In August this year, Sophia Cantizano, along with her friend Naomi Biden, the granddaughter of the Vice-President of the United States, Joseph Biden, spent a week volunteering at the Hogar del Niño, in La Romana.
For more information on Hogar del Niño visit their lovely website: http://hogardelnino.com/ designed and maintained by Silgon, Inc., the Dominican Republic’s best web design and management company.
Here Sophia, shares with us her first impressions of the Hogar del Niño on her first two days as a volunteer:
Thursday: Today we got a tour of the establishment. It was much bigger than I expected, and there were many more children – 1500 when full!. Whenever we walk through the Hogar, all the kids shout “visita! visita!” It is so cute and cool ,that they are excited about visitors. The Hogar has so many features and specialized aspects to meet every child’s needs. It’s amazing that there is a dentist, doctor, library, deaf and mute school, beauty salon and computer lab.
Friday: In the morning we painted a mural in one of the classrooms. All the kids were delighted to see the colors on their wall brightened. Jonathan and Maria Elena have been helping us the past two days, and they have been so kind and assisting. I have also been able to practice my Spanish with them a lot! You can tell that they love the kids and are willing to help out all over the Hogar. It’s funny; there are many differences between here and at home in the US. I don’t think high school students would hake time out of their summer to help out with younger kids in their school. The kids and employees who help here are very special and selfless people. More people should strive to be like them. Another difference is the contentment and acceptance of the children here at the Hogar. To put it as a saying we use in the US-“they get what they get, and they don’t get upset.” They hardly ever complain and always seem content and satisfied with their situation. That type of attitude should be more prevalent at home. On the first day of working with the babies, I spotted the cutest little baby, and Naomi and I gave him a nickname-Mushy! He is adorable and affectionate. We visit him and hold him everyday. He has become attached to us, and when I return him to his crib he cries. It feels good to have made a connection, and hopefully we can make an impact here.
Inglés
