We're All Packed and Ready to Travel!

 Welcome to the 2024 DR Projects travel blog!  We will be documenting the trip to the Dominican Republic with 14 volunteers from the Norwich Congregational Church and the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, UCC.  We depart Friday night from Logan Airport and will be landing in the wee hours in Santiago, the second-largest city in the DR.  From there, we'll take a short trip to the Sana "Secret Garden" for rest and brunch, and later that afternoon travel to Cotui and our headquarters at the Hostal Maria Yoban.  More on our itinerary in future blog posts.

Planning and preparation for our trip, the 33rd led by Rita Severinghaus, the founder of DR Projects, has been going on for months, and we have already shipped large amounts of material to the DR, thanks to the superb driving skills of Frank Perotti and Emma Taylor, who piloted truckloads of donated materiel to Camden, NJ, where it was shipped to the DR.  Along with clothing, medical supplies, dental supplies, and school supplies, were able to ship three smart boards for the Altagracia school, where we have been working for six years to teach English.

This past Saturday, the entire group met at the Norwich Church for our Packing Day.  We still had a significant amount of donated supplies to bring, and everyone in the group brought two suitcases to be filled, leaving enough room in each for our personal belongings.  In the end, we filled 20 suitcases, taking advantage of Jet Blue's allowance of two checked bags per person.  Between these bags and our backpacks, we'll have enough room for our own stuff as well as all of the material to be given to the school, local health, the Lions Club nursing home, and the village of Hernando Alonso, the home of many longstanding friends.  We'll be received there at the house that was built years ago by a DR Projects group from the Norwich church.

There's more to say before we depart, and there will be photos from Packing Day as well in the next daily blog post.  Rita is already in the DR, and reports that the students and staff at the Algagracia School are very excited for our arrival.  We are certain to receive a warm and well-choreographed welcome!

Please feel share the blog address with everyone you know who is interested in our trip.  We know that there are many of you back in Vermont and New Hampshire who have supported us, and donated, and kept us in your prayers.  We couldn't do it without you.  Here's our address:  www.DRProjectsTrip2024.blogspot.com

Blessings,

Rob Grabill, Scribe



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Packing Day Photos

Image
 We will try to mix photos and text when we blog, and here is the first batch of photos.  Packing Day accomplished a lot.  Not only did we fill 20 suitcases with important donations for our friends in the DR, but we also organized and cleaned out the basement storage at the Norwich Congregational Church,  where DR Projects has been accumulating donations for years.  Also, importantly, we made great strides in enhancing group chemistry and teamwork.  It will be crucial for us to work together and communicate well when we're in the DR, and Packing Day showed that we are indeed a well-functioning team. Only two more days until we depart!
Read more

Safely Arrived!

 I found enough internet connectivity at Sana to provide a brief update!  We had smooth on-tie flight and arrived safely at Santiago early this morning.  Fortunately, the missing passport at Loga Airport wqs only issing briefly.  We made our wy through LONG imigration lines at the airport, claimed our bags, and met our welcoming committee (Emma, Luis and Glen, our longtime driver).  The airport was amazingly crowded and busdy at 4:00 a.m.  We made the quick trip to Sanam grabbed an even quicker three hours of sleep, and will soon have breakfast before heading to Cotui. No photos for now, but if we took any gorup shots we would all be smiling.  We can't wait to get started!
Read more

Last Teaching Day/First Smart Board Zoom with NH!/Nursing Home Visit

Image
 Thanks so much to Nicole Lackie, who did the blogging for the last three days.  Your crusty veteran blogger Rob "El Pastor" Grasbill back here for the last blog from Cotui before we begin an extended trip home.  Good thing I am blogging, since Nicole was one of the real stars at the Altagracia school today! We got to school in time for our first "normal" opening ceremony.  Tuesday's was a welcome ceremony, Wednesday's was rained out,  and we will once again be celebrating (and saying goodbye) on Friday.  So today's was typical:  All of the students lined up in the big outdoor courtyard, the flag was raised as the kids sang along with the very long DR national anthem, and the students filed off to classes in two big lines, passing all of us and exchanging high fives, handshakes, and hugs.  Several of the students had made fan mail at home, and gave it to their favorite teachers. We gathered in the small room that has been our home base all week, f...
Read more