Today we got to see the schools in Verón and Juanillo and help clean up the neighborhood of the children that came to day camp from Domingo Maiz. It was very interesting to see the difference in the schools and living areas in the US and the Dominican Republic. It made me very thankful to have such nice schools and living spaces in the US because in the DR there is a lot of crowdedness and poverty. But it made me so happy to see how joyful and grateful the children were even with very difficult living situations.
Meredith Minter, Alleghany County
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Today we went to Domingo Maiz and helped pick
up trash in the community. I loved seeing so many of the local kids from the
day camp come out and help us. I also loved that the community opened itself up
to us in many ways. We got to have a traditional Dominican meal at a local
household which was very good. The mural we painted was beautiful not only for
the artwork, but for the hands that created it. I hope to be able to come back
and see it again.
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Domingo Maiz is a neighborhood that we connected with through a Peace Corps worker during the early days of our 4-H DR Program. The children of Domingo Maiz didn't have a lot of opportunities for enrichment during the summer, so we invited them to our 4-H Day Camp. We sponsored their participation and provided transportation. We then started working with the children's environmental club in Domingo Maiz for our service project. We planned a community trash pick-up day with our camp counselors and the 4-H Day Campers picking up recyclables and trash in the community and arranging for it to be disposed of. The adult leader of the environmental club also offered to cook and serve us a traditional Dominican lunch while we were there.
In 2016, we were asked to paint a 4-H Clover mural on the community wall at the entrance to Domingo Maiz. The 4-H Day Campers and Dominican teens helped us. We never thought the mural would be there this long! During 2023, our group needed to do some touch ups to it and this year, the wall had undergone some repairs, so we needed to repaint part of the clover again. We were also asked to design and paint an additional mural on the wall this year. Thanks to Emmalee Edwards for the design and to the 4-H teens and Dominican helpers for bringing the new design to life. As people in the community walked by and saw the Americans and Dominicans working together on this project, they smiled, I think these murals will remain on the wall for years to come.
We also continued the community trash pick-up project and we enjoyed a delicious Dominican rice and beans, chicken and corn muffin lunch at Jackaline's apartment.
Carol Nansel, Shenandoah Co. 4-H Agent
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