Summer School is Cool

The most popular place to be in my community this summer isn't the river or out in the fields picking mangoes. Instead, kids of all ages are flocking to the community center for English class and a literacy club run by me and my sister, who is spending a month of her summer vacation in the D.R. Kids have been so excited to start class that they were arriving an hour early. Dominicans are never early, as I have previously mentioned. The enthusiasm the students have for class reminds me of how my little brother and cousin would wake up early on the weekends to play video games. They went to bed dreaming of the fun they would have the next day.

Even when full the community center is very airy

It has been wonderful to see kids learning and coming back the next day impatient to learn more. However, we have only had class for one week and we are already over our maximum capacity of students. On the last day of class this week we had over forty students participating. There were enough chairs and table space for only half of those students. Station activities helped to lessen the fighting over chairs, each student got some time sitting down. But with so many students the room remained crowded leading some older students to sit outside. 

Summer classes are not the only event that suffers from a lack of space. The community center is used for a variety of events, but can only hold at most 60 people out of the 500+ residents of my community. Last week the Senator of Samana, Prim Pujals, came to speak to my community about our lack of running water, and our library project. The community center was jammed packed, with people piled up outside looking in the windows to hear the senator's speech. The Senator told us that he could do little to help us on his own but he signed a letter we wrote to President Danilo Medina, asking for his help to build a regional aquaduct and our community library. 

Senator Pujals promised to donate $30,000 peosos ($700 dollars) if President Medina does not donate funds to our library project. However, I have no idea how long we will have to wait to recieve President Medina's response to our letter. But you can support my community's library right now by donating to our project. Please help us out, as so many already have, and make our community library a reality by the start of the new school year.

Everyone packed in to hear the Senator

To submit a donation CLICK HERE!

Just a reminder: All donations are tax deductible, and 100% of donations will go to our project.  (Tax deductible means that you are allowed to deduct donations that represent up to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income on your federal tax returns. So donate and you will have to pay less taxes!)

Also, you can donate offline. Although donating on-line is the fastest way for projects to get funded, you may also donate by mail or over the phone:

Send a check to:
Peace Corps Headquarters
Office of Gifts and Grants Management
1111 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20526

Please make check payable to Peace Corps Partnership Program
Please also note the project number (14-517-025) in the memo section of the check.
(Please print and mail this donation form with your check, so Peace Corps can contact you with information regarding your donation, if necessary.)

-or-

Call the office and Peace Corps can take your credit card information over the phone at 855.855.1961 x2170.

Other things of note:

Pin the Tail on the Donkey is fun in any language

• We celebrated my sister's birthday by throwing her a party. Pin the tail on the donkey was a big hit. Our Dominican guests had never heard of the game before but they quickly took great pleasure in spinning around blindfolded participants. Some people did fall down
• The transformer across from my house blew out last night, again. It was fixed this morning, a big improvement over the last time when we were without power for over 24 hours.
• This month the D.R. introduced a new 911 system in two cities. It got so many prank calls in its first two weeks that the government is now requiring everyone in the country with a pre-paid cellphone to provide their I.D. information or else their phone will be suspended. Basically, everyone in the country has to register their phones with the government.
• When opening the metal door to the community center for a evening event, I managed to whack myself in the head with the door. Luckily I do not have any visible bruising for neighbors to question me about, but it is one more reason why you should donate to the library project. Help protect me from incurring more head injuries.