Thoughts

 

My name is Daniel Docherty and I am a brother at the University of Rochester Gammi Pi Chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity. This winter I will be participating in the Sigma Chi service trip to the Dominican Republic. Having traveled in the past, but never experiencing real poverty first hand, I'm excited to obtain a better understanding of the world and what needs to be done to improve it. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to accompany my brothers in undertaking such a noble cause, and I feel as though we will be making a tremendous impact on the lives of the people in L'Elmo. Unfortunately, not everyone is as fortunate and capable as living as comfortably as much of America does, and I feel as though by pursuing this type of philanthropy we will be promoting good will and the spirit of charity within our brotherhood and the community. 

In Hoc,

Daniel Docherty

Thoughts from Aasheesh Paliwal

As a college junior and Sigma Chi brother at the Gamma Pi Chapter of the University of Rochester, I have found that my fraternity has given me a myriad of opportunities to help both myself and others; whether it is volunterring at a soup kitchen, tabling for a charity event, or throwing a philanthropic spaghetti dinner, our fraternity always seems to have helping others and promoting a truer sense of justice in the world at the forefront of our ideals.  That being said, very rarely do any of us get to actually put ourselves in firsthand situations where we can truly help others in person, and that is exactly what I think our service trip to the Dominican Republic this winter will provide.  Thus, I am very excited about the prospect of actually placing myself in a situation that clearly needs my help, and doing so with my fraternity brothers will only make this experience more special.  Thanks to all who have supported this trip financially and logistically; together we can all make a difference.  

-- Aasheesh Paliwal

Thoughts from Father Brian Cool

It is hard to imagine but just two months ago the brother’s decided to put together this trip. It has been another world wind pulling it off with fundraising, organizational meetings and securing travel arrangements.  Unfortunately the flights are costing us an additionally $600 which we did not expect…all this because JetBlue changed their schedule from last year and we needed to get everyone back to Rochester by the first day of classes.  The brother’s have all paid their deposits, gotten their shots and a safety course, gone over the basics of the trip and taken their exams! I am still trying to get them to help raise the last of the needed funds for the second half of the materials and supplies.  Apparently, supplies are now very expensive because of the rebuilding on the other side of the island (Haiti)…supply and demand! I am certain everything will come together and we will have another great trip.  I can’t wait to see the brother’s discuss how life is completely different just some 90 miles from the shores of the United States.  As I have traveled the world and see much poverty, I can tell you the conditions in the Dominican Republic are as bad as anywhere I have ever gone.  The simple fact we are building outhouses tells us exactly the primitive conditions we will live and work under. I am very grateful for everyone’s generosity.  It certainly speaks to the support for this project but more so about the need to be one human family.

Peace, Fr. Cool

Getting Excited

Our flights have been purchased and we are currently in the process of several important steps, namely:
     -Immunizations and drugs (Anti-Malaria and Traveller's Diarrhea)
     -Setting up homestays in the Dominican Republic
     -Getting supplies like DEET bug-spray, mosquito nets, work gloves, etc.

We are very close to our fundraising goals and are confident that we will raise enough money to build our latrines.  Both those of us who have and have not been to the Dominican are getting excited for the impending trip, and we look forward to giving you more updates as well as accounts of the work we do.

Thank you again.

Why I am returning to the Dominican Republic for a second year By Siyani Fullerton

      This will be my second year in a row heading down to the Dominican Republic for our service trip. Many people have asked me why I am going again when I could be relaxing at home over break, sleeping in and playing video games. To that I simply respond, this is what I would rather spend my time doing. Life experiences such as this help you to mature as an individual and understand what is truly important in life, and it was not until I went to the Dominican Republic that I finally understood the magnitude of my blessings in life and how lucky I am.

    Constructing a building basically from scratch for one of the poorest communities in an already poor country opened my eyes to a world we all overlook. The work we did was taxing and required us to put in long hours in the heat and humidity of the Caribbean, but looking back all that didn’t matter because what got us through it was knowing that what we were doing was unheard of for these people and will still be in use long after many of us have left this world. The feeling I got when the young children were laughing and smiling and wanted to help by picking up the branches and rocks in the construction site, because they were going to finally have a safe place to play makes any pain I felt from the work seem non-existent. To them, this was a big deal and a luxury for the community that, without our doing would never come to fruition. Amazing how a project that we would simply hire a contractor to do in a weekend could mean so much to so many people. 

     So when people ask me if it was worth it, I most certainly say yes. I choose to give up my time to see old friends and unwind from the semester because the impact those people made on my life. In a way, I feel like I have known these people all my life. They took me into their homes and gave me shelter, food and welcomed me into their community like family. I get excited just thinking about seeing my host family again and sitting on the porch with their bird “Cucka”. I can still remember the feeling of the dirt sticking to my skin as I ran around the baseball field with the school children and joking around while listening to music at the barbershop, all things that I do here at home. I truly feel as if we became more than just a group of Americans to the people of L’Elmo, we became family, and there is not a better way I can think to spend my break then to go see my second family.

