I Left My Heart in the Dominican Republic…

So I’m back from my travels to the Dominican Republic and the first thing everyone asks me is “Melissa, where is your tan?”. I’m fair-skinned, ok!! I tried to get a tan, I really did, but lounging on the beach wasn’t themain focus of this trip people! I’ve returned to good ol’ Ontario not feeling like I changed the world, but knowing that I made a difference in the lives of a few people who really needed it, and that’s where it all starts.Over the 10 days our group spent in the DR, I would confidently say that we accomplished quite a lot: We trenched through piles of garbage collecting recyclables  alongside Haitian refugees who call a garbage dump their place of work; spent a morning at an orphanage for physically and mentally handicapped children colouring, laughing and helping with lunch time!; started building a new house for an elderly woman and her grandson that won’t flood everytime it rains; painted a new children’s ward in a hospital and experiencing the true value of music as therapy; throwing a huge fiesta in one of the villages with a pork roast, soccer match, and gifts for all of the kiddies; and making tons of new little amigos that we’ll never forget.Without a doubt I’ll be returning to the Dominican and other places in need to keep spreading the love and giving hope to the people who need it the most. Oh, and now that I’m home  I have a minor, but unnecessary, panic attack everytime I see toilet paper in the toilet…the things we take for granted.~ Melissa, a Hero Holiday Participant.

Why I do what I do…

“Why do you spend $2500 to go to hard labour in the hot sun??”A question I hear again and again from people that just don’t understand.I don’t blame them, I guess its hard to understand when you’ve never actually experienced it.Hero Holiday has shown me so much my last two trips to the Dominican Republic- and brought out emotions in me that I didn’t even know i had.To sum it up in one sentence? An extraordinary eye-opening experience that I will never forget.You always see on TV or learn in your social studies class about all the poverty in the world. How there’s millions of kids dying from hunger, and about all the horrible conditions they live in. Hundreds of thousands of children dying everydayTo us, us lucky less-than-one-percent of the world that have won life’s lottery, by just being born in the right place, that’s just a number. Just a simple “oh that’s so sad” then we go on with our day. It’s not a reality to us.It’s not a reality until you hold that little child hand. The child that grabbed your hand as soon as your feet left the  truck, and the child that held tight and didn’t let go until you were dragged back into the truck to go back. The same little hand that works countless hours a day to make a couple cents for their family, picking through garbage, shining shoes…People in Canada who depend of welfare, are in the top 4% of the richest people in the whole world.Just think about that. Last year, the biggest thing I learned when I went the trip was: the media in North America portrays poverty unrealistically, in order to get more people to support their organization. Have you ever watched those sponsor a child commercials? Ever notice how all the children that they film have big sad eyes, just walk around with no energy, and are hopeless? That’s not the case at all. Most of the children in the Dominican Republic are the most hopeful children I’ve ever seen. They’re grateful with the little that they have, they’re always running around, happy, joyful, with the biggest smiles on their faces. They’re not moping around feeling sorry for themselves, they’re running around thankful that they’re alive. They ran around on the hot dirt in their little bare feet, leaving little footprints everywhere. They offered me anything of theirs that they had with them, little lemon seeds they find to eat, they always offered me one before giving one to their sibling, then taking one for themselves. That gave me so much inspiration. Inspiration to live every day to the fullest, and be grateful with what you have.  This year, when I went back, I saw all those happy faces again, remembering the ones that wouldn’t let go of my hand, and the ones that left footprints in my heart. It was a whole new experience. I thought coming back would be just like the last year, same work sites, etc. However, this year I found myself in mostly new work sites, and a whole different experience. One place we did not visit last year was the public hospital in Puerto Plata. Our main job there was painting, half of the day we painted the walls and ceilings, and half the day we visiting the section with the children from newborn babies to 14 year olds. We brought them colouring books, crayons, playdough, and their favourite – bubbles!I sat next to a small girl, she was 12 years old. I don’t know what brought me to her, but as everyone met eyes with a child and went over to say hello, she was the only one that didn’t look over at the door to us, faced the other way, almost as if she was stuck. I went over, held her hand and introduced myself. When I asked her her name, and how old she was, she replied in a dry and scratchy voice “agua” I was alarmed, she sounded as if her vocal chords were onthe verge of breaking from being dry. I hurried and got her fresh, cold water, and she looked up and me and smiled. I showed her the colouring book I brought over, and handed her a crayon. She held it for a moment, and gave the crayon back to me, pointing at the picture of the stars and fish she chose. Confused, I did as she asked and we spent 20 minutes colouring the pictures together. I fanned out the colours I had, she pointed at the colour she wanted, then pointed in the area that she wanted me to colour it in. I wondered what was wrong with her, she could barely gather up the energy to colour in one tire of a car, then once again handed me the crayon. After a while, we were told to leave and go to a different area of the hospital so the nurses and doctors could do their check ups and such. When I came back maybe half an hour later, her mother and aunt was there, packing up her sheets, and belongings. I was very confused and in midst of their packing I folded the coloured pictures and handed them to her mother. She looked at me with very sad eyes, and looked at the little girl. Panicking, I asked one of the girls that can speak Spanish to translate for me and ask her mother what was wrong with the girl, and why they were going home when she was clearly not well. She told me that the little girl had fevers, pains – all over the body, enough that she can’t move, and they were taking her home. She did not have to say it, I could see it in the mother’s eyes. She had lost all hope for her daughters survival, and decided to take her home. My heart broke in an instant. I thought losing hope wasn’t an option. I was so used to the people I met being so filled with hope, all the kids running around, and I was so sure that this little girl was going to stay in the hospital until she was well enough to colour all the pictures in the book herself…All the hands I’ve held, the smiles I’ve seen, every single one of them, have left a footprint in my heart, they’ve taught me a lesson I will never forget. Lessons that make me focus on what I have, and not the things I want, making me thankful for my family, friends, and for my life I’ve lived, and my future ahead of me. Lessons that help me see the world differently, and lessons that make me realize that one person can make a difference.That is why I fund raise, and That is why I go. To remember the lessons learned.~ Hanee, a Hero Holiday Participant

