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Life Lessons from Dominican Trip

The author takes a family vacation to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and is forever changed by what they witness. They see extreme poverty with families living in tiny wooden homes and children running barefoot with no proper care or medical facilities nearby. However, the Dominican people are very thankful for what little they have and are proud of their country. The money brought in from tourism helps fuel their economy and in the two years since the author's first visit, they saw improvements like paved roads, more stores and some houses replacing tiny wooden homes, showing the progress being made despite challenges. The author was deeply moved by their experience and hopes to return to see further development.

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Alyssa Petrino
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115 views3 pages

Life Lessons from Dominican Trip

The author takes a family vacation to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and is forever changed by what they witness. They see extreme poverty with families living in tiny wooden homes and children running barefoot with no proper care or medical facilities nearby. However, the Dominican people are very thankful for what little they have and are proud of their country. The money brought in from tourism helps fuel their economy and in the two years since the author's first visit, they saw improvements like paved roads, more stores and some houses replacing tiny wooden homes, showing the progress being made despite challenges. The author was deeply moved by their experience and hopes to return to see further development.

Uploaded by

Alyssa Petrino
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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15

Forever Changed

By: Alyssa Petrino


15

A bus is driving down a dirt-path road. I look out the window and see hardships and

struggling written all over the place. Twenty minutes pass, and then I realize I’m at my

destination. It looks like paradise, yet even better. Who knew I could learn so much on a family

vacation to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic?

After this vacation, I am much more appreciative for everything I have. I am always kind

to others because I never know what challenges they have in their lives. I also try to be friendly

towards others after meeting such happy and friendly people in the Dominican Republic. They

were very thankful for everything they had.

It was difficult for me to imagine living in the conditions the Dominican people live in

every day. Seeing the way families live was very upsetting. The Dominican families were very

poor, and barely had roofs over their heads. They lived in tiny wooden homes they made with

their bare hands, just like most of their belongings.

There were children running bare-foot on dirt-path roads, with no adults in sight. There

were also stray dogs running around as well. This really touched me because I love children and

animals, so witnessing them not receiving the proper care was unsettling. These children had

nothing, so it was very heart-breaking. If anything were to happen to these children, they have

very little chance of receiving the proper medical attention. This is because the closest hospital is

more than three hours away.

Even police stations were rare in their country, and there were no laws that were strictly

enforced. The only protection I witnessed were men with guns on corners. These men were
15

considered the Dominican Republic’s police officers. It’s hard to imagine that an island so torn

has places that look like paradise.

The Gran Bahia Principe looked like something out of a movie; I felt like I was

dreaming. There were palm trees, white sands, and water the color of pure aqua. Being in a place

so beautiful was fascinating. However, I could not help but think back to the tour I had taken

earlier during my trip.

The residents spoke of their country with pride, and they were very thankful and kind.

Much of their thankfulness was towards the tourists that visit their country. The money brought

into the Dominican Republic by tourists, helps fuel their economy. During my first visit to the

Dominican Republic, there were only dirt-path roads, empty lands, and tiny wooden homes made

by hand. When I visited the Dominican Republic two years later, there were paved

roads/highways, more stores, and a few houses instead of tiny wooden homes. Watching the

Dominican people build form the ground up was truly amazing. The Dominican people were

optimistic and happy about the step-by-step progress their country was making.

My visits to the Dominican Republic were experiences I will never forget. They have

truly touched my life. I am always wondering how the Dominican people are doing and if they

continued building their country. I hope to visit there soon, so I can see for myself.

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