Somos Amigos - Dominican Republic
	Story by Alex Williams, ’09 Photographs by Kevin Buckley I have read articles and heard stories about people who lived on $2 a day, but this summer I had the opportunity to see how poor much of the world actually is. For one month, seniors Joe Kitzinger, Justin Boice and I lived in the Dominican Republic where we spent three weeks building an aqueduct for a town and then lived our final week near a Haitian refugee center. While we laid the tubing and constructed the actual aqueduct, we stayed with a local family, living as they had for so many years without true plumbing. Some families were considered wealthy for owning Western-style bathrooms; the rest got by on rain buckets for showers and holes in the ground for toilets. For the first three weeks, our meals consisted solely of rice, beans, pasta, eggs, and salami, with chicken being a rare but exquisite entrée once a week. We saw first-hand the remnants of a society that was struggling to pick itself up from a crippling dictatorship that ruled only a few decades ago. While in the United States people argue over what place prayer should have in school and whether or not we should nationalize healthcare, the Dominican Republic and several other nations continue to survive without competitive schools or adequate hospitals.

	We could not have been successful in an attempt to build an aqueduct without the help of all the local villagers. The men made it a community project, lending a hand when they could. The women, too, would visit us and bring us drinks after working under the hot sun all day long. One young man, Elvi, worked harder than all four of us combined — we would always see him toiling toward our final goal. Without him, and many of the others who helped us, this project would not have been possible. It was also these same villagers who welcomed us into their homes to sleep. They became our families, and we referred to our hosts as our “mother” and “father.” They called us their “niños” or “children” in Spanish. When it was time for us to return home, Joe’s adoptive mother took him into her arms and almost refused to let go — reflecting the strength of the bonds we had created. I feel truly blessed to have grown up in such a free and democratic nation as the United States, but realize my fortune is not a gift I can take for granted. My parents, faith, and belief in the Ignatian concept of being “a man for others” have all taught me that with great power comes great responsibility. It is my duty as a human to use my opportunities — a sound mind, a healthy body, an education, and a loving family — to better the lives of those who are not as blessed. By helping the poorest of the poor, we can truly pay back for the life we have been blessed to live. Prep provided us this opportunity. Next summer, another group of seniors will once again take up the cause and return to the Dominican Republic and fulfill the concept of being “a man for others." For more information about Somos Amigos, please contact Kevin Buckley. This story originally appeared in the Fall 2008 issue of Alumnews.