Celebrando el Cibao

Yuliana, Henri and I just returned from spending three days in Jarabacoa at the Celebrando el Cibao camp (August 24-26), and everything ran smoothly. A lot of what we taught the kids seems like common sense, things that Americans learn at an early age, but here the whole “thinking-outside-the-box (or in this case, island) doesn’t really exist. Here is a quick rundown of what we did and what the kids (hopefully) learned:

• A presentation on water contamination. We talked about all of the pollutants that can be in a river, even in a river that looks clean and clear (washing motors in the river, dumping laundry and dishwashing detergent, trash, flea-ridden dogs swimming, etc.) and how we can prevent those things from occurring. Then we all went down to a river and swam for a couple of hours.
• A gameshow called “Quien es ese Americano?” (who is this american?). The kids were given descriptions of one of the 22 volunteers that were there and had to guess who it was. An example: this volunteer was born in Tennessee, her parents were born in China, she studied social work, and wants to be a doctor when she leaves Peace Corps…who is this American??? Afterwards, we all pointed out in what state we lived and what countries our families are from. Everyone in the Dominican Republic thinks that America equals “Nueva Yol” (New York), so it was good to explain that the United States is a lot bigger than just that one part. And after explaining that our families all emigrated from different countries and we all therefore have different backgrounds, one girl asked us if we were satisfied with the diversity in the country. We all explained that yes, it is one of the things we are most proud of about the US.
• Guest speakers came to tell about the religions of Judaism and Islam, which most of the kids never even knew existed. The only religions that people usually know about here, especially in the smaller campos, are Catholicism and Evangelicalism.
• A group of Koreans who are in the Dominican Republic volunteering came to teach us how they greet each other in Korea. All of the kids practiced bowing and then saying “Ahnyahng!” (For you Arrested Development fans, it was hilarious to see 50 Dominican youth yelling “Ahnyahng” over and over again.)
• All of the volunteers did a short presentation on a country, and the kids had passports and traveled around the world, learning interesting facts about all of the countries. I taught the kids about Finland (in honor of Ms. Noora Lento) and the facts that everyone liked were that they have a female president and that in part of the country there are 50-plus days of no sun in the winter, and in the summer that are 70-plus days of constant sunlight, and that all males have to serve in the army once they turn 18.
• Kung Fu experts came and gave a martial arts demonstration.
• We toasted s’mores (or in Spanish- s’mas) over a bonfire. My kids had never even eaten a marshmallow before so that was a totally new experience.
• And of course we had a talent show, complete with a limbo contest. It is basically a requirement to have a talent show at these camps because the kids absolutely love to show off their singing, dancing, and poetry reciting skills. And they all loved doing the limbo, which I don’t think any of them had done before.