Books for Everyone!

Hola, my name is Rachel and I am a member of the Rotary Interact Club in Kirkland Lake. This past year, the Rotary Club’s focus was to bring awareness on literacy. In order to this, our Club decided to organize a fundraiser called, “Reading Relay”. What we did was set up a reading station at the busiest location in town, our local grocery store. The reading station consisted of a big comfy couch, a reading lamp, as well as a side table. People from the community would sign up to read for one hour in our cozy make shift living room. The cost was $20 and most local businesses would help out by sponsoring their employees to read. At the read station, we our Club members set up to supervise and to explain to members of our community why we were there. People thought our fund raiser was very cool and got involved by donating money. In the end, with the money raised through our reading participants and as well as local donations, we raised a thousand dollars! This past week, I participated on the Hero Holiday to the Dominican Republic. I brought the $1000 we raised with the fundraiser with me. Our Club’s goal was to buy as many books as we could to help improve education in the schools that Hero Holiday was building. With the $1000 we purchased the class room curriculum for the subjects: Math, Spanish, Science, and Social Studies (grades 1-4) for two schools along with some books for their libraries and other teaching tools. You see, in order for most children to go to school in the Dominican, students are often required to purchase their own curriculum books and they are expensive. The schools we purchased these books for will use them as a teaching tool and have the students copy the lessons from the book to their personal notebooks because the community can not afford these lesson books.It felt so incredible to witness the outcome and the impact of such a simple fund raiser that LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)ly anyone can organize. Education is such a fantastic and important thing that a lot of people take for granted. I know with the help of these books a lot more children will be able to attend school and have a brighter future. Just knowing that puts a smile on my face. I believe that so many people have potential and with that potential, you can make a difference.Quick tip for anyone wanting to do a fund raiser like the one or just to get the word out to your community is to contact your local newspaper and radio station. That way everyone can hear about it and get involved.Good Luck!~ Rachel, participant on Hero Holiday Dominican Republic 2009

Oh, What a Party!

Today was the community party, which was one of my favorite days of my Hero Holiday to the Dominican Republic. This is my second time to the DR and we always end the week off with party in one of the communities that we work in. This week it was in the community where a lot of the people who work in the garbage dump live and was host to our sports camp all week.I love the parties because we know that all the kids and families are so excited to have us. It was really nice to see everyone so happy. The kids were happy to play with us and the parents were so happy for the meal. (Roasted Pig, rice, and tons of fruit). My favorite part was when all the buses pulled up, the second we all hopped off the children were already holding our hands. It reminded me of how you can make a child happy by the simplest of gestures, like holding their hand, or even just smiling at them. I also loved when we played music all the villagers know the songs we did, it was a way of communicating with them even if we did not speak the same language.Personally, I feel like this day was even more exhausting than the work sites only because these kids have so much energy. It is really hard to keep up, but being tired at the end is totally worth it! I am glad we had this opportunity to show the community that we value them and spend more time with them.

