A lot has happened since the last update! Volunteers are throwing fundraisers, going strong in their campamentos (day camps), working hard on their CBIs (community-based initiatives), and getting closer to their host families. Also, last Friday each route went on a different ‘route adventure’. Each supervisor spent the day with their entire route together doing an activity and having lunch before returning to communities in the evening.

Allison’s route went to Sabaneta where there is an artificial lake and some caves which used to be inhabited by the Tainos when the Spanish came. Libby and Shayna took their routes together right up to the western edge of Élias Piña where the Volunteers learned about the border region with Haiti and immigration policies. They also spent some time in the cultural center near there and heard some live merengue (some even danced!). Lindsey and Sami’s routes went on a nature hike through one of our communities and had lunch together. Hannah’s route also went hiking near one of her communities and got a great view of San Juan! Jackson made a movie with his route that will be featured at debriefing (and is sure to be uploaded to facebook and youtube afterward).

Next Monday will be a bittersweet day for the Volunteers since they will be leaving their communities in the morning and saying goodbye to community members at their despedida (goodbye party). In the afternoon they will be headed to Santo Domingo to do some souvenir shopping and by dinner they should be at their debriefing hotel in Juan Dolio, a little beach town where they will be able to do closing activities and relax the next day.

We are so sad to see our Volunteers coming to the end of their journeys but so proud of what they have accomplished and the fine young men and women they have become. It has been a pleasure to work with each of them this summer and there are now 26 communities in the Dominican Republic that are a little brighter than they were in May.