands for ‘sound of the river’), was previously a community facing the struggles of malnutrition and poverty. After years of devastating deaths, a very special woman that we all aspire to be like, Dona Esperanza had the vision to create a self-sustainable way of life.
This community is truly one big family where everyone is so ready to help and share with one another. Without everyone collaborating it would be impossible to uphold the sustainability of their ‘homestead’. This family is an inspiring and humbling example of how a community can go from barely surviving to thriving. From producing their own electricity, cooking gas, and farm life, to even breeding fish to eat. When we first arrived we were welcomed into the family and by the end of the day truly felt like we were apart of this loving and happy family. One word to summarize how this community is able to work so well with one another is the theme of sharing. People who physically have so little but were so excited to share whatever they have.
