Global Potential Blog

  Nothing could have been a better experience than the one we had in DR. Now it’s been two long months for me, just back in school for my last year. Students will be asking us what we did and how were things. It was amazing, and next time you should look forward on applying, is my answer to them. I’m happy to share my experience with others just to make them want to have a lifetime experience as I was bless to have.

  This might not be my last blog, but I’m so amaze by the effects that trip had on me. Went away from my family for 6 weeks and now I’m getting ready for college. I have different ways of seeing people and also of judging their ways of acting. I growth a special love for the people in the community. That maybe I don’t even have for my own community back in my country. Our pictures in the batey, working, interacting with people in the batey is posted in our school hallway. Seeing the other students asking me or any other member of the group about what happen, it’s like a revival of the moment. 

Batey8, is a place with a lot of need, and even if I wouldn’t go back now. I can either way stop talking about my experience or how the people hospitality had an affect on me. The last time I was in hurry to call my host mother was when I heard of the Hurricane. Some of the kids in the batey wrote us on facebook, they  will be woundering why we don’t call or write them more often. They get attached as much we did to them.

I think I’m different with a lot of different perspective and visualization of things around me. Sometimes you need to take a step outside your coset to be able to understand things around you. 

Today, I interview a member of the community. Her name is Ligia Elena Feliz Medina, she’s a 24 year old woman who lives in Batey # 8. She was born in Dominican Republic in the province of Independencia. Her parents are Miguel Feliz and Alta Gracia Medina. For living, she works for an organization called Ceso. It’s an organization that works for the welfare of the poor communities in the Dominican Republic. In addition, she attends a College called Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) in order to become a RN. She’s a very independent woman who works hard to take good care of her parents and eight siblings, which is not the case for a lot of women and young girls in the Bateys whose destiny is to stay at home and take care of the family. Ligia wants to be role model for the community. In the future, she wishes to travel around Dominican Republic to help as a Nurse and work for a much big organization. She wants people in the world to stop hating each other. They should work together to make the world a better place. Life in the Batey is wonderful according to her because they are a very supporting community even though they have differences. With God’s grace, she hops to visit Europe or the United States. 

Construction once drives me crazy because the weather is so hot and the work is boring. All we need is just physical work. But now, when we write down a period for this project, there are some feelings that I can’t describe. Maybe because when you focus on doing something for a certain time, those actions gradually become parts of your daily schedule or a habit. When you know you can’t do it anymore, it’s so sad that only memories left to remember. Construction side makes me feel this way. Maybe this is the first time and also the last time for me to do work like this. Moving the dirt, shoveling, carry water, moving blocks, mix cement… It’s always good morning excises. I first time sweating like taking a shower. I actually enjoy what I’m doing everyday. I don’t feel I had waste my time on doing that. I did a lot of things during the past 18 years, but there was nothing like building this house. Because this can bring a long influence and it will not disappear in a short time. So I think it’s meaningful. It’s not necessary to find a reason for doing things. For me, since I come here to offer help. And I did what I said, I offered help. So I feel satisfied of what I did. I don’t complain a lot because I know this is why we came here for.

   Last day of construction is past. My memory extends from the first day we came here all the way until today. It’s so cool and excited to spend a month and a half in a totally different country and offer help. I always think that I’m just a little girl with a lot of problems that I don’t know how to solve. How can I help anyone, especially the people far away from my country? But now, I kind of change my mind. I mean I actually did a lot to help. And meanwhile I help myself.

   I first accomplished something that I think I won’t do or I can’t do before. For example, working on the construction side. It’s a very hard work, requires a lot of physical works and work under the strong sunshine. Get used of the food here is also not easy for me. Sometimes, I want to give up. Because I was frustrated by some people and by too much work. Something is unexpected. For example, I don’t know we will spend so much time on construction. For me, that work only needs physical works and actually this community has so many free labors. If they can help us, we don’t need to work so hard and so long. Sometimes, I feel the people here don’t even care about what we do here everyday, but we still do for them. They won’t appreciate what us do for them, and they may not use that room for study. The kids here, they don’t have the opportunities to receive high education and it’s also hard for the families here to support their children. The parents may think it’s enough for their children don’t feel hungry.

 They are unfortunate. That’s true. What they need is not only compassion but the real action to help them. I think there is an important person we should mention. His name is Kavin, and he is my mentoe while in batey. He spent almost 2 years there to help people. He is an american young man, but he is so different. I mean his personality and his belief. If I was him, I won’t spend 2 years there as what he did. It requires a strong faith and courage. I’m proud of being his mentee and have the chance to know him. After all, the world still have those selfless person. And he is what I should look up to.

