And now, the end is here...

So, it's officially (the end of) my last day in the Dominican Republic. Whaaaaat? Where did the time go?

I have loved this marvelous, crazy adventure, I really have. I've met some amazing people, and I've seen so much; some of it beautiful, some of it heartbreaking. It's been hard at times. Being 5000 miles away from everyone you know and love can sometimes really suck... but Pauline, and the Project Isobel team, have been amazing throughout at helping me to feel at home and making this experience memorable.

I'm pretty sure I've caught the travel bug. I want to see more of this insane planet.

I'll never forget this time, and I know that it's changed me. Not in a personality-transplant sense, I mean, I'm still me. 

I'm still prone to long bouts of sarcasm in the face of stupidity, and as likely to go off into my own world inside my head as ever. I will still geek out at really random stuff, and I'm pretty likely to paint my nails according to the season, or themed to the last film I loved. There's no doubt that I'll still get lost in books (and films, and TV series) and I'll probably still get scared going into new situations, and be quiet until I feel comfortable.

I still love my God.
I'm still figuring out this life business.
I will still drink too much tea.

I'll be my parent's daughter, and my brother's sister. I'll still be Lauren.

But hopefully this adventure has gifted me with a little more maturity, has taught me to be a bit more courageous in unfamiliar situations.

I'm sure I'll be more independent when I get home, and I know that my perspective on the world has changed -- simply due to the exposure I've had to the way that people in poverty have to live their lives.
It would be nice to think I'll be a bit wiser, and not as naive.

I know that my heart's been opened up to other people more, that I can acknowledge and understand that being 'soft' doesn't make you weak. I have more empathy for people in need.

I'll be starting the next part of my life with a fresh appreciation for exactly how privileged I am, and I can only pray that I'll remain as grateful for everything I have in the future as I am now.

Because seriously, being welcomed into somebody's home, when they have so little but still call themselves blessed -- it's truly humbling. I am so thankful to God for everything that He's given me, and that He's kept me safe, and kept listening, the whole time I've been here.

And I wish I could show you all, for you to experience it too, but I can't, so I'll just tell you and hope you'll listen. And I hope that there'll always be someone there to remind me too.

Instead, I'll insert some pretty pictures of this beautiful island to break up all of the words. I know you guys like that.

There you have 'em.

I know now, even if I'm a little hazy on the details still, that I want to go on and continue making some small difference.

That I want my part in life to be an active role in improving our world; I want to go to University, and gain the knowledge and skills I need to be useful, to have the necessary qualifications to make an impact, to be a voice for those that aren't in a position to speak up for themselves.

I don't quite know the how yet, but I do know the why. And I have a feeling that might be more important.

I'll probably go on for a while to everyone I come across about my time here, and if you happen to be one of those people, and I start to rant -- Well, I apologise in advance. I have a feeling that I'll have to learn how to hold my tongue a little too, not to be too harsh on people that whine about problems that seem petty.

But honestly, if I hear someone complain that their life is unfair because they don't have the latest phone or something, I won't feel any guilt at all in telling them to shut up. And possibly whacking them (gently) across the back of the head. Not. Even. Scared.

...

So, yeah.

On to the next adventure!
Thank you for coming along with me on it all. I hope you've enjoyed my largely random and rarely coherent ramblings, and that they might have even made you stop and think for a minute or two.

Or, you know, maybe you wanted to share some of the love and donate to www.projectisobel.com
Go for it.

In which I empty a little bit of my brain onto a webpage.

If you are reading this, it means I actually decided to go ahead and publish this, and hold my breath for the reaction.

Right,

Social Justice. Equality for all yo'. Not exactly a new concept is it?

²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28

It's definitely not new, it's biblical.  But it's something that the world, as a whole is failing at. And when I say failing, I mean, failing. 

As a Brit, by default, I'm in the top 5% of the worlds wealthiest people. The Dominican Republic is officially a 'middle income' country. But there are thousands of children (and adults)  that don't have access to any sort of quality medical care, and the free public hospitals are overflowing, resulting in a lack of proper treatment for those that get in. To be honest, they don't really have access to much of anything. I wouldn't call a tin shack a home.

Haiti, the Dominican's next door neighbour, is far worse off. And there are hundreds of other countries where people's living conditions are even worse.

And it sucks.

It's totally unfair. Horrible. Makes me want to scream and rage and shake my fists.

But that wouldn't help anyone.

And even if I spent my entire life campaigning, and fundraising, and I don't know... digging flipping latrines; It won't change the world. I'm not naive.

It would be incredibly easy to wave it all off sometimes. To say 'I give up, there's nothing I can do about it.'

But then, that would be going against every single one of my core beliefs. I might not change the whole world, but I think it would be a pretty good thing to at least try. Because I could alter someone's world. I could make a difference.

And I wouldn't be on my own. I couldn't do it at all on my own.

 I need God. I'm lucky that I have God.

And I'm not going to deny that over these last few months I haven't had some angry conversations with the man Himself, where I've whined at him like a petulant child. 'It's not fair! Why are there so many people like this? Why do some get help and others don't? What's the point? Why, why, why?'

And do you know, the only answer I've got back is; 'What are you going to do about it?'

That one stopped me in my tracks.

