Day 7

Hola Hokies!

Morgan leads his station during volleyball day. 

​Today we continued the sports camps that we have been running. Today was my group’s day to lead and we were teaching volleyball. Reggie, Bria, Becca, and I rotated the kids through stations. We taught them underhand volleys, setting, and serving. Reggie also led the groups through a leadership lesson. Using the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare”, and the very helpful translators, Reggie was able to teach an impactful lesson to the children about discipline. This story was not as commonly known as it is in the USA and the kids really enjoyed Reggie’s animated story-telling. It was awesome to see the kids so intrigued by the lesson! We ended the day with a group picture and gave out fruit to eat before the kids returned home.

       

Brittany participating in the warm-up game

After camp today many of us went to the pool to relax, while some of us just took a much needed nap. It is amazing how much energy it takes to lead 80 children for a few hours! After my nap, a couple of us went to look at the animals kept on the property. We are staying in a dormitory on an ecological foundation. This foundation does many things, including manage the upkeep of an animal petting farm. We spent an hour interacting with various animals like horses, goats, sheep, and ducks. The highlight for us had to be when a turkey gobbled just like a Hokie as we were leaving. Proof that Hokies exist everywhere!  Of course, no night could be complete here without an authentic Dominican meal from La Tortuguita. Once again, we had finished up a long day in the Dominican Republic.

         With one more day of camp, many things were starting to dawn on the group and me. Even with the language barrier we have grown very close to the children. It is amazing to me how much they adore us and I truly believe we are making a difference for them. Tomorrow will be our last day of camp and most likely the last time any of us will ever see these kids. We all realize this and are going into tomorrow ready to enjoy it as much as possible.

Morgan Latimer

Group photo of campers, DPV volunteers & VT students

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