After months and months of planning and organizing, I finally made it to the Dominican Republic where I will be for the next year! I arrived in the DR last Sunday afternoon after a long night and day of traveling. I spent the rest of that day trying to get settled into my new house. I am living with a girl named Kelsey that also works for Kids Alive, and another girl, Nikki, who works for a different organization. The house that Kelsey found earlier this summer is beautiful and in a perfect location, making it very easy for me to get to the school in the morning.
 |
| New house for the year. |
This past week, there were a few different trainings going on, one at the Ark (orphanage) and one at ANIJA (the school I am working at). Different groups of people from the US and Canada often come down to do teacher training or other programs with the people working here, so this week was a little chaotic because of that. I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday tutoring kids in the morning at ANIJA and in the afternoons I went out to the Ark to play with kids and practice my spanish a little more. I thought I learned a lot of Spanish while in Guatemala but I am now learning that the Spanish here is so much different. I'm sure it will take some time for me to catch on, but hopefully I'll get the hang of it. On Thursday and Friday, we had teacher training at ANIJA with a group of women from Canada who came down to train all of the teachers, both Dominican and American. It was nice to be involved in that so I could get to know the teachers a little more and become a part of their community.
 |
| ANIJA (the school I will be working at). |
 |
| ANIJA |
 |
| The best pine tree drawing I've ever seen. |
 |
| Tutoring room at ANIJA. |
 |
| Group of kids waiting to be taken to the Ark after school. |
ANIJA is the school where the kids from the orphanage go, as well as other students from the community that need the help from Kids Alive. Parents of students that aren't at the Ark have the opportunity to come help in different ways at school in exchange for being able to have their kids go to the school. The students from the Ark (orphanage) are bused in to the school in the morning and ride back after school to spend the afternoon studying more and playing at the Ark. The Ark is made up of 10 houses, each with house parents that have their own biological kids, as well as 8-10 kids that have been brought in from abusive situations, to live in the Ark until they are about 18 years old. It is incredible to see how the house parents continue to treat all of the kids as their own and they all emphasize the importance of forming family bonds and making sure every kid is surrounded by people that love them unconditionally.
As of now, the plan is for me to be working at ANIJA in the mornings, working on tutoring kids that may have undiagnosed learning disabilities or just need more help outside of the classroom. I'll also be helping in some of the preschool, kindergarten, and first grade classrooms, trying to get them set up with running stations in their classrooms so the students can have a variety of different activities going on at one time. This is a concept that the teachers have heard of, but haven't been able to implement yet, so hopefully we can get it started soon! In the afternoons I will be going to the Ark to do some more tutoring with the kids there, as well as helping with sponsorship work. Each child that lives at the Ark has 8 sponsors that donate every month to pay for their living needs. I will be helping the kids with projects that will be sent to their sponsors a few times a year to update them on how they are doing. This will be the plan until I get back from my trip home over Christmas, then we will re-evaluate and see how I can be of the most help to the ministry.
I just want to say "Thank you" again to everyone who has donated and supported me in various ways in order to help me get here. This dream truly would not be a reality if I didn't have such a great support system encouraging me through every step of this journey. This is something I have dreamed about doing since I was 16 and it is still surreal that I am actually here! I have no doubt that this is where I am meant to be at this point in time and I am so grateful that you have all helped me get here!
 |
| Houses at the Ark. Each one is named after a Fruit of the Spirit. |
 |
| Another view of the Ark. |
 |
| Jewel, the cutest kid in town. |
