The Association “Sonríe y Crece” (Smile and Grow), which was founded in Barcelona (Spain), has been carrying out summer projects in Sabana Yegua for the last 13 years. In this article they tell us about the exciting summer experience they just had.
Our experience began in Madrid, where, due to circumstances beyond our control, the group of volunteers from “Smile and Grow 2023” had to postpone our arrival to the Dominican Republic for a week. Finally, on July 15 we arrived in Sabana Yegua, which would be our home for the next month and a half.
The arrival was exciting, full of life, and right away we felt the affection of an entire community. Our first contact with the town was to be received by the Parish of La Sagrada Familia. Shortly after, we discovered and rediscovered the places where a large part of our memories would later be forged: the San Francisco neighborhood school, the baseball field, the plastic collection center, the canal, the different neighborhoods of the town... Everyone took time to talk to us, whether getting to know Barrio Blanco, San Francisco or Barrio Nuevo. That first week we already noticed the closeness of the children, but also of the older ones. For the most veteran of us, the first days were full of memories, each reunion with the families of Sabana Yegua was pure happiness. Those of us who were in the country for the first time began to savor the Dominican culture, the joy in the small moments and the simplicity of sharing your daily life with others. From that first week we were able to understand that “Smile and Grow” has its home, its people and its heart in Sabana Yegua.
The first week we already started with the training of what we call “monitores” (instructors): the young men and women from the town who would help us organize the activities with the children. Aimed at boys and girls over 14 years of age and with a creative spirit, we tried to instill in them the values of a good “monitor”, always thinking about making the children happy. These instructors are a fundamental part of the “summer”. It involves organizing games and recreational and educational activities for children, which take place in the afternoons in the open spaces that the parish very kindly gives us. “El veranito” (litearlli, the “small Summer”) takes place both in Sabana Yegua and in the town called “El Km 15”. That is why in this first week we brought together instructors from both places and they themselves saw the opportunity to create bonds of friendship.
From the second week of our stay onwards, we began the routine of our volunteering. Every day, at 9 in the morning, classes began at the San Francisco School and in the afternoons, with the help of the instructors, the children enjoyed the “small Summer.” At the end of the games, we would close the afternoon having a snack together, children and instructors, while commenting on how the day had gone. Immersed in a frenetic rhythm, it filled us with happiness to accompany the children, to see in their smiles and gestures towards us... the reward for so much effort. The days went by quickly, everything was very intense and even in our free time our bodies asked us to go out into the streets, to be part of Sabana Yegua.
In parallel, “Sonríe y Crece” develops other projects, beyond the educational one, always with the objective of helping and collaborating with the people of Sabana Yegua. On the one hand, “Smile and Live” is our health project, fundamentally with formational talks and direct action. Presentations are given on good practices in the field of health and first aid, as well as street-level actions, in which volunteers with health training go around the town helping whoever may need it. Lastly, first aid kits are delivered to the towns where we operate, also trying to benefit the most marginalized communities. “Smile and Live” is a fundamental project and our objective is to expand these actions for the future, such as, for example, increasing our visits to the physiotherapy and rehabilitation center that the Parish runs in town.
On the other hand, in “Smile and Build” the main objective is to develop the projects that have been carried out for years: collaborate with Recicla+, the plastic collection center and raise awareness about recycling and its benefits, creating recycling week in the school. At the same time, this year we have worked on designing the reform of the health center's pharmacy, giving more advanced talks to monitors about recycling and carrying out street-level actions in the areas that most required it. In these actions we try to advise on good construction practices and solutions to preserve homes against inclement weather, always supported by a construction manual prepared by one of our volunteers, which we intend to be able to disseminate in the future.
After a month and a half of having lived one of the most enriching and transformative experiences that a young person (like us) can enjoy, we only have words of GRATITUDE for the people of Sabana Yegua. Thank you for introducing us into your day to day. Thank you for opening the doors of your homes for us when we were just strangers at first. Thank you for supporting us every morning and feeling pushed to make Sabana Yegua one of the most prosperous communities in the entire province of Azua. Thank you for educating your children in a kindness worthy of the greatest actuators of change. Thanks to the children for their incredible desire to ask us to maintain optimism above all else!
We carry indelible memories with us, and we leave with the desire to return as soon as possible. See you very, very soon!
