Fundraiser for the El Cerrito School in the Domincan Republic

Fundraiser for the El Cerrito School in the DR

By Bridgette Philibert and Olivia Straw

The students from The 2016 Dominican Republic Trip are holding a clothing and school supply drive to send down to the students in El Cerrito. Anything is of great gratitude to them. What they have is such a bare minimum; things we have laying around the house. Below is a list of items most needed. If you would like to donate please bring them into the High School office or guidance office. Below is a complete lest of items requested.  

Over February Break (February 11th- February 18th), twenty-nine Groton-Dunstable Regional High School students and four chaperons traveled to the Dominican Republic for a service learning trip that provided them with the opportunity to give back to a lesser community and immerse in an entirely new culture, making an impact on their lives that they will never forget. Throughout the trip, we were able to experience a new lifestyle. The people we encountered were outwardly generous and put forth an effort to make our stay as comfortable as possible. We were able to experience a variety of new foods including fresh passionfruit and fried yuca, a fan favorite. We also spent two nights in the city, one in Hato Mayor and the other in Santo Domingo, where we were truly exposed to the culture and every-day life of the area.

Our time in the Dominican was mostly spent working in the impoverished community of El Cerrito. There, we rebuilt their baseball field, which is a central piece of their culture. We did things such as edge the baseball lines, pick up trash, build steps up to one of their dugouts, install an irrigation system, and much more. We also helped run baseball practices for the children of the community and held a community wide baseball clinic. We quickly learned that baseball was a key element of the Dominican culture. Many children focus all their time towards the sport, some even dropping out of school. During our trip we visited the school of El Cerrito, encouraging the students to stay in school and teaching them the importance of education.

Although our work made a big impact on the quality of their community, the biggest impact was made in the connections and relationships we formed with the people of El Cerrito. They approached us with immense generosity and truly served as an example for us. The children were incredibly happy with the little belongings that they had, and they opened our eyes to the many things we take for granted. Now after coming home, we want to continue our work and send them some of those things which we take for granted.

A List of Requested Items:

Shoe Sizes (4,5,6,7,8,9 10) Shorts and Pants (s, m, l, xl) Soap Toothpaste Toothbrush Shampoo Floss Notebooks Bilingual books (spanish/english) Pencils Pens Sharpeners Erasers Rulers Cardboard

Coloring books Coloring markers / pencils / crayola Play doh Construction paper Foam paper Glue sticks Scissors Staplers Tape Didactic posters (ABC, Numbers, Colors, Animals) Didactic toys (for the little ones) Story books (Both in english and spanish)