Hi Everyone!

Today was day 5: Aid and Development. Most people woke up bright and early at 6:30. We started off with our everyday morning meeting and mental warmup to get us going for the day. At around 9:00 we set off to visit Plan Yaque, a local NGO that works to protect the Yaque River watershed. The Yaque river is the largest river in the Dominican Republic and runs all the way from Jarabacoa in the mountains to the ocean. We learned the importance of water conservation and sustainability. Additionally, we discussed the organization’s efforts to make water clean, safe, and accessible to all and how that has a positive and direct impact on the local communities.

We came back to the ranch to enjoy a delicious lunch. We had some time to explore the surrounding area around, and many of us walked to a corner store to purchase snacks and drinks. We then had our first seminar where we learned about our upcoming Community Action Project (CAP). The three steps are Discovery, Design, and Delivery. We began with discovery, and we learned about the leaders in the community we will be serving.

Soon after, we drove to Los Higos. This is the local community we will be working with for our CAP. We got to ask questions to the local community leaders and learned what they need and what we can do to be the most impactful. We talked about building a playground and remodeling the original park space. Not only did we talk with the local community but we got to spend some quality time with the kids from the community, playing sports and fun games.

After a long day out, we had free time in the pool, playing volleyball, and enjoying fun card games. For dinner, we had delicious hamburgers, fries, and soda. To conclude our day, we had our nightly meeting and continued to make more meaningful memories with our new friends.

Thank you!

Talya and Hattie