DU in the DR
By Charlotte Myers & Parker Litts
Page Title
Mural Project
The best way to learn about a place is to meet its people. That is exactly what we had the opportunity to do at the Padre Arias school. For two days, we worked with, learned from and built friendships with the group of children and faculty from this school. Thanks to Xavier and Leudy, who envisioned and prepared for this project, we were able to help the children to see how hard work and dedication can give rewarding results.
We got to practice our Spanish-speaking skills with the children and help them learn English words. It was a great way to learn, and often resulted in a game of charades. The children were so kind and curious to learn about us, just as we were to learn about them. As we painted, we learned a lot about the lives of these young Dominicans.
"The most touching moment was when one of the children, Lliana, gave me her bobby pin as a goodbye gift. It was something small and I have too many bobby pins myself to count but her gesture was so sweet I almost wanted to frame it just to keep the memories. Instead I’m going to keep it in a small box of mine where I keep important things so that I can look back at the wonderful memories. Even as I think about it now, the children and painting the mural was by far the most memorable and enjoyable experience of the whole trip.”
-Mary-Janat
Despite our language barrier, we were able to play games and be silly with the children. Since the mural painting took place at their school, we got to experience some of their daily routine. We ate our lunch in their cafeteria and it was cooked by their school chef. The lunches consisted of chicken and rice along with some plantains and other vegetables. It was very basic, but absolutely delicious.
On the second day, during our lunch break, the cafeteria turned into a concert hall. A couple of the girls had been humming a song. Eventually they started to sing it, and their classmates joined in. Using the tables and our hands like drummers, we all kept a beat as music filled the room. This went on and the children sang passionately together. The room filled with music