Each year at Spring Break, hundreds of Baylor University students, including many from the College of Arts & Sciences, spend their week off from classes traveling around the world on Baylor-sponsored mission trips. During Spring Break 2016, members of the Baylor pre-med honor society Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED) traveled to the Dominican Republic to partner with the nonprofit group Orphan’s Heart. The students helped provide basic healthcare to residents, assisted with community projects and supported children sponsored by Orphan’s Heart.

One of the people giving up their Spring Break to travel to the Dominican Republic was Arts & Sciences student Jennifer Teague, a junior biology major from Flower Mound, Texas (shown at left in the photo). She is a pre-med student who plans to graduate from Baylor in May 2017. In the second part of her account of the trip, Jennifer discusses how Baylor students were able to teach and spend time with local children and help get new houses ready for the community.

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My Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic (Part Two)
By Jennifer Teague

In the first part of my account of our mission trip to the Dominican Republic, I told how experiencing different levels of healthcare was one component of our trip. But there were other important mission trip components –– such as working with children at the community transformation center and painting houses. Orphan’s Heart is working on a long-term project of building 100 houses for the rural community outside of Azua. In addition, Orphan’s Heart has built a community center where people can learn life skills or gain knowledge about subjects like nutrition and wellness. This community center also doubles as a church on Sunday and is within walking distance of the local clinic.

While painting one of the houses, our group played music, sang and bonded. The whole experience was therapeutic and allowed us to see the contributions of the many groups who had come before us. We were just putting down the primer coat, but eventually another group will add a layer of colored paint, install plumbing, make sure the house has electricity, etc., until the house is finally complete. Each house is very luxurious compared to the typical dirt floor, one-room home in rural Azua. I was impressed looking into a mostly finished house and seeing three rooms with doors, a cupboard, a light, a sink, a shower and a toilet. Sometimes when mission trips come and work on homes, the structures are poorly built and will fail to last, but these homes are built to last and are even hurricane resistant. The love and hard work already poured into Azua are evident, and I wish we could have stayed longer to continue the work. It is reassuring that there is a continual stream of teams working on this project, and I am proud to have been a part of the process, even if only for a day.

I couldn’t help but notice the metaphor for my walk with Christ. There’s a reason it is considered a spiritual journey. God sends people into our life and opens doors to new experiences that will shape us. When we start out, we are rough and empty, but then we accept God’s love and continue to grow spiritually throughout life. There is not one experience that makes us who we are, but rather it is the combined effect of many experiences and people that lead to change. We become resilient and able to weather storms that come our way, and we are given light to lead others to their own spiritual path. Throughout life, we meet people in all stages of their journey.

Later in the day, we were able to meet the children who are just beginning their journey. Our task was to give a lesson on nutrition. The night before, we met in our group to discuss our project and decided to play “Simon Says,” do a skit and color paper plates with examples of healthy food. In the morning we had 80 kids while in the afternoon we had around 40-50 children. They loved the crafts and all of the songs and games we had planned. We could not have handled the children without Merari, though. She is an Orphan’s Heart staff member who works with the community day in and day out, and she has the most experience with the children. Without her guidance, chaos would have ensued. The children love “Americanos.” The minute we stepped into the room, we were surrounded. There were no boundaries. Kids were climbing on us and playing with our hair, but what I noticed most was the contact all of these children craved. If they could hold our hand or lay on top of us, they would!

Cesar, our leader for the week, explained that many of these children grow up too soon. They become parents to their siblings at age 6 and have their own children as early as 13. I felt like a mother for a day. I realized that more important than our lesson on nutrition was having open arms for everyone who came to listen. In return, the children were eager to help us learn and did not seem to mind when we stumbled our way through Spanish. They would help me find the word that I was looking for and were incredibly patient with the language barrier.

At the end of the day, I ended up with a stack of colored paper plates from our crafts sessions. I was surprised because I expected most of the kids would keep their plates, but instead they wanted to give them back as a gift. One girl, Nicole, who stayed with me the whole afternoon, wrote my name on the plate and her name underneath before handing it to me and leaving with the rest of the group. The next day she gave me a letter expressing her hope that we would always be friends. I may not see her again, but I will hold onto her gifts for years to come.

After jumping back into Baylor classes, MCAT studying, thesis writing and extracurriculars, it is easy to let life take hold and forget to reflect on everything that happened in the Dominican Republic. However, I must remind myself of the experience so that I do not forget the faces and the smiles and the love I felt from everyone there. If I ever doubt my path to becoming a physician, I know all I need to do is look back on this blog and all of the pictures from the trip to remember why I ultimately am pursuing this career. The time put in is worth it in the end if I can make a difference in even one person’s life, and I will cherish the lasting connections I make with people along the way.

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KEY TO PHOTOS:
TOP: Shown painting houses are (L to R) Baylor students Dani Shahin, Aaron Hocher and Lucila Beuses with Orphan’s Heart staff member Merari
SECOND DOWN: Yeison and his drawing of the “Super Vacuna” during the vaccine lesson
THIRD DOWN: The author, Baylor student Jennifer Teague (L), with her new friend Nicole
BOTTOM: Baylor student Dani Shahin with children in the Community Transformation Center