Participants Go the Extra Mile.

It was not until two days ago that I realized how frustrating poverty is. “You can read as many statistics about poverty that you want, but it’s not until you see it first hand or hear a personal story, that you will actually understand it,” said Meagan, my team leader. So here is my story… On Thursday, July 9th, Team 3 visited a Puerto Plata Hospital to repaint the children’s ward and entertain the patients staying there. During our tour of the hospital, I struck up a conversation with a 19 year old Haitian girl named Esther. Esther spoke Creole (very similar to French) and because I am bilingual it was very easy to communicate with her. I discovered that she had previously broken both her legs and had now broken her leg for the second time, along with the pins holding her leg together (take about bad luck!). She was in uncontrollable pain but to top it off Esther is an orphan and has no one to take care of her. As such, she could not afford the $25,000 pesos (30:1 to the CND$) for her very much needed surgery. Esther said to me that she could not sleep because the pain was so great and asked me if I could help her. It broke my heart, but I had to say no. Moments later, Meagan approached me and said it might actually be possible that we can help Esther. Later that night, team 3’s leaders announced that already our team had raised enough money for Esther to have her operation, as well as extra money to get her on feet. You see, within 2 hours of our team hearing about this oppurtunity to help, 22 people were able to come together and pool our extra spending money.What a practical way to save a life in need! I can only imagine the difference that could be made if everybody came together to combat poverty. We received news that Esther has been sent to a hospital in Santa Domingo to receive her operation. Thank you Team 3 and other participants for helping Esther!

Some Words from our Students…

Yesterday, we visited the orphanage and we met some really great people. Since it was the first time any of us had ever been to an orphanage, we weren’t really sure what to expect. Despite their disabilities, each of them were more than happy to see new faces and make new friends. One boy in particular, named Tommy, really brightened our day. He was very happy when lunch time came and when he was sharing his book with all of his new friends.Along with playing with the children we also helped the caretakers with laundry and washing dishes. Both the children and the caretakers really appreciated our visit. This experience was an eye opener for each of us and we walked away looking at things from a different perspective.Katie, Brittany, Samantha, and Nicole Hola from Dominican Republic! It’s been five incredibly eye opening days. Myself, Miranda, Emily, Kathryn, and Kim are all sitting around a table in our hotel room recollecting our experiences thus far. On our first work day, we visited an orphanage in the morning and had a great time interacting with the disabled children. Playing at the park, feeding them, and helping with the daily chores necessary to keep the under staffed orphanage running. We spent the afternoon at a village starting the foundation for the additional room being built onto the school.The following day en route to a visit at a hospital, our group had a slight misfortune. Our ‘Beloved’ truck ceased to run! Luckily, within no time a replacement truck was sent, and we were once again on our way! Due to the delay, upon our arrival to the hospital our group had to come together and finish the job of peeling the numerous layers of paint from the walls. Now, this is one of those jobs that sounds easier than it actually is, like baking. Creating the perfect souffle is definitely easier said than done.Back to the hospital. This was one of the most emotional days so far. Walking among the beds of the sick children all with their family members by their sides, left us with a feeling of powerlessness. Seeing a child cry over a headache and not being able to help them was heart breaking, but the sense of community in those rooms was astounding. No matter who’s child was crying or simply in need of comfort, every mother was an arms length away. While a few group members entertained the children with music and colouring so the mothers could take a much needed rest, the other half of our group finished scraping and added the first coat of primer. Concluding our day at the hospital, our most recent adventure took us to an impoverished village where we painted, mixed concrete and dug trenches for the new kitchen that will allow the new school to open.Hero Holiday has been working on this project three years and its been a great experience being a part of the final stretch, its completion date on the horizon! The highlight of this day was being welcomed into the village by a crowd of children, all eager to interact with us. Everywhere we looked we saw children holding hands and jumping on the backs of the participants, blowing bubbles, and having our hair brushed and braided all contributed to an unforgettable day.Today we can’t wait to see what Hero Holiday has in store!Miranda Emily, Kathryn and KimXXOO