Why go back?

     I am going back to the Dominican.  The reason is relatively simple.  Living in the developed world makes me take my life for granted, and assume that the rest of humanity enjoys many of the luxuries that I do; food, water, a bed, etc.  The reality is far different.  Two billion people live below the UN standard of absolute poverty ($1/per day).  I've studied in Europe, I've experience many different cultures - but poverty does the same things everywhere: crime, domestic violence, broken families, starvation, despair.
    There is something visceral, some deep experience, that is gained from being transplanted from your comfort zone and dropped into an environment where everything is different.  When I came back from the Dominican in the wake of the Haitian earthquake (something that's faded from the world), I felt like a different person.  While I and my family regret that I have very limited time at home between coming back from Belgium, the Dominican, and going back to school, they understand that this is important to me.  Digging outhouses might not seem like much, but it's far better than the alternative - digging a hole.  Can you imagine doing that every day?  I know I couldn't.  If you haven't given any money towards this endeavor, please consider it.
Thank you.

-David Levy

DONATO BORRELLO TALKS ABOUT WHY HE IS GOING

A service trip to the Dominican Republic is an amazing opportunity to not only help out others in desperate need, but to put the rest of my world into perspective. We are currently planning to build outhouses for 10 families, not a glamorous job, but the fact that it needs to be done says a lot about the standards of living that these people are currently living in. Raising the money for travel and building materials is the first challenge, the next is getting immunized and jumping neck deep into a foreign culture entirely different from anything I've experienced. 

Deciding to go was not easy, it takes away time from my family and friends over the winter break, when time is my most precious commodity. Yet this is the kind of service that I can be proud of and will likely change my outlook. I am really looking forward to this experience, so hopefully we get enough donations!

-Donato Borrello

Micah Telegen's Thoughts

 My Experiences in the Dominican Republic
      Going into our trip to the Dominican Republic, I thought I knew what to expect.  I spent a summer in the poverty-stricken African nation of Ghana, and had had my eyes opened.  I knew how ugly the world is outside of our little bubble.  I knew about sustainability and about the inevitable awkward moments that would occur.  I knew about the culture shock and then reverse that accompany any trip that involves spending substantial time in the third world. And so I was amazed at how different everything was.
      One of the things that made the trip to Ghana a little more ‘sheltered’  was that my group had stayed in our own residence.  There was also a significant language barrier.  We were aware of the abject poverty and were exposed to the begging, but we could hide behind they “I don’t understand” barrier.  This was not the case in the Dominican.  While the conditions might have been a little better than in Africa, I was better able to understand their devastating effects on those who lived there because they could explain them to me.
      Lastly, I underestimated the effect that the trip would have on me.  I knew that I was helping the community by raising money and pitching in with the labor.  What I didn’t know was that I would get far more out of the trip than those that I helped did.  Being exposed to conditions like those in the Dominican helped me to put everything in perspective.  It is a lot easier to get over getting a C in a class if one understands that it could be a lot worse.  Going to the Dominican Republic allowed me to help people who needed it, but it also made me a better person.

David Levy's Reaction

About a month out, I sit here thinking about all the things I saw and learned about myself and the world.  One of the things that really struck me was the amount of garbage these people leave.  A lot of the rubbish is American.  Coca Cola, chips, candy, all are reminders of the First World while in the Third.
    The poverty we encountered was extreme.  I remember Father Ron telling us that some people just cannot handle the poverty and fall victim to despair, losing their sanity.  It is dreadfully sad that we spend billions of dollars on luxuries for ourselves when these people cannot even afford a meal of rice and beans. I am truly thankful to everyone who donated their money, especially during a recession.  Without your generosity and good faith, our trip would have been impossible.
   With regards to the building of a church labeled as a community center, the two truly are intertwined.  In L'Elmo, the people who don't have work don't do much but sit at each other's houses and play dominos.  Religion is crucial for these people because it is the only thing in their worlds that gives them hope.  The belief of salvation after death eases the pain of their poverty. Hopefully communal activities via the chapel will help them make progress in their lives.
Thank you again to everyone, its value is immaterial.

I also want again to direct you to our website with pictures.  There you can see exactly where your donation went.

Humbly,
David Levy

Peter Zhang's Reaction

We read about poverty in the newspapers, see its effects through television and movies. However, to truly understand poverty, one must live among the impoverished. This service trip to the Dominican Republic provided us with precisely this opportunity. We have lived among the poor, saw their culture and witnessed their adversity.

         This trip undoubtedly helped us appreciate our own lives significantly more. It truly made me see just how blessed we are. Although these people led tremendously hard lives, they are some of the happiest people I have ever witnessed. This truly made me realize that happiness involves much less than what we expect in this society.

         I hope that we can take what we learned from this experience and develop ourselves in ways that would best serve the interest of this world. This trip demonstrated that help is always needed, regardless of the caliber. I feel that it is important for the capable to aid the less fortunate whenever opportunity arises.

