I volunteered with Dove Missions in the Dominican Republic during the second half of October 2011, after discovering the website during an Internet search. I should explain that although I had participated in several short-term volunteer projects in the past (all in India), and had been studying Spanish for about two years, initially I had no interest in the Dominican Republic at all. I was much more interested in going to a Spanish-speaking country possessing what I considered at the time to be a “high” culture, meaning to me a lot of famous archaeological sites and a prominent indigenous population: a country like Mexico or Peru. If I thought of the DR at all, it was as a place for tourists to enjoy a Caribbean beach on the cheap, and perhaps to get married at the same time. I was also dimly aware that some major league baseball players in the United States were originally from the DR.
I changed my mind after my Spanish teacher introduced my class to the music of the famous Dominican singer/songwriter Juan Luis Guerra, who I had never heard of before then. Despite the fact that previously I knew nothing about Latin music and actually rather disliked it, I quickly became an ardent fan of “JLG” (as we fans like to call him). Besides being a world-renowned ambassador for Latin music, particularly merengue and bachata, I discovered that he was also a Christian who had started his own charitable foundation. Subsequently I decided that if the Dominican Republic could produce someone who created such wonderful music and who did so much good, it had to be a special place, with truly special people.
My friends have never been particularly supportive of my volunteer efforts, finding it hard to understand why someone would willingly spend their brief vacation in a developing country, working in a possibly uncomfortable, deprived environment, instead of just signing up for a luxury cruise. Some thought I would be attacked and robbed as soon as I got off the plane in the DR, and at least one neighbor thought Dove Missions was really just a front for a white slavery ring (although what possible interest a white slavery ring would have in a middle-aged man was not explained).
Needless to say I was neither mugged nor kidnapped during my stay in Puerto Plata, a Dominican city on the north coast of the island of Hispaniola, shared by the DR to the east and Haiti to the west, where Dove Missions operates a Youth Development Center for local disadvantaged kids. I was there to teach English mornings and afternoons to both boys and girls ages 7-15 or so, using my more-or-less intermediate level Spanish to explain when I sensed I wasn’t being understood. All the kids served by the DM Youth Development Center attend regular school either mornings or afternoons, and besides offering English classes, the Center attempts to inculcate moral/spiritual values as well as teaching crafts such as jewelry-making. Some of the girls in the Center have been able to earn money through the sale of their jewelry.
A highlight of my visit was the afternoon I accompanied some of the older girls to a local recording studio (although hardly what Americans would think of as a “real” studio) to record a couple of songs for a Christmas CD Dove Missions was putting together to publicize their work.
I also accompanied DM Executive Director Liz Mckie’s husband, James, on a brief visit to Cap-Haitien, Haiti, to deliver supplies and to see for myself what that often maligned country was like. Although the city itself was very crowded, chaotic, hot and dusty, it reminded me very much of urban India and therefore wasn’t particularly shocking. Much of the countryside is quite beautiful, and nearby looms the very impressive Citadelle Laferriere, a huge stone fortress perched on top of a mountain, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In Cap-Haitien Dove Missions also works with Father Andre, who runs an orphanage for local children. Although we were unable to visit the orphanage during this visit, I hope to do so in the future.
Of course, a two-week visit was barely enough even to learn the names of all the children in the Youth Development Center, let alone to do a thorough job of teaching English. However, since my return to the US and “conventional” life, I’ve decided to improve my Spanish and French, start learning Creole (most people in Haiti are not fluent in Standard French), and research some other craft-making possibilities for the local people Dove Missions seeks to help. Another possibility is Spanish literacy for the parents of the Youth Development Center kids, as sadly, many of the adults in the poorer neighborhoods are not literate in their own language.
I’m not under any illusions that my small efforts will bring about sweeping changes in the Dominican Republic or anywhere else, but I don’t particularly worry about that. I also believe that we’re not always aware of how great an effect even our most casual efforts can have on the lives of others. I’m sure my Spanish teacher had no idea that playing a fragment of a song in class would motivate one of her students to investigate and visit another country for altruistic purposes, there perhaps to motivate a few local children to continue studying English in order to secure relatively decent employment later on in life, freeing them to become productive members of their society with the means and motivation to help still others. So I would encourage anyone thinking of participating in the work Dove Missions carries out to do so, even if it’s only for one day.
There’s a well-known story that perhaps many are already familiar with, but for those who are not, it is well worth repeating: A man walking along a beach comes across thousands of stranded starfish, who will surely die if they’re not returned to the water. In the distance he sees a small boy picking them up one by one and throwing them back into the ocean. He commends the boy for his good heart but points out he can’t possibly save all the starfish, so, ultimately, what does it matter? As the boy picks up another starfish, he shows it to the man and says, “It matters to this one!”
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