Because really, at the end of the day, it's the Human condition that's the issue here. Nation against Nation, man against man (and I mean that in the gender-encompassing sense of the word, I'm not being sexist here). People are constantly trying to one-up each other, to get ahead, to get better. And you can bet that they don't care who they have to step over to achieve it. Which then, in the long term, translates into countries unable to support themselves, lands full of starving people, and shored up with debts that they'll never feasibly repay.

It's an issue. And in unrelated news, I'll soon be going up for the understatement of the year award.

I'm not entirely sure where this post is going right now. It's currently a long winded ramble. It will probably remain a long winded ramble, even after I've edited it all. I apologise (Sort of. But not really.)

I could quote a load of largely unrelated stuff at you all that I've found out over the years, through spending far too much time reading newspapers and following links on the internet until I end up lost on Google Scholar. But I don't think that's entirely necessary, and it's a blog post you want to read, not a dissertation -- and me pretending to know anything about anything is just silly. And would probably be embarrassing too.

Anyway, I'm just writing down what I think, and trying to be honest about it.

Poverty sucks.

I remember the 'Make Poverty History' campaign, and going down to London to watch the concert in Hyde Park. It was 2005, so I would have been eleven. I was young enough to think that it would work.

It didn't quite work out. But it did make a difference. And I think, realistically, that's all we can hope for.

To make a difference.

To let this generation of people; the most privileged lot of all our predecessors, stop and look around ourselves once in a while. To realise that we actually hold the power within ourselves to change someone's life. It's simultaneously so little and so much to ask of somebody. But we can do it. You can do it. I can do it.

And if you don't think you can, ask God. He's always willing to lend a hand.

Just think about it. That's all I can reasonably ask.


So, that's me done.

And as ever, I send my love and prayers your way, whoever you happen to be, if you've managed to make it to the end of this post. Remember to check out Project Isobel , and I'll update you all soon on how the fundraiser goes. And keep in touch! Feedback (even negative stuff, I can take it) is equivalent to an internet hug.  Which is always good.

Lauren

x

Santiago and Swimming

So, I thought I'd update you all on the highlights of what I've been up to this past week or so. (I think it's a week anyway, these things blur in my mind so easily)

Anywho, Thursday the 30th we took a trip to Santiago, a fairly big city about an hour and a half away through the mountains.

The mountains are gorgeous, and covered in a whole load of lush greenery, but mountain roads are scary.

In a lot of places the road had been washed/broken away through various tropical storms and hurricanes over the years, and they're often steep, and close to the edge. (especially on the way back through - passenger side was to the edge, and on occasion I'd look over, and say hello to my imminent death. Which, as it turns out, wasn't so imminent as I'm still sitting here writing this.)

Throughout these mountain roads are small communities; tin and concrete houses painted with bright colours, a tiny colmado supplying the people that live there, and usually something interesting to spot like, say, a pigs head hung out to dry.

Which reminds me, (Although I'm not entirely sure how my thought process works. Irrelevant.) Black coffee with cinnamon and sugar from a roadside cafe? (and in general) Amazing.

So, after a long drive we arrived in Santiago, and went shopping for dormitory storage, and general supplies for the Project. It was nice to see another side to the D.R. And obviously I forgot my camera. But picture a crazy, chaotic city and you're halfway there.

The next few days passed quickly, looking after Ranciel, assembling the dormitory storage -- a more stressful experience than anything ever needs to be. Easy assembly is a big fat lie -- doing my thing around the project and trying not to kill off all the plants in the vegetable garden. You know, the usual.

Oh, and attempting to write a personal statement now that I've got my A-Level results. This actually largely consisted of me writing ridiculous stuff on a bullet pointed list, and altering song lyrics as I worked.

(One of my favourites had to be 'I am chosen, I am free, I'm gon'get me a good degree...' and of course 'Hey, I just met you, this is crazy, but here's my key skills, let me in maybe?' and there are so many more from where that came from it's actually a little pathetic. But hey, I had fun. Don't judge.)

Moving on.

On Sunday we all took a trip to the river to do some swimming, which was loads of fun, and another new experience to add to my list of new experiences. The water was beautiful, and I was only slightly put off by all of the potential nasties that could be in the water, and the tadpoles on the rocks. We had to wade downstream a little to get to a quiet bathing spot, and I brought my feet into new worlds of pain walking across the river bed.

This was the busy bit of the river, where we parked up. And the only picture I took, because water and cameras  don't mix. 

Yup. Above is my lone photograph before I buried the camera in the bowels of the car, and we took off downstream to find a nice quiet spot. So, yeah, we all had a great time. Pauline, Wellington, Sandi, Gabrielle (our neighbour), Ranciel and I...

Rani had so much fun. He absolutely adores the water, and it was great to see him attempt to doggy paddle.

...

I think that's about it for now. I can't think of anything else that dazzles me for being of particular interest for you all, unless you want to hear about the accounts this afternoon.

 No?

I'll tell you about lunch today instead; Stewed beef and carrots, rice, avocado and cabbage salad with a fresh coconut to drink from. Very Dominican.

Also, there's a fundraiser on the 16th at the project, in case any of you are reading from the D.R, so come along to that!

And I officially turn another year older on the 10th. I think I'm getting wrinkles. I already nap like an old lady.

Right. Thassit. Hope you all enjoyed the update - please keep Project Isobel in your prayers, and maybe even me as a footnote or something.

x