April was a pretty busy month for me and my department here at NPH. Contrary to popular belief, I am NOT a teacher, nor do I work in the school. I’ve been here in the main office working as the assistant to the Sponsorship Coordinator for almost 2 years and, more recently, I have taken on a position as the Projects Coordinator. A few weeks ago my department hosted the NPH International Sponsorship Meeting. We invited all the sponsorship coordinators and assistants from other NPH homes and fundraising offices to come spend a week here at our home in the DR. The countries that were represented were: USA, DR, Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Canada, Bolivia, and Peru. It was really fun. I really enjoyed my week with all of them! On the first Saturday of meetings Daniela, the Sponsorship Coordinator for DR, and I took them all out for a mini tour of San Pedro de Macorís. We went to Macorix Cigar factory and then we had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Robby Mar. Later we went to take a walk on the malecón before heading back to catch mass at the home.
At the Macorix Cigar factory learning to roll a few… 😉
The following Sunday we took a day trip to the capital, Santo Domingo. There we started off with a tour of Parque Los Tres Ojos, a limestone cave with 3 underground lakes. We had a fun guide who explained many interesting things about the cave and about the Taino natives who inhabited that area back in the day. After passing by 3 lagoons of the cave (called Aguas Azufradas, La Nevera, and Las Damas) and taking a boat at to the other side of the cave, we arrived to an open air area but were still below ground level. We crossed a short bridge over a small stream filled with Tilapia fish and quicksand, and then arrived at a lake called Zaramagullones. It was huge! From there we went back into the cave, took the boat back to the other side, and headed back up/out of the cave. The temperature was really cool down there but the humidity was high. Definitely worth it though.
Parque Nacional Los Tres Ojos
After Parque Tres Ojos we headed towards Zona Colonial, where we would eat lunch. We found a restaurant down in front of Parque Colon and afterwards we went to Choco Museo, a chocolate museum. I took a quick detour to get some ice cream from Bon and met back up with them at the museum where some of the staff were giving merengue lessons to a few of our sponsorship coordinators. We were also able to try samples of a few things made from cacao leaves and chocolate. After that we walked to Plaza España and then drove from there to Santo Domingo’s malecón. We arrived back in San Pedro around 10pm, it was a long day!
In Zona Colonial at the Chocolate Museum!
xD
Monday through Thursday we had our formal meetings that started at 8:30am and ended around 5pm, of course with breaks in between. We talked about different ways to improve correspondence between the homes and fundraising offices, as well as our annual Christmas card and child photos projects. Some themes were pretty boring for me. On the flip side, I work in the home so it was interesting to see how things work in the fundraising offices. Overall, the best part was meeting and networking with people from other countries. They were all really cool and just down to earth. On the last Thursday afternoon we went to the beach and had dinner there. Later that night a few of us went out for drinks and dancing at the malecón here in San Pedro.
Long daily meetings, Eeek! No mas!…and where’s the “H” at the end of my name? 🙂
Earth Day Parade and Mass with my Sponsorship people
Beachy afternoon and the last dinner with everyone! It was a great week!
Here we are: International Sponsorship Coordinators and Assistants, the NPH RD National Director, and a few pequeños
On Friday I joined Claudio and Ana (coordinators from the USA fundraising office), and Vera and Priscilla (coordinators from the Mexico home) on a little trip to spend an overnight with them at the Bavaro Princess resort in Punta Cana. It was a perfect way to end the week: unlimited food, unlimited drinks, and relaxing.
This place was beautiful!
😀
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Now, other happenings since the last post…
At the end of March I went to visit my friend Tina in Punta Cana. Checked out a few freshwater lagoons!
😀
♦
During Semana Santa I was part of another “Proyecto: Compartir”. This time I was able to go with NPH to donate food to a few families in the La Cerveceria neighborhood of San Pedro.
&All the kids recieved a small toy!
♦
Also during Semana Santa Daniela and I gave presentations to all the kids to explain to them them how our department works and how to improve the quality of the letters they write for their sponsors. They learned a lot about how the process works and the time needed to send/recieve correspondences to/from the fundraising offices and sponsors. I translate letters, and I’m happy to say that since our talks with the kids I’ve seen an improvement in the writing! Many of the children keep the letters they recieve in a folder but most of these folders are broken. So, at the end of each talk we gave them all a new plastic folder.
I love these girls! Daniela and I with my Santa Ana Booskies after chatting with them about the Sponsorship Dept! I love these girls!
♦
Those days off during Semana Santa (Holy Week) were well spent at the beach with a few of my favorite people!
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At the end of April the NPH school held a career expo for the kids to introduce them to other professions. Many of the kids, especially the boys, want to become a pro-sports player. This was a great way to get them exploring and considering other career paths, not just the ones shown at the expo. In these photos are: a few of our highschoolers who are studying Hotel/Restaurant, our landscapers/farmers, a former plumber, the NPHDR lawyer.
More from our career expo: Doctors/Nurses, teachers, sisters who practice the consecrated life, and a speech therapist. Others professions present were: an acountant, a marketer, a carpenter, and a psychologist.
♦
Spent another Family/Visitors’ Day with the kids.
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A quick get-away with the vols: Deep sea diving with turtles and whales…not really, but close enough!
Starfish and Sharks
Hannah (future medic) and Anike (from Nigeria) have found their soul fish!
My soul fish! It’s kinda ugly…but whatever 😀
-DeeJay ❤
Dee Jay In The DR 