Life is a Journey!

Mariana Perez    

     

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The Dominican Republic- The picture shows a scroll and The Dominican Republic flag. The scroll on the left reads “The boys and girls have the peace of the world in their hands, ‘love forever'” 
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3…2…1…SMILE! The girls that traveled to the Dominican Republic are more than happy to be able to make a difference in the lives of these young girls.

 As spring break was used to get some extra hours of sleep, some put in more hours at work and some used this time to take a vacation. A group of girls from South High experienced a trip of a lifetime, traveling 2,039 miles to their destination. Seniors Jordan Lohse, Lysette Mendez, Kylie Terrazas, Junior Brynn McDonough, Sophomore Chloe Mendez, and Ms.Wendy Pitlik-Plehn along with another group of girls from North High had the privilege of traveling to The Dominican Republic for a mission trip. On their first day they embarked their journey the girls arrived at Blue Moon Retreat Center in the mountains. Not only did they get to enjoy the warm weather and surfing lessons, but throughout the days they were there they had to participate in a service learning project. The girls had to construct walls of a building, and paint a school. They also met the girls from the Mariposa Foundation. The Mariposa

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Building Walls- Senior Kylie Terrazas helps build a wall for one of the buildings. The girls Helped the foundation by not just in the classroom but with hard labor as well.

Foundation’s mission is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing the child mortality rate, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership for development. The group of girls from South were also able to work with the girls from the mariposa foundation in their classrooms.        When asked about her favorite part of the trip Junior Brynn McDonough replied, “Playing softball with the Mariposa girls and communicating with them was my favorite part of the trip.” The girls from The Mariposa Foundation offered many smiles for the girls as they worked alongside one another and even engaged in games such as softball. According to The Borgen Project “More than a third of the Dominican Republic lives on less than $1.25 a day and over 20 percent of the country lives in extreme poverty.”    

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Calle 8- This view was one of the many the girls were able to see. “calle 8” in english means 8th street.

The group of girls were able to witness this poverty as Senior Lysette Mendez stated, “The hardest part about the trip was having to see the huge difference their country has as a whole compared to the U.S. Their country is so poverty-stricken that you have to see it yourself to actually realize how little they have compared to us. There is garbage everywhere and their houses are so poorly constructed; some not even finished because they ran out of money to finish the job. It’s just heartbreaking to know how little they have.”        

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A Whole New World- Senior Jordan Lohse stated, “Volunteering at The Mariposa Foundation and being placed in to a poverty stricken culture, has taught me so much and truly has changed my outlook on life.”

Mendez was not the only one to mention how much this experience made them view their life a little differently, Senior Jordan Lohse stated, “This experience changed my outlook on life for the better. It made me realize how structured your life is made to be in the US, and how unappreciative we are as a general population. It changed my values and how I view a lot of things.” The way people live in The Dominican Republic compared to how people live here is completely different. The trip took one year and a half to plan and involved a lot of fundraising, but it made the experience all worth it.      

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Clifford the Big Red Dog- Ms.Pitlik reads Clifford the Big Red Dog to one of the girls from The Mariposa Foundation.

As Ms.Wendy Pitlik shared, “ For some students I think it was life-changing, humbling to see how people living in extreme poverty can be so happy with so very little.  Seeing how resilient and confident these young girls are, in spite of having experienced such hardship and for most, trauma while growing up in the barrio is truly inspiring.” These group of girls used their spring break not just for fun but they also used their time to help others who really needed it. The experience overall benefited each and every one of the girls. Like Sophomore Chloe Mendez stated, “I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!”