Getting to Work!

Now that participants have familiarized themselves with the basics of Dominican culture, it is time to get to work! Our time in Santiago is dedicated to three main service projects: Ciudad Santa Maria, Acción Callejera, and Niños con una Esperanza. Ciudad Santa Maria is a public Catholic school that serves children in disadvantaged neighborhoods. In our first service project with Ciudad Santa Maria, students were able to dig holes for a fence for the students' new amphitheatre. This task was not without its challenges, but program participants were able to perservere through both the heat and inconveniently situated rocks!

Niños con Esperanza is an organization that works with children in Cienfuegos. Today we spent time getting to know some of the children and look forward to making new tables for them in week 2!

Acción Callejera works with kids who are homeless or work on the street during the day. The program aims to provide a safe place for the disadvantaged youth to recieve counseling and love, gain literacy, and have fun! In the final week of the program, our students will help host a sumer camp for these children. So, today we visited the program site to become familiar with their mission. We are so excited to have the opportunity to work with such important organizations and inspiring children!