This spring break, I spent six days in the Dominican Republic helping this church build a wall around their property. While I was there I saw things I have never been able to see or experience before. We were able to work with the Dominican kids in our free time. To entertain them, we brought crayons, paper, glue, yarn, scissors, and things these kids never really had before. They were so grateful to be given a coloring page and a crayon. As a kid that grew up in America, I was never denied many things as a child. Certainly things like crayons and markers were never something I had to go without.Another thing I experienced while abroad was the optimism the Dominican people had. The workers who helped us build the wall were so grateful for our help. They constantly thanked us. They had big plans for the building we were working on, yet they didn't have the money or the manpower. They wanted to build more buildings and a pool to create a camp for the kids in the area. Since most of the country is living in such poverty, extra money is something that is almost non-existent. But they needed $15,000 just to finish the second floor of the building we were helping with. To me, that is idealism.
2 comments:
Bernadette,
A terrific post here -- thoughtful and full of empathy (our word of the year, as you know). I especially like the specificity of the post and the way you link it to our larger Idealism/Realism discussion.
"Bernie", I'm with the Doc on this one. I like the perspective you gained in this quote: "As a kid that grew up in America, I was never denied many things as a child."
I also appreciate your thoughts on the Teens and Blogging article. It's nice to see someone paying attention to these things, and because of your wonderful writing, other AiS teachers are adopting our model next year!
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