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!