Please Don’t Stop the Music

There are 2 things that I just can’t seem to remember since I’ve been in the Dominican:1) DO NOT flush the toilet paper down the toilet, because it will plugwithout fail2) Don’t use the tap water to brush your teethMy roommate has very considerately posted a sticky note on the bathroom mirror that says “Melissa, don’t use the water to brush your teeth you goofy girl!”  I’m just starting to get the hang of this. But other than that, I’m having the most amazing time!! Today we visited a hospital in Puerta Plata where we painted a room for the children’s ward and I brought a guitar and went around jamming with the patients. I’m always amazed by the way that music breaks so many barriers, whether they be age, culture, language…it doesn’t matter when it comes to music. I tried to play some of the most well-known covers that I know (The Beatles, “Stand By Me”, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”), in hopes that the patients would know the songs…which as far as I know was an unsuccessful venture…but it didn’t matter. I played “Hey Jude” and half way through the song a man, probably in his early 70s, began clapping his hands to the music in such a rhythmic way – and man, do these people have rhythm –  it began to feel like a total cross-cultural jam session in the middle of a hospital. I wish there was a way to describe the sensation of unity in words, but words just don’t cut it. So one of my friends who works at the hospital is bringing my CDs tomorrow to some patients there that asked for them! It was an LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)ly beautiful experience to say the least. But ah! It is midnight and I have to be on a bus by 8:45 am tomorrow (that sounds like a lot of sleep but I need all I can get) to head over to a school/community center and work on building a kitchen! I would love to go on and on about what I’ve done/seen/heard here so far but…zzzzzzzzzz.——————————

See you in the morning!Melissa 🙂

Treasure in a Plastic Bottle

  Today on the day of team three’s garbage dump visit we all woke up bright and early, got a bite to eat and then started out our day with an emotional talk with Christal. She talked about the price of human life and us some stories about her Hero Holiday experiences in Thailand. We all began to realize, as Canadians, how lucky we are to have our freedom and how much we take it for granted. After a few tears were shed, we climbed aboard our bus and and made our way to the garbage dump. On our way, our translator taught us some easy phrases in Creole so that we would be able to communicate with the people at the dump.When we arrived, we began to hand out water and set up a water cooler for the workers to get clean water.   Immediately, a little girl names Fitzah came over and grabbed my hand leading me right into the middle of the garbage pile. She began to show me what exactly it was that I was supposed to do, pointing at the plastic bottles, bags and some glass items that we were to put into a large garbage bag. We began to look over of garbage pile not knowing what we would find. It was weird looking through to find what may be recycling to us is plastic treasure for little Fitzah. As we worked together, I found that she could speak some French, so with the little French that I know, I was able to communicate with her. She told me that she was 6 years old and has always been working at the dump along side both her mother and father, making less than a dollar a day. She was very interested in how we live, and I was able to teach her how to count to 10 in English, which she was very proud of. Being at the dump was a very emotional and eye opening experience, but I was very glad that I was able to help Fitzah and her family make a little extra money for the day. As we were leaving everyone on team 3 found someone to give their work gloves to, this was such a big gift to the people and is one very easy way to prevent many diseases. We all said our goodbyes to our new friends and dump co-workers and headed back to our temporary home at the resort. I believe that we all finished our day with a much better understanding of what poverty is and a very eye opening day.Genelle – Summer Intern

Cherish your Relationships

Today I had the privilege of taking a walk around one of the villages where our work site is located. This is my second year on a Hero Holiday and I have returned once more this July as a summer intern. The last time I had been to this village was a year ago, and it’s funny how much the people stick in your memory. Our building project here this time is to build an addition on to a school, and I spent most of my time shoveling a ditch at the back of the school along with the rest of my team.While on my walk it took a few minutes to recognize David, a man I had met last year at the same village. It was in fact, David who recognized me first. He even remembered my name! David speaks French and Creole (Haitians speak Creole and it very similar to French) and since I also speak French we are able to converse with ease. He asked me how I had been over the past year, and we got talking about his present life. David is lucky enough to have been educated in Haiti, but since living in the Dominican Republic for two years he has trouble finding a good paying job. He told me that to acquire a proper worker’s permit, it cost between $200-$400. When I said that was really expensive, he just laughed, indicating that it was completely infeasible for him. He told me that he would like to learn English, and said that in Haiti he studied computers and house building.  He asked me what I was planning to do when I graduated, and when I told him I’d like to study Human Rights he said that he too felt obligated to return and help the people of Haiti.It really touched me that someone I had only met once for a short while would be caring enough to remember me. The amount of  love and respect that the people here put into their relationships is so inspiring that it makes me realize something… Just as much as we have many things to offer them, there are equally as much things we can learn from the people we are helping here. There is a certain dignity allowed in their relationships with one another that we do not seem to posses in North America. David reminded me of how much it can mean to a person to simply remember their name, or inquire into how they have been. He allowed me to see that we must cherish and nurture every single human interaction that we experience, for this is how we show our love for one another.~Emma, a Hero Holiday Dominican Summer Intern

