Why did you decide to volunteer with Rustic Pathways in the Dominican Republic?
Amanda: My story is actually very unique. My junior year in high school I won a fellowship specifically for students yearning to perform international service work, and luckily I was chosen. The fellowship paid for my entire trip (including my passport!). I picked the organization Rustic Pathways because many students at my school have traveled through them before and they have an admirable reputation. Truthfully at first, the reason I picked the DR is because I had never been to a tropical island, and my parents—because I had never traveled before—did not want me to go too far. So I felt like if I chose somewhere in the Caribbean rather than Africa then that would subsidize their nerves slightly. Before this trip I had never been on an airplane, so this was a whole new experience for me and my parents.
Describe your day to day activities as a volunteer.
Amanda: Each day there was totally different! One day we planned a workshop for younger children, ages 2-8. The next day we made a garden with kids our age. Then, we built French drains along the side of locals who were our age or older. Other day we painted a mural, then after that we attended another workshop for students our age. We never did the same thing every day nor performed the same activities. The thing I loved most about the trip is that we did not repeat another that we did. So each day was a new experience for each of my group members and me.
What made this experience unique and special?
Amanda: To me, it was so special because it was my first time ever stepping foot in a foreign country. Everything was unique because I had never experience anything such like that before, and what makes it even more special is that it changed how I view things now. I connected with all the locals that I met there, which makes the project I created after my trip even more personal. I took my experience in the DR, and turned it into something I could share with my community—and when I say community, I mean the entire Pittsburgh area. My service trip just isn’t a memory, I have made connections with people who are living their and plan on returning every summer.
How has this experience impacted your future?
Amanda: My experience made me change what I am going to college for. Before, I wanted to go to college for mechanical engineering, where I would build machinery; however, now I still want to be an engineer, but I will be a civil engineer so I will be able to create water and sanitation systems for those living in any third world countries.
Before I went on this trip, I lost sight of what is truly important. I come from a lower class family, but when I transferred to a private school on scholarship, I was so focused on what I didn’t have, but I feel so embarrassed that I used to feel this way. Going to the DR taught me the importance of having a support system. Whether that is your family, friends, or other adult figures in your life. Without my support system, I would not be where I am at today, and I want the people in the DR to feel the same way I do, that they have a support system who is willing to help them.