Brian Amato · @BJAmato
3rd Jul 2018 from TwitLonger
My Reflections on our @BeavsWOBorders Trip to the Dominican Republic
While attending a pre-travel symposium for study abroad programs we were asked what do you want your students to gain from their experience. After some thought I answered...perspective. As a coach I’ve often found that we can tell someone what to expect, we can explain it very clearly and accurately but until they experience it for themselves they simply can’t fully appreciate the message and can’t truly “get it”. It turns out that one’s own experience is far more powerful a teacher than being told something. In this case that couldn’t be anymore true and little did I know that we all, including myself, would gain a level of perspective I couldn’t have imagined.
We went to the Dominican Republic to serve, to do physical labor, to complete community service projects, to donate items, to foster goodwill by giving back. We planted enough corn and yucca to hopefully help feed a community for the upcoming year, we built an enclosure to house rabbits to be raised as both a food source and sustainable source of revenue for the community, we donated,15 large bags of sporting gear, clothes, shoes, socks, hats and other various items to children in several communities. I had an idea about the physical tasks we were going to take on but what I didn’t fully anticipate was the relationships we would build along the way.
Upon initially arriving in the DR, seen through the lens of Americans fortunate enough to be a part of an institution like Oregon State University it’s very easy to see what people in the DR “don’t have”, what they live “without”, what “daily struggles” they have. But quickly the people of the DR demonstrate to you that your lens is very narrow. Through their zest for life, through their hospitality (despite not having a lot in terms of material wealth), through their propensity to constantly play music at “11”, through their ability to always find time to dance, through their ability to be “tranquilo” basically all the time, through their tendency to constantly smile they quickly put a lot into perspective for you. They show you what they do ”have” and how life can be more about being grateful for what you do have and less focused on what you don’t. They show you certain things in this world are free but are so universal and powerful that they can bridge cultural differences, can overcome complete language barriers, and can build understanding of how much more alike than different. Those things like:
- Listening to loud music and have the most intense 30 min dance party you have ever seen
- Playing sports (whether it’s friendly game of baseball with the kids of a local little league or
an intense international pickup basketball game with the local team)
- Simply working along side someone day in and day out in a field or on a building project
All of these shared experiences build relationships, respect, fellowship, and community at a deeper level and in a more authentic manner then you could have ever previously imagined.
One more thing I have to mention. Toward the end of our time in El Puerto the Padre took a group to see a “batey” the poorest of communities of sugar cane field workers where predominantly Haitian immigrants live in the most meager of situations. Family’s living in homes, shacks really of no more than a few sq feet with no windows, no electricity, no running water or bathrooms and as striking as the living conditions were we tried to remind the students of something. These people are largely there because they fled conditions that were worse. Let that sink in “worse”…..The conditions they fled may not have been physically much different but there was one thing they had here the didn’t have previously. HOPE. They might not even have a lot of hope but they had a little and a little is so much better then none it makes it worth the risks and conditions. HOPE… it’s been enough to spur change in this world previously and will do so again.
We went to the Dominican Republic to serve, to do physical labor, to complete community service projects, to donate items, to foster goodwill by giving back, we did all of those things but the truth is we gained for more than we gave. I’ve expressed to several people who have asked that I’m glad I was able to give as much as I had but disappointed I couldn’t give more, I am grateful for the experience but almost feel guilty for having gotten so much in return. Thank you to those who made this experience possible, to all those I shared the experience with, and especially to those we met, served, worked with, played with, danced with, and laughed with in the Dominican Republic…until next time.