Service Trip to the Dominican Republic Review

My blog is called Traveling Posh; however, I tend to post more of the posh part.  Today I am focused on the traveling half of my title and am sharing my first service trip experience to the Dominican Republic.

I went on this trip with my school (about 25 students went) through the travel company Outreach 360.  We stayed in a small, relatively cheap hotel with cold water and no wifi.  When we first arrived I was disappointed in not having wifi and dealing with cold showers, but in the end it doesn't matter because the rest of the trip was amazing.

We arrived on Saturday, then Sunday was an informative day.  The real fun started on Monday when we began teaching English at a primary school with grades 1-8.  I taught 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade.  

The kids we taught were so enthusiastic about learning and beyond welcoming.  They're what made the trip unforgettable.  When the recess bell rang all of the kids would try to get hold of your hand and claim you to play with them for recess.  Since we taught for 5 days you make friends with the students and get to know them.  I became very close with the a girl named Mirian (pictured above) and it was so hard to say goodbye, but fulfilling knowing I made an impact on her education.

Knowing spanish helps to communicate with the kids at english; however, I do not take spanish and you're still able to communicate with the children through love (that sounds so cheesy, but it is so true).

Pictured above are my 6th grade boys I taught.  They were hilarious (as you can probably assume from the picture)... They were super enthusiastic and learned really fast.

After each day we had a reflection where we got to share inspiring parts of the day or parts we struggled with, this was led by an Outreach 360 staff member.

Aside from teaching we got a taste of the culture on Friday when we visited a market on the Haitian and Dominican border.  It was crazy crowded and afterwards we went to a museum.  We also took a beautiful hike and then spent the afternoon at the beach.  So even though you're teaching the majority of the service trip, the last day gives you a break.

This entire trip was unforgettable (mostly the kids I met).  If you're thinking about doing a service trip I highly recommend it, especially one based on educating children.  I cannot think of many negatives about this trip other than getting sick of the food.  If you have questions or comments I'd love to hear them because I love talking about this experience of mine.  For now here are a few other pictures:

Coloring during the Dominican's National holiday called Students Day (we were lucky to be there for students day and got to hang out with the kids all morning like it was recess)

My adorable first graders.

Hopefully I have the opportunity to take another trip similar to this again!  Once again, if you have specific questions or are thinking about going on a trip like this feel free to leave a comment below or send me an email.

xoxo

Emma

P.S. check out my previous blog here.