Our First Day at School is a Success

Our long-awaited visit to the Escuela El Hato was a big success.  All the months of planning came to fruition on another warm, sunny morning, with no sign of the rain that the long-range forecasts had been predicting.  We made one or two stops in Cotui to arrange for the installation of the storage cabinet for the library books, and the drove out of town and through the rice fields to the little village of Hernando Alanso.  The final few kilometers took us through hilly pasture land, and we pulled into the village at about 10:00 a.m.  We could hear the children through the open windows as we got off the bus, no doubt as excited as were we.   We gathered on the rough dirt playground and had a formal welcome from the school's Vice Principal, Maria Luisa, and several community members.  Several of them made their way around our circle, greeting us warmly.  We then broke into tour groups, each with a translator, and stopped into all of the classrooms to greet the children and see the room set aside for the library corner.

From here, fellow blogger Caroline Rodi takes over:

"Today was our first full day working at the school. After about an hour of stops along the way, we arrived. And the welcome was worth the hour. Little heads poked out of the doors, and we could hear giggles as we walked up to be received.  We spent the rest of the morning touring the school, meeting the kids, trying fresh cacao right from the tree, and practicing our Spanish. We introduced ourselves and learned the names of all 55 kids in the school. We'll be lucky if we remember more than five of their names by tomorrow.  By the time the kids are older they will have enough people to staff a hospital, school, and police station, along with great baseball games for entertainment. 

We went back to the hotel for a quick  lunch, and a tutorial on the craft we would teach the kids. 

When we got back to the school around 3:00, we brought the kids into their future library, and taught them how to make star books. The two hours went by quickly, and there wasn't a minute of rest until all the books were finished. The language barrier was there, for some more than others, but we all still connected like we would if we had grown up in the same country together. It was not a group of Americans and Dominicans, it was a group of friends. We then walked on a path some kids take to school, and visited with the family whose house a ground built a few years ago. They opened their home to us, offered us delicious fresh fruit, taught us about fruits growing on their property, and live music. In the evening we shared a good dinner, reflections back on the day, and a scavenger hunt." 

Now it's Rob back reporting, with one or two more observations.  For me, a highlight of the day was recess. We watched a number of the older children (grades 4-6) playing a version of dodgeball.  Soon, you guessed it, several of our students were playing.  Andrew and Mia Gilardi were joined by Harris LaRock, Sam Strohbehn, Sam Ives, Peter Huizenga and Eliza Rodi in dodging the semi-inflated playground ball on the hot, dusty playground.  There were smiles all around.  Andrea Gilardi and Isabelle Hall joined a group of children inside one of the classrooms, and learned one of the favorite El Hato card games.

Caroline's comments about the unity of the two groups as they completed the art project together was spot on, but it doesn't not give enough credit to the students in our group. Thrown into a challenging situation, the Hanover High crew did superbly as teachers, patiently helping each child complete the task, with language, culture, race and nationality no barrier.  Their maturity, patience and ability to take risks was inspiring.  We're eager to head back and see our new friends tomorrow!