Volunteer Visit

Recently from March 18-21, I went on a trip to visit a current Peace Corps Volunteer. I traveled from Santo Domingo to the northern part of the country. About a 3-4 hour trip by gua-gua and bus. This is a photo I took on the way somewhere between La Vega and Santiago.

The volunteer visit was a great time, and a really eye-opening chance to see a volunteer’s site and projects first hand. I visited Amanda and had the chance to see all the work she has done as a PCV over the past year working on ICT projects at a school in her pueblo. She teaches computer courses and English classes for students and community members and works with a local artisan group. Here are some of the photos I took when we visited the artisan group:

I do not really know how to play chess, and am not sure if I even like the game at all, but I am in love with this mini chess set. If I wasn’t living off a limited budget, I probably would have paid the pesos for it. All of the pieces the artisans make are carved from a large stone and then polished and perfected. Tourists visiting the area come to buy the pieces, and they make profits for themselves and their families. You can sort of see them at work in the back of that photo.

Visiting Amanda was a really good chance to sample the volunteer life for a weekend. I was really lucky to be able to sit in on the classes she teaches and meet the project partners she works with. After seeing Amanda at work, I realized that this is the type of volunteer experience to strive for - working on projects that are important to a wide variety of community members. Not only that, but we didn’t walk anywhere in the town without at least 8-10 people greeting her by name every single time. She really knows her community well, and I could tell that they value her there.

During the visit, we went to the Charcos, which are a series of waterfalls you can climb and swim. I loved it, but unfortunately don’t have any photos of the waterfalls, but you can see the website here. Enjoy these last few photos from the volunteer visit!

Have fun. Be well! :)

xo,

Emma