Multiple flights, searching for a Starbucks, flat tires and a 5 hour trip to the border of Haiti up and down mountainous roads. This was the first 36 hours of the trip. The plan was to stay a month, teach STEM and Jesus to kids in the village and in the school. It was an amazing trip where I learned just as much as the students.
As the days progressed I began to walk around the small village. Sometimes alone speaking broken Spanish and on rare occasions I had an interpreter.
I had come to share with them the joy of learning through our STEM products.
I brought gears and shared about mechanical engineering and teamwork. I brought building straws and shared on structural engineering and a strong foundation in life.
Sometimes with STEM I add art. One day I filled my backpack with a bottle of water, an empty salsa jar , a notebook and a package of brushes with a water color packet from the dollar store. Then I headed to the village. I wish you could have seen their faces. They were so happy . Their smiles shined so brightly.
I sat down and poured some water in the jar and watched them paint to their hearts content. Then I went to some of the little huts with the half naked kids and sat in the dirt and painted with them. The children were in shock that I would sit on the dirt and come to their level. It was truly one of the best days of my life that still brings tears to my eyes.These children are worthy of us coming to their level and encouraging them to dream.
During the month stay in the mountainous jungle I had the privilege to teach at a school. We walked to another small town with suitcases of stem products. The teachers and principal were enthralled to see their students fully engaged in our STEM class. I was blessed to have an interpreter that day as I shared about different inventors, scientists and engineers. They were able to know that there are people like them who’ve been in their shoes and look like them too.
It’s such a privilege to do laundry in the creek beds with these kids and also open their minds to a world they’ve never known. They truly are Dominican Delights.