One BIG Family…
All year we have been counting down the months, weeks, and days until we would finally return to Dominican Republic to get our hands dirty for, and our hearts warmed by the hundreds of children that opened up their arms to us on previous Hero Holidays. Both of us having been on a Hero Holiday to Dominican Republic before the thought of coming back as interns was truly exciting because it meant that we would get to stay longer and become more involved and attached to projects.
Being interns has been such a great experience as we work along with some of the most amazing people in the world: our fellow interns and LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) staff. Most of us were strangers when we first met up in Toronto, but the minute that we started talking, everything clicked. As the days and weeks have gone by, we have laughed and cried together through this emotional experience. We’ve worked hard and played hard. Not to mention motivated and supported one another. We spent time and energy helping to plan events and little surprises for the participants and loving every minute of it. We even paid tribute to the LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) staff by taking their own talents and quirks adding in our own little twists in a funny skit on Talent Show night. Through everything, we have experienced we have learned to work together and love each other as a family. What we can take back from this journey is a new perspective in our lives and an opened mind to new possibilities for the future. If we love one another and have hope in our hearts then we will most definitely see change.
As our trip draws to a close a common conversation topic has been about going home. We look forward to waking up in the morning and going out to make a difference in our community. We are not going to lie, it is going to be hard to go home and not be able to go out everyday and actually see how we are making a difference through hard work. But from the things that we have witnessed on this trip we will work hard to make a difference and let people know about our journey over this past month. Although people may not completely understand why we would spend our summer vacation helping the less fortunate, we plan to inspire them to want to use their lives to make a difference in someone else’s too!
Over this last month, our eyes have been opened and our lives have been changed. It is because of the twinkling eyes we look into on our work sites and the cute little hands that we hold. Not only that but the heart warming stories we have heard from the people we have worked with. The choice to become an intern this summer was one of the best decisions of our lives and if we had the choice to do it again we wouldn’t change a thing. So, yes, it will be hard leaving but we will always have the memories to look back on and the conviction to know that we made a world of difference in so many peoples lives.
~ Joy and Emily, Dominican Republic Summer Interns