¡Hola familia y amigos! This is Bernijah and Milan all the way from Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic. We started our day off with a 6 AM wake-up, and a 7 AM breakfast. For breakfast, we had toast, a slice of ham and cheese, eggs, fruit, and the option of cereal. After making sure everyone was fed, we quickly boarded our bus for a three-and-a-half-hour drive to a temporary base house in Juan Dolio.

Once we got situated in the house and in our rooms, we were treated to a delicious lunch by the amazing staff. It consisted of rice with pieces of salami, fried plantain, salad, and fruit! Soon after, we started a conversation about what exactly our goal was for today, learning about immigration. We got the opportunity to visit a non-profit organization, ASCALA, and we had a discussion on how immigrants are treated in society and how we can become more aware of this issue. In the Dominican Republic’s case, Haitian immigrants. We were to also visit a sugar cane terrain run by Haitian immigrants and see what everyday life is like for them. Once everyone was filled in on the agenda, we headed to our destination.

To say the conversation that followed was any less than eye-opening would be an understatement. We got the opportunity to listen to the experiences of a Haitian immigrant and how his life was uprooted. Due to Haiti’s president being assassinated four years ago, the country has been left without a leader ever since. Due to those circumstances, various gangs around the country spun everything into chaos! This included the murder of thousands of innocent people, those in positions of authority, and the burning of government buildings to ash. Coupled with extreme poverty in the country, the man we spoke to had every reason to leave. He left because his dad wanted him to seek an education. So he spent the next 15 years working hard in the DR, learning Spanish, and soon partnering up with ASCALA to not only help Haitian immigrants, but also immigrants around the world! However, things are more difficult than ever after the Dominican government passed a law in 2010 stating a child born on Dominican land while having immigrant parents will NOT be granted citizenship. Leaving thousands of children without an education, basic human rights, and complete statelessness. ASCALA strives to fight that every day, even with constant pushback from the government, and try their best to protect the immigrants from being deported. It was a difficult but necessary discussion. We felt great empathy for what these people had to go through, even though it’s not their fault! We now believe it is greatly beneficial to be educated on the various political affairs happening around the world. As students and as the youth of the next generation, it inspires us to keep treating everyone with the same respect and keep the experiences of those less fortunate, like immigrants, in mind in our future endeavors.

After thanking ASCALA for their time and seminar, we headed to the sugar plane fields. There we spoke to another Haitian immigrant who explained to us how immigrants such as himself are left to work in hard labor if they are to get any help from the government. That “help” still leaves them in bad living conditions. While once again saddening, it was very educational. We are very grateful for it. It was not all doom and gloom, however; as we did receive the chance to try a sugar cane! The cane itself isn’t edible, but the juice it released was simply delicious. After giving our thanks, we headed back home.

After such a long day, we as a group hoped to debrief a little and have some fun at the beach! … Unfortunately, due to the brewing storm in the Caribbean, the beach was closed. That did not stop us as we had so much fun and spent quality time together at the pool back home! For dinner, we were able to make our own tacos, which consisted of a tortilla, ground beef, lettuce, string cheese, black beans, guac, pico de gallo, and some raspberry juice to drink.

Even with the long travels and the schedule changes, we rode with the punches and still tried our best to lead when it came to getting the group’s attention, translating Spanish, organizing, etc. We appreciated all the pluses and wishes we got in our nightly meeting (which was very lively!). We wish Matthew and Micah good luck on their big day tomorrow. This is Milan and Bernijah, signing off!