Safely Back from Their Second Community Service Trip to the Dominican Republic

Their trip coincided (with a one day delay) with the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan and now, after a week, they have all returned safely.

The group, consisting of ten Bement School alums, accompanied by two of their former teachers, a spouse of one of them, and two medical professionals departed western Massachusetts on Saturday morning, March 12, 2011, at 5:30AM in the darkness. They returned this morning safely to their homes at about 2AM, having flown back from Santo Domingo to JFK and then ridden the Bement School van back to western Massachusetts.

The group consisted of students who had been to La Suiza Orphanage in the Dominican Republic as part of their 9th grade Bement School curriculum and had since graduated. It was not certain that the trip would become a reality. As you know, the Dominican Republic shares an island with Haiti, which marked this past January the first anniversary of its devastating earthquake, followed by an outbreak of cholera months afterwards.

As a parent of one of the travelers, and as someone who also does research on risk management from financial networks to supply chains, I felt a bit unsettled about the prospect of this trip. However, the joy that preceded this trip in the anticipation of seeing the boys (some are as young as 3 years old) and in planning various activities for them made me realize the significance of this return trip to all the participants.

Yesterday evening, before boarding the plane that would bring them back to the US, my daughter left a voice mail message, saying that this trip was even better then her first trip there, which took place two years ago. That trip coincided with one of my first posts on this blog.

As a teacher told us, the orphans were used to groups coming and then leaving (quite a few consisted of adults helping out with much-needed maintenance of the orphanage and school) but this was the first "school" group that had come back to see them and to be with them and they had done it because they really wanted to. The Bement School graduates on this trip consisted of students (all females, interestingly) who were now at high schools, including Deerfield Academy, Northfield Mount Hermon, Brewster Academy, and Suffield Academy, as well as Williston. They had graduated within a two year period from Bement.

Above is a photo taken of the suitcase that my daughter packed up with activities for the children at La Suiza. I hope to share more on their experiences, plus photos, after the travelers have had some much-needed rest.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of Japan for their tremendous pain, losses, and suffering. Please realize that, as global citizens of one world, you are in our thoughts as we all work for the recovery of your great nation. I have had the distinct honor of going to Japan several times and one of my PhD students was from Japan. The Bement School has also graduated several students from Japan.

Community Service in the Dominican Republic and The Bement School

Last year, I began this blog about the same time as my daughter, who was then a 9th grader at The Bement School in Old Deerfield, Massachusetts, was getting ready for a community service trip with her class to La Suiza Orphanage in the Dominican Republic. I wrote in this blog about the preparations, the anticipation, and the excitement of the students and their teachers prior to the trip and the life-transforming experience that this trip was for all involved.

Much has happened to the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, since that class trip, especially the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010. This year's 9th grade class at The Bement School has now returned from their one week service trip to the same orphanage, which began on January 28, 2010.

Before they left, my daughter constructed a large poster filled with photos that she developed from her class trip last year and one of her former teachers brought the poster to the orphanage.

Above I share with you a photo that the teacher took of my daughter's poster at the orphanage, which is being admired and studied very intently by two boys at the orphanage. The teacher told my daughter that many of the children at this orphanage remembered their experiences with my daughter's class and were delighted to see the poster with the photos of very special memories. A return trip is planned next year for the Bement alums who have been able to help out at La Suiza and who wish to return to see the children and to reestablish the bonds made.

Memories of such experiences as these are priceless for all those involved and prove the importance of human connections and community service across national boundaries.

I had a Dream -- Celebrating Martin Luther King Day

Last night I had a nightmare. In my dream I was back in high school, which was not my alma mater, Yonkers High School, but, rather, the high school that my daughter attends now, Deerfield Academy. There I was, back in high school, but with a PhD in Applied Math (specialty in operations research), and with a Phi Beta Kappa key from Brown University. In the dream, I was completely evaluating the direction my life journey had taken me and I was being given a chance to take high school courses and, in a sense, to start over again. However, I could not relate to the teachers and just could not fit in. Yes, my daughter was also at the same school in my dream, which she adores in reality, and tells me that she would not change a single thing about Deerfield Academy. The nightmare was so real that I woke up this morning by literally jumping out of bed.

