Starting the day at 7am, we embarked on our Global Glimpse journey for the day with a lesson on political leaders and the history of the DR pertaining to them. We scribbled down some questions to ask our speakers in Moca later that day, and moved on to presenting our CAP project presentations to our guests from the community of San Luis whom we have the pleasure of working with. After a tasty lunch with our guests we headed over to chat politics with our speakers and gained some insight on what’s going on in the DR currently. We then headed to our English tutoring classes, where for two hours we worked with some local students on improving their English skills.

With politics fresh in our minds, we discussed the question of the day during our nightly meeting which covered whether or not politics in the DR affected the average citizen, as well as how some aspects of these politics may affect Dominican democracy in itself. Having the opportunity to speak with people who are actively involved with the community today was a fantastic way to acquire the knowledge necessary to attack such a question. We unanimously concluded that while there is corruption and imperfections within the government here, (as with many other govts…) things such as education budget is higher than before (still only 4% of GDP) and more government projects have been enacted to boost employment and quality of living for the Dominican people.

Observing the nuances between the US Govt. and the DR Govt. has lead me to realize that with so many differences between the two countries, many similarities surface as well. Depending on personal opinion we may not have ideal candidates in the United States, much like citizens in the DR have some concerns with the operation and integrity of their own Government. Sitting in a room with other people who are so passionate about changing their country for the better is an inspiring situation, and one that has left me with experiences and insight that I will take back with me to the United States.

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