Jeffery Anderson's Thanks

I was fairly apprehensive upon arriving in the Dominican Republic on the afternoon of January 2^nd.  After all, it was my first time visiting a country that embraced a culture that differed significantly from that of the United States.  Despite the piles of trash on the sides of the roads and the reckless and unorganized driving, center-city Santo Domingo (for the most part) resembled the modern and westernized cities I have already visited in the United States.  However, as we exited the city on our way to Don Juan, the small town in which we were going to stay, the scenery began to rapidly change.  Looking out from the windows of the van, I saw for the first time in my life what third-world poverty actually consisted of: houses (if one could even call them that) that looked like they would be blown over in a stiff breeze, fires on the side of the street for burning trash (for there was no waste service, or trash cans for that matter), and, most prominently, individuals who looked as though they had not eaten a healthy meal in days.  Little did I know at this point that seeing these things would appear second nature to me less than ten days later.
      Our arrival in Don Juan was one to be remembered.  After a long day of traveling and a two hour trip northwest of Santo Domingo, we had arrived in the small town in which we would be staying for the week.  Almost immediately upon arrival and without very little instruction, we were dropped off at different houses throughout the community.  My house consisted of a large two-room wooden building with cracks in the wall (I could literally see my family’s chickens outside from the main room).  There was no discernable privacy whatsoever, and my family spoke absolutely no English.  What I had thought of only ten hours earlier as my primitive Spanish language skills had now become a valuable life-line that I would need to utilize for the next week.  While this first night’s stay might have seemed a little scary at the time, I can honestly say that it was an absolutely wonderful experience.  My primitive Spanish skills actually proved incredibly useful as I was able to learn from my family a great deal about the Dominican culture while at the same time personally experiencing the living conditions in a small third-world town.
      Every day, at approximately 8:00 in the morning, all of the Americans (my Sigma Chi brothers) would walk from their houses to our “central location,” Father Ron’s residence.  From there, we would spend the next 30 minutes traveling through the Dominican countryside to the town of L’Elmo, the site of our project.  Over the course of the week, we performed a great deal of manual labor and were able finish the walls of the newest church in the Dominican Republic.  Our tasks included digging a foundation, mixing and laying cement, cutting rebar, carrying and laying cement blocks, and leveling the inside of the church.  After each day of intensive labor, we would climb into the pick-up truck and travel back to Don Juan for a relaxing evening.
      Although this account to this point has not encompassed even close to everything I have to say about the trip, it is all that I have written to this point.  Throughout this last semester of my college career, I will be adding a significant amount of material to this brief overview of my Dominican experience.  In doing so, I will be personally reflecting not only the state of this third-world country, but also on how this experience has changed my life for the better.  As I begin to pursue a career in medicine next year, I have begun to think about the many ways in which I can contribute to assuaging the conditions in third world communities similar to Don Juan and L’Elmo.  Although I will continue to consider my options as a physician, I am confident that a significant portion of my career will be dedicated to international medicine.  Why?  As a Catholic who is called to serve the poor communities of the world, what kind of person would I be if I spent the rest of my life pretending that this kind of suffering did not exist?  Although I know I cannot solve the problem of world poverty or world hunger, I know that with my particular skill set, I will be able to help alleviate the situation by giving individuals in the third-world a chance to live the life that I have been so lucky to live.
Thank you again to everyone who helped make this trip possible, especially to our financiers without whom such a journey would never have been possible!

Adam Harris' Reaction

"An awesome experience for my first time out of the US..."


When I was growing up, I never really traveled the world like many of my friends have -- but I've always wanted to. I've also always wanted to be a part of some kind of volunteering/service trip where help is given to people who really need it. This trip to the Dominican Republic accomplished both of those things and so much more.

Seeing the poverty that they must endure every single day was absolutely heartbreaking to me. Of course I've seen pictures just like everybody else, but I feel it really doesn't hit you until you're actually there and experiencing it yourself. I couldn't be happier after meeting all the great people there and seeing the smiles that were on the little kids faces. It really made the experience even more valuable to me.

After returning home, I really feel like I have a new perspective on life and I will continue to help those people of the world who really need it as much as I can. Obviously, we can't do it all at once -- but if we all can do something no matter how small, hopefully we really can make a difference to those who need it. For anyone out there who feels like they want to do something like this, please do -- not only well you be helping others live a better life, but also for yourself by doing something good for the world.

Once again, thank you to all the people who donated and made this trip a reality... it couldn't of been done without you!

Pictures

We have uploaded a few hundred pictures of our trip to photobucket, where you can view them at your convenience. 

Trip Photos

We are going to have additional entries soon.

Return

We have returned safely and successfully from our trip.  Our flight out of Santo Domingo beat the Haitian earthquake by about 20 minutes.  Pictures will be posted soon as well as a more detailed recap.  The building is nearly complete, and we are thankful to all our donors for their invaluable aid.  On a different note, please consider donating to relief efforts in Haiti, whose capital has been nearly demolished.  Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and the community of L'Elmo is more fortunate than many places in Haiti.  You can donate through the American Red Cross or other established charities.
Thank you again.