Kids at CONANI Followed by a Bachata Dance Party

Hola!

One of the other service sites that we have been at is CONANI.  CONANI is a government run orphanage for kids with disabilities.  There are about 70 children of all ages with varying levels of disability, therefore it tends to be controlled chaos there.  We spend every morning beginning with feeding the children breakfast.  We then come together and decide the game plan for the day including physical therapy and general interactions with the children.  It can be difficult at times because many of the children are not able to communicate regardless of the language barrier.  However, their smiles and laughter brighten up the whole day.  The limited staff there do an excellent job of meeting the children´s basic needs, however we are able to spend individual time with the children focusing on social interaction and mobility.

Its never a dull moment at CONANI.  While treating the children, we also need to keep an eye out for children running their wheelchairs down the ramp into a wall, jumping through the window into the therapy room, and locking themselves in the closet.  Nevertheless, we may leave the site exhausted but by the evening we are able to smile and laugh at all the memorable moments and children.  Over the next few visits, we plan on collaborating with the staff on feeding positions for the children.

The children have been so warm and are hungry for attention. Seeing these children with so many physical and emotional needs and the lack of resources available to them can be heartbreaking. Despite their circumstance, they run around the orphange playing and laughing with us. They have welcomed us into their lives with open arms. Humbling. We reflect on our own lifes, and our support from our families, friends, and communities. What a completely different world. It has been difficult at times, especially knowing the privileges and comfortable lives we come from. We come to this orphange knowing that after two weeks we will leave and return to our lives. Our hope is to return with a renewed sense of purpose to use the opportunities that have been handed to us to continue to serve the communities we live in.

This afternoon, we toured Centro Leon, an art and culture museum. We learned about the history of Hispanola as well as the origins of the Dominican culture.  The Dominican culture has both Spanish and African influences. The museum also included several modern and contemporary art pieces that were quite thought provoking. Of course, we could not help following the tour with a Presidente and dessert!

Later in the evening we had our first merengue and bachata dance lessions at ILAC to celebrate the Creighton students´ end of their semester. Us gringas did not even need any Presidentes to get us out on the dance floor! We are looking forward to this weekend. We will be taking off to Santo Domingo for some cultural learning and relaxation at the beach.

Besitos!

Ann, Jess, and Andrea...who were renamed to Isa, Yessica, and Elena