La Rrrrrrepublicaaaa Doominicaaaanaaaaa!

After 3 longgg longgg flights I have finally arrived in Santo Domingo. To jumpstart with my project: the cultural differences are clearly noticable.

When the aircraft finally touched down, and I mean the split-second the wheels touched the ground, a loud applause raise up from the passengers. Shouting, clapping, screaming: they went berserk!

Whooooooooohooooooohhhh Laa rrrrrrrrrepublicaaa Doooominicaaanaaa!!

When the cheering calmed down, the pilot started its standard little talk (Dear passengers, welcome to (fill in country), the temperature is (fill in temperature), and (fill in wether the sun is shining; if not, don't mention).

The crowd did not seem to listen to it, because again:

Whooooooooohooooooohhhh Laa rrrrrrrrrepublicaaa Doooominicaaanaaa!!

and now even louder, with people jumping up and rapidly taking out their luggage from the above compartments. Helping eachother with bags, making jokes and laugh all together. I say; they should do this in the Netherlands. Loosen up a bit, laugh a bit more and talk loudly about your neighbor: 'Eres una chica muy grande' 'Mira mira!' 'Dios mio'!

The family seated in all the chairs around me (yes, they were that big!), adopted me; within 4 minutes it was concluded that I was the girlfriend of my neighbor, that they are going to take me to customs and show me how to get my bags. They also concluded that I could speak spanish, I should visit them at their family house and that I should come to the beach with them. I love their Multi Active characters.

Meanwhile, the humidity was conquering my body: drips of crystal clear sweat were rolling down my spine, as well as my hair started to fizz as a poodle.

Now, dressed in shorts, the thinnest H&M t-shirt and bare feet, I feel deliberate from the heat. Still, I am sticky all over the place, but right now it is fine.

I am quite curious what happens when I walk out of the air conditioned restaurant..

Global Potential Project Dominican Republic/ Haiti

Humanitarian work. It is finally going to happen.

Together with the team of Global Potential we are going to cooperate with the local community:

OUR MISSION: Provide urban youth from low-income communities with the skills and perspective that enable them to affect positive change in their lives, communities, and the global community, through engagement in leadership training, social entrepreneurship, international cultural exchange and service learning

WHEN: June 29th to August 18th 2011

WHERE: Batey Cuchilla is a small community of about 800 residents, surrounded by sugarcane fields on all sides. Most residents are grandchildren or children of Haitian immigrants who came to work in the sugarcane fields, or were born in Haiti themselves. The economy of Batey Cuchilla is based primarily on sugarcane. Additionally, some people work in other sectors of agriculture and raising livestock. There is a high rate of unemployment, illiteracy, and child labor. Forty percent of children in Cuchilla do not have a birth certificate, and therefore cannot continue their studies past the 8th grade. In Cuchilla, there is a community center and a baseball field. There is a four-room school that serves children up to fifth grade. There are four churches, five stores, two hair salons, two bars. There are no paved roads. The majority of houses are made of wood or cement with dirt floors and outdoor bathrooms. Running water and electricity are intermittent, and the community shares around 20 latrines. There are two health clinics in Bateys 6 and 8 nearby. During heavy rains, the community is often cut off from the outside due to roads being washed away or flooded.

WHAT:As a Youth Facilitator, I will lead a group of New York public high school students to a rural village in the Dominican Republic/Haiti for six weeks to work on community development projects. My main responsibility is ensuring safety and supervision of the youth, and my duties will include: attending to the emotional needs of the youth, helping the youth conduct a needs assessment of the local community, acting as a liaison between the youth and community leaders to develop projects that are beneficial to the community, and fostering an environment of mutual respect, cooperation, and global learning for the students and community members. I will act as a leader as well as an active participant in all community projects. In the past, projects have included construction work, a community mural, a community garden, trash clean-ups, documentary film making, goat farming, tutoring, and interactive community workshops on health, racism, and poverty. This year, I will be facilitating Training Managing Skills, a project in which I apply the management training theory I received at my University, Hotelschool the Hague.