Hey y’all, this is Leaders of the day, Jessica and Elizabeth! These are the all events that happened on our eighth day of Deconstructing Poverty.

At the Dump

After having a filling breakfast, we got on the guagua- safari style van and headed to the Buena Vista Dump in Jarabacoa. The Buena Vista Dump is one of the cleanest garbage sites in the Dominican Republic. At the site, we spoke to the head of the police department regarding the process and functionality of the waste there. We learned that people in the community don’t sort recycling from trash within their homes. Instead, buzos (dumpster divers) sort the recycling within the dump to earn money. We also talked to a Buzo at the site, and she explained to us why she dumpster dives. She expressed how she wasn’t embarrassed to dumpster dive and that she will hold her head up high because she wants people to know that this is reality within our society.

Group Discussion 

Once arriving back to our hostile in La Salle, we had a deep debrief discussion and reflected on what we saw at the dump. We connected what we saw to our personal experiences at home in the states. We ultimately learned that a lot of these families are willing to sacrifice anything to provide for their families.

Salto Baiguate Waterfall

After lunch, we were able to visit a famous waterfall in Jarabacoa. However, we were initially close to being sent home due to a film shooting, but luckily our bus driver persuaded the people to let us in to visit the waterfall. Everyone had a blast with their picture time for the gram and people went behind the waterfall to swim through it.

Hide N’ Seek 

Once everyone showered, we had a 19 person hide and go seek at La Salle, which was a great way for everyone to connect with one another. Along the journey of the game, some people received new mosquito bites. In the end, Griffin was the winner of the second round…his hiding spot was behind the door.