Happy to be a Rotarian and to be among people who care so much

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sarah assignment was located in Hat Viejo, Elias Piña, Dominican Republic.  This town is in the poorest province in the DR and also has the highest rate of teen pregnancies in the country.  The town has total of 54 houses.  It is located near the Haitian border and most of the residences are of mixed Haitian/Dominican  decent.  The town has no running water, no paved roads and power only for about 1/2 at day.  The nearest local town is an hour away over unpaved roads.  Transportation to the town was in the back of a large truck which came twice a week, otherwise it was motorcycles.  The high school is 20 minutes away and the kids ride there on the back of a trash truck.  There is a community center with a clinic which when staffed is run by medical students doing their rotations.

 

Sarah's major project was organizing the community to build a basketball court so that the kids would have some place safe and proper to play on.  The current courts was broken concrete, grass growing through, and littered with broken bottles thrown over the fence by young men hanging around and drinking beer.  Through a Peace Corps Grant and some help from Rotary, volunteers from an Ohio boys high school; the community has a proper place to play.

 

Sarah talked about this being both a great and a tough experience.  In particular, she had to learn the lesson that one person can only do so much in a limited amount of time in an area that needs so much.  She is grateful for the experience but also glad to be back home.  She is now interviewing for jobs in the NGO sector.