Back from the Campo

We just got back from the Campo today, but we are leaving for a retreat until Friday afternoon shortly. It was an amazing experience. The community now has freshwater at their houses, and they no longer have to collect rainwater or go to the river for water.

I stayed with an elderly couple, Tito and Casilda. They were incredibly loving and hospitable. I have plenty of stories to share with you about them later, and I'll post some pictures of their house when I get back from the retreat.

It was a busy 10 days. The first day I worked at the water source, which was a spring atop of a cliff, to build a dam. The next couple of days I helped dig zonjas (ditches) for the tubes. Most of the days I worked at the tanque building a cinder block water tank for the tuberia.

I'll post more soon.
Joe

In the Campo

I'm leaving for the campo today. I'll be in Rancho de los Plantanos for the next 10 days. I will be staying by myself with a family in their home, but all the students will be in the same campo as me. While we are there we will be building a two and a half kilometer aquaduct. This will be the first time the campo will have running water. Currently they have to go to the local water supply and carry back their water in buckets.
Take care,
Joe

Santo Domingo Trip

On the 11th and 12th, we went down to Santo Domingo for the weekend. Santo Domingo is about two and a half hours south of Santiago on the Caribbean. It is the oldest colonial city in the New World. We also visited some plantations.

ILAC y Santiago

Hola,

The first three weeks have flown by incredibly fast. We've done and seen so much its been almost overwhelming. The first couple of days were definitely a bit of a shock. The DR is so much different than the U.S. in so many ways.