BERLIN’S DAY OF REALIZATION

My parents have protected me incredibly well as a child, preventing me from any danger in the Philippines, and as well as Canada but I forget that children, are just children and although they live in poverty they know what is wrong and right and that they also know how to show their love and respect for people. I can’t imagine holding a strangers hand, who looked a lot different from me if I was a child. I forget sometimes that they are people, no matter how desperate their lives can be.Everyday here is unpredictable but exciting in so many levels. We took our open back truck to our work site. In the morning we split apart and worked on building a kitchen for a school, by shoveling away through rocky ground. I have never sweat so much in my life! Then we switched teams by painting a layer of paint on the smooth concrete surface of the walls of the soon-to-be church upstairs. During these moments I was thinking about my dad and how he taught me how to paint, and also how my muscles built for dragon boating came in handy. We had a lunch back at the resort and then drove back to our work site, soon after. In the afternoon, it was my half of the teams time to explore the village nearby. Arriving at the village we greeted the many faces that stared at our foreign faces and smiled. The children ran to us, including this little boy named Felito. Automatically, the children grabbed our hands and wanted to play. At this point, Poverty in the Domincan Republic, was exactly the same way as I saw it in the Philippines . So their lifestyle wasn’t a shock to me. We stopped for a bit, and watched a few kids play dominos, and I joined in. Of course I didn’t win, but it was great to see them enjoy themselves, as they smacked the dominos on a thin wooden board that they balanced on their laps. It was awesome to have a feeling that they were open to let a stranger join in. I was also amazed, throughout this trip, that 3 certain things are universal and understandable, a wave, a smile, and a nod. The most powerful to me, is the smile. And walking through a place, looking extremely different from the people, I was amazed at how accepting they all were by showing these 3 signs.It was such an honor when they invited us to their local church, it was probably as big as my classroom, but definitely had character. All the children sat with their mugs & cups for what they were receiving after as they sang and chanted just the way we do back at my church. I understood two words as I sang and chanted with them, Christo and Alleluia! They played musical chairs and one group on their own humanitarian trip came sang them a song.As they day continued on, I think that I was so distracted by the kids who sat on my lap, played with my camera and glasses, that I forgot to look around. When I finally looked up to see them singing this beautiful song, I was so overwhelmed. I looked at all the sizes of children singing one song altogether and it finally hit me. As if something pierced my heart, and made the tears all pour out of my eyes. Many thoughts went through my head, one being “they are just like me”. Soon the numbers that, we are statistically seen as, flew over my head and I saw each and every child as who they really are, human beings. They sang with such strength, power and love for one another as well as Christ. As a religious person I felt extremely thankful for God giving me this opportunity to be with such amazing people. My tears soon caught attention to the kids, who automatically comforted me. The children tapped me on the shoulder and comforted me with their smiles. One girl named Jin, stared at me and, made a motion signifying her asking if I was crying. Then once I said yes she held my arm and slowly placed her head on my shoulder. I hugged her gently as a thank you. It’s crazy how simple gestures and actions speak much louder than words.As we were leaving a child in the church placed something in my hands. I stared at this gold bird that he made out of wire. I asked for his name, and it was something along the lines of Rueloso. I thanked him for (what I am assuming) was a gift, even though I barely acknowledged his presence throughout the day. I took a photo with him, because he provided me with so much happiness, for giving me something. Something so small, and not worth anything materialistically, but means the world to me. Considering that I was suppose to be the one that gives me something. It all went so fast, less than a minute that I spent time with him. One click of a camera and I had to leave. When walking back I looked into my hands and saw this golden bird that was beautifully crafted by this child. Tears poured out once again because I learned how easily attached I am to children who have shared even a second of a moment with me. Quickly as religious as I am I prayed to God, thanking him once again for moments like this, and for helping me realize that my passion is to affect people, like Gueloso, Jin, Felito, Hnobe, Cario, Sallysandra, Hieso, Tiguel and so many other children that have opened their arms and hearts to me.

A lot has happened throughout these few days we are here. Everyday I grow attached to more and more people, but everyday I have to say goodbye. But I realized that even though the sadness is brought upon us when we say goodbye their impact that created happiness on us is much greater. Don’t ever forget that no matter what has happens to you; don’t ever be sad it’s over, but to be thankful for it happening.

Today this trip that feels like a dream just became a reality. ~Berlin, a participant on Hero Holiday Dominican Republic July 2009To hear more from the JN Burnett team check out their blog page at: http://burnettkids.blogspot.com/