This week I am updating 2 blogs. The first one is about the evaluation of the first week working with Global Potential. The second one is about my personal discoveries.

And now it’s time for action – Projects Evaluation first week

Time goes slow here. Even though there is a lot to see and experience, the days are long. The sun is burning, and it’s too hot to sit inside. After this first week, the arrival of the student, getting to know the community, the 2nd week is about to start. And with that, the first projects need to be launched. This Fridaywe had a community meeting, to see what the community needs. It was an afternoon where the different social classes could vote. There were around 60 people and it was such a feasible day! We have a list of possible projects and now we are busy analyzing what projects are possible to implement!

During the curriculum classes and the additional classes I prepared in collaboration with the Hotelschool, we try to get the students think for them selves, instead of spoon-learning. The reflection classes we provide them make them start thinking of their own qualities, their strengths and weaknesses, and most of all: their role in the team. Before any group of people can provide effective solutions for problems a community faces, they need to be able to work in a team! So far, the first ‘class’ was incredibly effective and I am so proud of the outcome!

My photography project, with which I want to raise money for the community, has got a different theme. Where I wanted to focus on different types of communication, I would like to picture the people’s behaviour in the church, and the interaction between different social classes there. As described below, going to the church isan experience on its own.

Furthermore, in collaboration with my fellow staff members, we’re about to profile several inhabitants of Cuchilla. Every week, we are going to pick 2 persons who have a certain value to the community. This information allows the people who work with Global Potential, but did not have the chance to go here, still know who we are talking about. Furthermore, It will act as media-material. More information on this will follow soon!

After the first week, I can tell the students are enjoying their stay in Cuchilla and together we are working towards some tangible changes in the village!

Religious encounter- A personal discovery

Today I’ve been invited to join the church choir. As I entered the church bare feet, I was able to enter the choir section. After some rhythm examples we joined our powers and started to make music:
Clapping, singing, jumping, swinging, twisting.
More people joined, our choir became bigger. Troms played faster, rasps were rasped more excessively, hands clapped harder, songs where song louder.
This is the church in the Dominican Republic.
Now we switched instrument, I was not longer rasping, but playing the drums now. The songs were adjusted to the deep sound of the drums, and the rhythm was in my hands. With help of my little friends, we played some very funky tunes! Obviously I wasn’t that good in maintaining this, so swiftly I changed to the handclapping section.
Yes, I do want to believe in this power!
What a fun I had, and moreover: how good it felt to be part of this amazing and kind get together of people. No matter who you are: the son of the mayor, the poor guy from the street, the farmer. Where you can find social classes on the streets, they have been lost in the church. Everybody is welcome here and, Lord, they are praying in such a cheerful way!

Besides my religious-alighting, I have been welcomed by the community with open arms. Daily, I walk around town with little Meli-Melo in my arms, and a whole herd of little kids walking behind me like I have honey stuck to my bud.

Where the people called me: ‘La Americana’ in the beginning, the all call me Fien now. Fiencomo Fin del Mundo. Fin Del Mundo qui tomafotos.

Yes, I am taking a lot of photos. Can you imagine how it is not to have pictures of you growing up? Can you imagine then what a power you are holding in your hands while walking around with a digital camera? Where I was expecting that I would be asking to, the people come to me to ask if I can take a picture of them! This result in having the freedom to ‘model’ them into what I want of the picture. They are so flexible, in the end they just really want to see the outcome. I abuse this situation to make little chats, talk a little about my role in the village and shake hands. They love handshakes, as do I.