Language is no barrier

Alternative Spring Break is an option for all at Virginia Wesleyan College who are sick of drinking the week away or just looking for something new and different to do. This year, five students from Wesleyan teamed up with Orphanage Outreach to volunteer in the Dominican Republic.

“I just wanted to do something that wasn’t about me” said senior Kristen Cabido.

With that on her mind, she joined the four other students March 17 at the Norfolk International Airport for a flight to a place they would never forget. The group arrived on the island in Monte Cristi around 10 that night. Once at the orphanage, they saw for the first time, where they would be staying for the next week. According to Cabido the orphanage, where the children live year-round, consisted of a large fenced open space with a tarp around it. They were to sleep in a cabana that night.

“The whole time I was there I never got a good night’s sleep,” she said. “Every time someone got up to use the bathroom I was up.”

Volunteers and children alike woke up to the sound of local goats and chickens. Cabido explained that there were so many chickens because cockfighting is a legal form of income there.

“The mama goat just had babies,” she said, remembering how many goats there were. “They were even in the main streets.”

Experiencing the culture was one aspect of the trip, but helping the children was the main goal of the volunteers as well as the organization.

Orphanage Outreach is a non-profit organization that began in 1995. Since, it has gained over 2,500 volunteers. Their goals are to provide basic necessities, offer the children a quality education, and eventually help them become financially self-sufficient. The organization does this through hands-on volunteering as well as donations. There were about 40 volunteers on this trip and every day their goal was to teach the orphans.

“We helped them to learn and practice English in order for them to further their education,” Cabido said. “This is a land that relies on tourism. Who else goes there besides Americans and those who speak English?”

She had to devise a lesson plan and teach a class every day. Cabido chose to teach the beginning class, ages 4 through 12. According to Cabido, this class learned things such as the alphabet and colors.

“In the Dominican Republic, ‘Y’ is pronounced ‘J’. Yellow became Jello and eventually J-Lo” she said smiling. “It was interesting to see what they would come up with.”

Cabido said that the children really appreciated the volunteers being there.

“They know you are there to help in whatever way you can.”

Most of the children at the orphanage were quite young. Some were there because their parents and family members had died. Others lived there because their families didn’t have enough money to support them. One woman staying there was 20. She was a refugee who came to the Dominican Republic from Haiti by herself when she was only 7.

“She was so good at volleyball,” Cabido said. “I wish I could help her to come over here and play professionally.”

The surrounding area was similar to the orphanage. The roads were dirt and people lived in shacks made out of whatever materials they could find. There was running water, but it was cold, and some people didn’t have a sewage system, she said.

“The only thing that bothered me was that we had to sleep with insect nets around our beds,” she recalled. “Sometimes flies would follow you wherever you would go.”

None of this bothered the children. Cabido said she learned a lot from being there. Most importantly, the children of the Dominican Republic inspired her and taught her one lesson above all:

“It’s not always what you don’t have-it’s what you do have. Those kids did not have a lot; they don’t focus on that. They appreciate everything that they do.”

“I personally have no reason to complain,” she said. “Those kids never even had a parent who cared about them.”

Cabido will take that lesson with her wherever she goes. She says she would definitely replace the common spring break with a trip like this again.