On my first day back to Aguas Negras I was so surprised at what I saw. The entire community had been changed and they had been given new hope. The shoreline has been brought back to life with the recent building of several new homes. I couldn’t believe my eyes and it gave me such an incredible feeling.

 

 

Although the community is very far from being healthy or clean, you can see the difference with each LiveDifferent Hero Holiday trip. I was walking through the streets and it brought back such remarkable memories from my last trip. I saw so many familiar faces including the contractors I worked alongside with last year as well as many young children who remembered me. This was by far the highlight of my day. To see how happy we make the local people and the effect we have on the community, as individuals and as a whole, is amazing!

 

 

I had just met the family we were getting the opportunity to build a home for when a young boy came up to me. He was so happy and it didn’t seem like anything could bring him down. He had the biggest smile on his face which I found so inspiring because of the situation of his day-to-day life. Of course, just like all the other kids, he wanted to hop on my shoulders and off we went. We walked back to the trucks from the middle of town and he began waving to his friends and pretending he was flying. That’s the difference between the Dominican Republic and Canada. These people can be so happy with so little that they have and it really is astounding.

 

Garret – LiveDifferent Hero Holiday Intern, Dominican Republic 2012