On Wednesday, during Spanish class, we visited a more traditional Dominican barrio. This area very much reminded me of Honduras and made me feel at home. There were small shops all along the road ( called colmadas here and bodegas in Honduras). I was surprised by the number of hair salons on the street, and enthused by the cheap passion fruit juice (costing nearly three dollars at restaurants but only one dollar at the colmada). This barrio was more of what I was expecting when I came to the DR, rather than the swanky tourist town which greeted me.
On our walk, we visited a local public school for early childhood. This school reminded me both of my Honduran classroom, and of Californian schools, with their open air, outside access. The rooms were very traditional-looking, of a decent size, but horribly overcrowded. One Haitian immigrant told me that the public schools here are subpar, due to the fact that they are free to the public.
After visiting the public school, we visited the DREAM Project, a center for school-aged boys and girls. The DREAM Project offers a variety of after-school programs, extracurricular activities (including several sports teams), and various other activities, including several Montessori classrooms for young children. The Montessori classrooms were much better equipped than Tres Mariposas, so I can only assume that the DREAM Project receives more and greater donations.
It is possible that we will return to the barrio on Monday. I am excited to visit again, but sad that our trip is nearly completed.
On our walk, we visited a local public school for early childhood. This school reminded me both of my Honduran classroom, and of Californian schools, with their open air, outside access. The rooms were very traditional-looking, of a decent size, but horribly overcrowded. One Haitian immigrant told me that the public schools here are subpar, due to the fact that they are free to the public.
After visiting the public school, we visited the DREAM Project, a center for school-aged boys and girls. The DREAM Project offers a variety of after-school programs, extracurricular activities (including several sports teams), and various other activities, including several Montessori classrooms for young children. The Montessori classrooms were much better equipped than Tres Mariposas, so I can only assume that the DREAM Project receives more and greater donations.
It is possible that we will return to the barrio on Monday. I am excited to visit again, but sad that our trip is nearly completed.