Republica DomyTina: What type of peace corp work have I been doing?

Inglés Basico

On my street corner there are more English words being spoken than I would like, since I am trying to learn the Spanish language. I guess I can consider this a success since I am teaching English three times a week. This week is the last week of my 12 week Basic English course. On average, I’ve had at least 15 people in each class. My classes have allowed me to make more friendships with my students. All the students who walk by our house or see us walking in the barrio gives us a “saludar” in English. I cannot walk by the “colmado” next to our house without the owners saying, “Dominic…come…here…please.” When I enter the “colmado” he proceeds by asking me what…is...this…pointing to everything in the “colmado” and waiting for my answer in English. Since they know the class is ending they keep asking when are we going to start another class. I don’t want to be known as just the English teacher, but I am here to do what the community wants, so I must listen to them. Well before I give in to them and continue another course, we are going to celebrate the completion of our 12 week course. I am giving diplomas to the students who showed up 9 out of the 12 weeks, and I will buy “refrescos” for them and play games.

Business class for youth

I am 6 weeks into my course that teaches youth how to write a business plan. We meet twice a week under candle light because someone cut the “luz” that we paid to put in from our Peace Corps salary. We learn about missions, visions, the 4 P’s of marketing, etc. In October there will be a national competition for these youth to win funds to start a business. I get the chance to simply listen to the creativity of Dominican kids in this class. They are so outspoken about anything- it’s totally different than lecturing English words to them. I went to one student’s house this week to see if I could answer any questions. She was not there, but I was invited in, and I talked with her mom for a bit. She said her daughter “encanta su clase”, documented success number 2. I enjoy listening to the ideas they give for selling things. Did I mention they love the homework that I give as well?

“Campamento” Superman

I took two “jovenes” to an all boys camp in April. I had a hard time being a counselor and not a “joven”. We went to another volunteer’s site about 30 minutes north of our city, and there was a river, where we “banarnos” everyday. We also went on a hike to a beautiful waterfall. We played games and gave “charlas” about gender roles and HIV/AIDS awareness. This volunteer’s job is to develop a women’s group to cook food for their eco-tourism site, and we got the chance to test out their services. I had the best hot chocolate to date in country. It was made from the “cacao” trees that grow in the community. One of the things I love most about this county is that food grows right in your backyard. By the way we have 2 corn stocks and 3 “guandules” plants growing in our yard. We will most likely eat corn in about 3 months and “guandules” in November. At the camp I saw the biggest frog ever and cows grazed around our camp site. Walking with the kids through the camp with cows grazing all around us, I had a moment of realization that I am doing the work I love, in a foreign country and speaking a different language.

Enjoy some pictures from the past few months…

Business Class