I've decided to give you a picture tour of our time at Playa Fronton with 18 sixth graders for their coral reef expedition. We started early Monday morning and drove for 5 hours to the Samana peninsula. Things were a little packed on the bus and students were FULL of energy! When we arrived, we were dropped off on the side of a dirt road literally in the middle of nowhere. The beach we would be staying at was not reachable by car so we had to hike for two hours to get there! When we finally arrived, it was amazing to see the faces of several of the students - some had never seen the ocean before. One girl, Noemi, stood with her mouth open in amazement for at least 2 minutes. A whole wave emotion flowed through me during that time as I enjoyed their reactions as much as they enjoyed their first view of God's marvelous creation.
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| Hiking in |
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| Noemi (front) & Eliezer (back) |
When we arrived at the beach which would be our home for the week, it didn't take much time for the kids to get in the water, clothes and all.
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| Students enjoying the ocean (some for the first time!) |
Eventually, we had to round all the kids up to set up our campsite. We had 5 tents that needed to be set up along with our very own (and my first ever) BIFF - Bathroom In Forest Floor. The first day passed by quickly after setting up camp, dinner, and the requisite campfire.
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| Our tents |
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| There was always endless amounts of sand in our tents - very uncomfortable to sleep on! |
Our first day began with a review session - "obstacle course" style. Basically students had to make their way through an obstacle course and answer different questions along the way. If they answered incorrectly, the teacher asking the question got to make them do any embarrassing thing they wanted. It was a lot of fun for both students and teachers!
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| Priscylla doing the limbo on the way to Station 1. |
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| Frailyn doing sand stars after answering a question incorrectly. He always has a smile on his face. |
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| Geremias climbing a tree for the last challenge! |
The rest of the day was spent waiting for our experts from the non-profit, Reef Check DR. We passed the time un-knotting the human knot and even had French class.
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| Satisfaction - human knot just about cracked! |
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Joe finding a moment of solitude - always needed when
surrounded by 11 and 12 year old kids for a week |
Our experts finally arrived late afternoon on Tuesday and gave a class on coral reefs. This included review for the students as well as some new information.
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| Ruben (from Reef Check) talking with students and teachers. |
The next day was what all of the students were looking forward to most - snorkeling! Before we could get into the water though, the kids had some work to do. One way marine biologists around the world are helping coral reefs is through coral nurseries. Ruben informed the kids that they would be helping out by making coral "cookies". The step by step process (with pictures) is below.
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| Step 1 - Mix the cement. |
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| Step 2 - Cut out the mesh centers. |
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| Step 3 - Create coral "cookies". |
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| Step 4 - Let them dry. |
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| Step 5 - Pop them out. |
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| Final product - Coral cookie with attached (in this case, dead) coral. |
These coral cookies would be used to attach live coral which would then be transplanted to a coral nursery. In these coral nurseries, marine biologists are trying to re-grow coral and increase genetic diversity of the different coral species - pretty cool stuff!
After making our first batch of cookies, we gave snorkeling lessons and then the students were let loose into the water to actually see the coral reefs that they had been learning about!
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| 6th graders out in the water having a great time! |
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| Adriana being silly! |
That night before bed we had one last activity - Plankton fishing! Using our makeshift nets of pantyhose and strainers, student went plankton catching and used flashlights to see these tiny organisms that are the main food source for corals.
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| Joe checking out plankton with Isabela. |
Following the very full day we had, everyone was exhausted, so after gathering around the campfire for smores and songs, we went to bed anticipating the next day of adventures. Day 4 went by very fast. We made more cookies, snorkeled some more, and students collected loads of data on water quality, beach width and slope. It was hard to believe that the next day we would already be heading back home.
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| Taking water quality measurements. |
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| Our snorkeling group pick - can you spot Joe? |
Our last day began the same way as every other day - with our daily devotions with students. That morning; however, we awoke early and did a sunrise devotional time. Our devotions topics throughout the week all had the theme of water and so we ended on Friday with a more symbolic action with water - Jesus washing His disciple's feet. It was quite breathtaking sitting on the beach with my kids, talking about God and seeing his beautiful sunrise. When the sun did make it's first appearance on the horizon we all stopped and soaked it in for some time. We culminated the trip with washing our own student's feet and gave them the opportunity to do the same for each other.
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| Our breathtaking sunrise. |
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| Washing one another's feet |
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| Prayer before leaving Playa Fronton |
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Boat ride (perhaps the most fun part of the trip for me) back to civilization - the waves
were still quite large from a storm that was raging near the Bahamas |
We ended the trip by picking up trash and taking boats (instead of hiking) to the town where our bus was waiting to take us back home. The bus ride home was much quieter than the one to the beach. Kids slept or recapped the week. Joe and I were incredibly exhausted - ready for a shower and a real toilet. As I look back at our week in Playa Fronton I don't really think about everything the students learned about coral reefs - which was a lot. Instead I think about the relationships that were formed or strengthened. Of course I would not like to spend every week in seclusion with 18 sixth graders, but it was the most unifying experience I have ever had with students. I know that Joe and I made the right decision in answering God's calling for us in the Dominican Republic. This blog cannot tell you half of what we experience here and I wish you all could live it with us!
I hope all of your lives are as fulfilling as ours are - that you have found purpose in all that you do, which can only come from God. As always we enjoy hearing from you and are thinking and praying for you all.
Soli Deo Gloria
