DR Jan 2011

I just got home from my third trip with Shine the Light to Dominican Republic. Each time I go, I love it even more. My goal is to go there to help out and to try and give from the much that I’ve been given…..but every time I come home,I feel as though I’ve received more than I have given. These people have nothing in comparison to what we have here in North America. Most children go bare foot, living in houses such as this with no electricity or running water.

The floors are made of dirt and when it rains they are completely covered in water. They have to pay for heath care and education. Which is something most of them will never be able to afford. They dream of having an education but when the household income is under $90.00 a month, paying $30.00 for a uniform is out of the question. They have hopes and dreams for things that we have right at our fingertips.

One day we headed to the dump to work alongside the Haitian people. This is how many of them earn their income. Collecting plastic bottles. We each had a partner and worked alongside of them…hoping to double their income for the day. For one large garbage bag of bottles they would earn around 13 pesos which is under 50 cents a bag. This is what they do 6 days a week in the scorching heat. My partner’s name was Jeff. He had been working there with his mom for the past 9 years. He is 18 years old and had a very quiet confidence about him. We got to be in his shoes for a day. It was such an honor to work alongside of him.

Despite the poverty I am always amazed at how often these people smile. The kids don’t have trunks filled with toys but are creative with the old tires bouncing around and the plastic bags and sticks they find on the ground make fantastic kites. This trip I found that we have a lot of similarities. We are all human. We all crave love and acceptance. We all had the same hopes and dreams as kids that they have, except for we were privlidged to be born in a country where seeing those dreams being fulfilled is a reality.

Here are some of the beautiful people I got to spend my week with.