Today is August 13, 2008. We only have two days left, the same time on Friday we will be in the airplane right now. Before we leaving the library that we build is almost finish, we have spend most of our time to build that building, that building is the most important thing that we left for the community. Also today is the last day that we working in the construction, tomorrow we are going to be very busy, we need to packing up our stuff and prepared to go back on Friday. The day is going very fast, 43 days has past. And I still remembered the first blog that I write, “I miss my friend”. And from that on my new friends always making fun of me.  Right now I want to add “I will miss my friends” to my blog.

It is almost end of the program, and I almost spend my half summer in Batey8. I have learned many different new things from this program and meet and know a lot of new people. Also to have a chance to live in the new environment and learn about a new cultural. As I know the racism in the Batey8 is a very seriously problem that affect the community, not only the Batey8 the whole country is facing the same problem. The Dominicans were discriminated against Haitians. They consider all the darker skin people are Haitian, even they born in D.R. One day we go to the swimming poll with the community members, and we sit in the truck, there are light skins people scream at us in Spanish  “ got back to Haiti” , even none of us are Haitian. They say that because all the community members are dark skin. Also We have discuses about the racism in the community meeting with other community members. But some people from the community didn’t think there is the racism in the Batey. But most people has faced discriminated in here. It is hard for a dark skin people to find a job, for example the white skin, light skin and dark skin people to find a job, the white skin people has bigger chance to get the job than other two. 

In this community, young kids have dreams, opinion and hope. I interviewed that young boy; he is really involved in the community, like the youth group, in the community discussion he asks questions d he always ant to find new things; always want to learn something new.

Raynel Castillo Batista born at Saint Cristobal the 10^th of December in 1992, is a 16 years old boy who have achieve his secondary grade and about to start college in January 2009. Raynel is going to major in law because he wants to become a lawyer. His life model is Rafael Patcheco, supervisor of a group politic, and the reason that he would like to be like him is because he’s smart and also for what he has accomplished. As Racism a fact in his community, Raynel as one of the youth believe that one day there wont be racism in the batey because more they have community meeting and talk to other people outside of the batey, there’s a hope because they are learning how to overcome as an obstacle that stop them from growing successfully. He also believes that a women should be president of DR because he thinks that women are smart enough as men but wiser to control a country.

The scariest thing for Raynel is to see pretty women, because he won’t be able to talk because he’s going to start sweating. To change the world, He thinks that people should be nicer, kind, responsible, and patient. “I had a nice time with GP people and I think that you people are really nice group with a lot of hope  and by keeping on working the way we do, we will go forward as a group”, said  Raynel when I ask him what he thin about the group. He also think that we change any community, ad that batey 8 was bless to have us as a group. He will welcome any other groups that come to help his community because the batey do have issues. His biggest dream his to be president because there’s a lot to change in the country.

Finally, if he had US $10,000, he would use to go to school, to help his family and to help kids that live in the street, and also disable people.

People let me tell you about this trip in the Batey or “my batey”…

                        I love this Batey in the same way as Haiti where I’m from, there’s no difference the people are the same and they react almost the same way. I left United States where to be truthful I would have a good job, better food, hanging out with my family, but I chose to leave to be away from my family, to grow up in all type of way that you could imagine. I have now a totally different way of thinking about people and how they live. Do I learn from this trip? That could be the first question that I would ask myself, and the answer will totally a YES. A yes, because I learn how to appreciate people for who they are, to respect their opinion; nothing from this experience is new for me but it helps me appreciate for who I am, and where I come from.

                        As a member of Global Potential and Planeta Jeunes Kuai Le I decide to be part of this program to prove myself, and to show others that I also can be part of the change even though I’m still young. I would like the community of Batey 8 to remember us as the group that brings diversity to their community. And also as a group with different races we prove to them that with our differences we still can achieve something.

                                    Would I like to come back? Definitely yes, and that is why I call it my Batey, because I feel like I’m a part of the community.  

last night we had an excellent discussion about the time we spent getting to know Batey 8 and the challenges that they face as a community and in the region, and then figuring out solutions… and acting, on a daily basis, to be a part of those solutions.  We compared that to identifying problems that exist in the US, talking about health, education, and income inequality that exists, particularly affecting african-american individuals.  We talked about how GP youth can be a part of solutions to these problems, both in the next few years when they come back, and in the rest of their lives.  Their prize-winning program, Planeta Jeune Kuai Le, is an immediate and inspirational solution that they have designed and planned themselves, in the months prior to leaving for Batey 8.  Next week, when they return, and recover, they will begin implementing this exciting project…stay tuned….