A Letter From Bryn

It’s an amazing thing to travel, to enter a world in which unknown becomes normal and unimaginable becomes reality. After two days among the locals of Pancho Mateo and Severet, my normal has become my long conservative skirt, “botas” (rain boots) to avoid excessive and constant mud, and the persistent existence of sweat on my brow. Dominican weather is anything but dry, and I can only imagine living in a summer with a heat index of around 120 degrees.

So what is it like, you ask? When we stepped off of the truck on our first day in Pancho Mateo, a hoard of young girls with braided hair and flawless complexions came running to grab our hands and tug on our skirts. Perhaps this is because they expect gifts from international travelers; perhaps they are excited by the mysteriousness of a different world. Because I can say a total of about 10 words in Spanish, the best form of communication with these adorable children is hand squeezes and mutual funny faces.  We were greeted by a group of young men and a few women, all around our age, one of which is the Community Health Worker of Pancho Mateo, Willy, hired by HHI to lead health initiatives in his community and aid those in need. It is one thing to join in an already established health initiative. It is another thing to initiate health promotion in your community, especially as a young adult. It is inspiring to say the least. I am reminded of the amount of times I have hesitated in community health promotion solely because the existing capacity and resources seems too limited; my observations in Pancho Mateo have already begun to challenge those hesitations.

What continues to amaze me are the many normalities that penetrate the cultural, economic, geographical barriers that I assume exist in the world.  Young girls spend hours braiding each others’ hair, men gather together to play games and drink beer, and young adults enjoy dancing, music, and-of course- facebook. Commonalities reside in even the farthest reaches of the world (and the DR is surprisingly close), and traveling is a constant reminder that human interaction is natural and important to promote a better understanding of our nature. This is only day three, and my mind is reeling. I will have more to report later; I can’t wait to see what new experiences lie ahead.

In closing, two things I already miss: casual afternoon runs (we have been waking up at 7 am to run here) and being able to flush toilet paper.

ADIOS!!!!!! MUCHO AMOR!!! 

-- Bryn