My Trip to Dominican Republic

2 years ago I attended a humanitarian trip with the group Hero Holiday (http://heroholiday.absolute.org/). This trip was amazing, it was one of the best experiences I've had. I was there for a little over a week. Hero Holiday is a great group when I went there was over 100 people mostly high school students on the trip. Hero Holiday does many things in the community. We helped to build 3 schools, one of which we actually completed when I was there. The schools are very important as education is an incredibly important aspect in defeating poverty. We also visited an orphanage for kids with special needs. Many children there had been abandoned as babies, some were even left in garbage bags to be found, and have very serious mental development issues. I worked mostly with one child who was probably about 12 years old. Despite being 12 he couldn't have been more than 4 feet tall and could barely move his limbs. I think he had cerebral palsy. He was mos likely abandoned as a child do to his handicap not being accepted in the culture and is now being taken care of at the orphanage. I helped to feed him (a mix of soft blended food) which was extremely difficult for him to even swallow. It was an incredible experience that affected me in so many different ways.

After the orphanage we visited a village where mostly Haitian people lived and had a pig roast for them, and played football(soccer), and did a shoe and gift distribution. The shoe distribution was a bit hectic people were climbing the truck with the shoes trying to get themselves a pair and a HUGE crowd of people formed all trying to get shoes. I met lots of kids, the kids were one of the best parts of the whole trip. They are so funny and happy and love to play with your camera and go on your shoulders.

The trip was amazing and changed my whole outlook on life. We are trapped in our own little world of existence here, we get everything we need and have jobs and food and houses yet we still find things to complain about. Many people don't realize the true amount of poverty throughout the world and even if they do realize they think there is nothing they can do about it. This trip made me realize how much poverty is out there and that you CAN do something about it, and that is something I will never forget.



Here Holiday is a great group, if you ever wanted to go on a humanitarian trip especially if you have never been on a trip like this before they are a perfect. They provide everything you need, in DR you stay at a small resort and it is just a really great, fun and life changing time.