Then I realized it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day in which we recognize and remember the journey of this great man. To commemorate this day, I listened to his "I Have a Dream" speech, while my daughter at her school is having a full day of special memorial activities.

I am an immigrant, having been born in Canada, and with my first language being Ukrainian. My nightmare cannot compare with the earthquake devastation and post-aftermath in Haiti. An article in a Canadian newspaper (yes, I still love Canada) traces some of the history of the island of Hispaniola, which is home to both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It attempts to explain how the environment and various policies over centuries have resulted in such different national histories.

As for the resolution of the nightmare, I am most glad that I am not back in any high school, although Yonkers High School was a fantastic amalgamation of students, diversity, and outstanding teachers and led me to Brown University, whose President is the amazing Dr. Ruth Simmons, one of 11 children, whose parents were sharecroppers in Mississippi.

Let's continue to live the dreams and to help the less fortunate!

Aid Gridlock in Haiti, Being WISE, and What Should a Mother Do?

The airport in Port-au-Prince at which many of the relief (and military) planes are landing, is gridlocked, with supplies not being disseminated in a coordinated and effective manner to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. This article shows the huge frustration experienced even by the relief workers who are lacking trucks, and in many cases, even fuel, to disseminate the needed water and food. Coincidentally, this past term, I have had several meetings with the coordinator of FlexNet, Mr. Matthew Bader, who works in providing trucks for supply deliveries in humanitarian operations.

Doctors are working with primitive supplies, searching for antiseptics, alcohol, in most any form, as well as clean water, in order to do the necessary surgical procedures and to try to save lives. The medical situation is so dire -- heroic medical professionals are working in settings like Gettysburg, the Civil War battle that took place in the middle of the 19th century. Hospitals in Haiti, even pre-earthquake, were not sufficiently stocked.

There is a better picture now in terms of the coordination of relief activities, which is, nevertheless, still lacking in numerous respects. I spoke with Dr. Jose Holguin-Veras of RPI, who gave a brilliant lecture in our Speaker Series this past term on Emergency Logistics and the Response to Hurricane Katrina. He is a native of the Dominican Republic (DR), the country which shares the island with Haiti. He told me that he is now advising the Dominican Republic on logistics, since that country and its airport are a major logistics relief staging area for Haiti. He told me that, once the supplies arrive at the border with Haiti, the United Nations is taking over, because of the extraordinarily challenging situation in Haiti now in terms also of safety. I have tried to reach Dr. Denise Sumpf, who works for the UN, and who also spoke in our series and who is an expert in transportation, but I have not had success. Since several dozen UN peacekeepers in Haiti perished in the earthquake, the coordination of the relief efforts has suffered, as a consequence of the lack of command and control, early on.

My daughter, last year, at precisely this time, was packing up supplies to take to an orphanage in San Cristobal in the DR, to begin a week's community service there with her 9th grade class at the Bement School.

This orphanage is west of the Santo Domingo airport in the DR, to which many relief planes have also been landing. The supplies are then transported over roads to the Haitian border and onwards in treacherous conditions.

This year's 9th grade at Bement is to be journeying to help out in the same orphanage in less than two weeks. Last year, I had the usual concerns about allowing a child to take on this special trip. This year, there is the Haiti earthquake and its aftermath to contend with. I hear that this community service trip is still on. It signifies that one should do whatever one can and is capable of to help the less fortunate. As an educator, I have been trying to do my best in conducting research and in disseminating knowledge about logistics and transportation and the importance of networks and infrastructure to societies and economies.

I hope that more students will assume careers in humanitarian logistics. There is a very thoughtful writeup on humanitarian logistics and WISE (Women's Institute for Supply Chain Excellence), in which Ms. Melanie Miller, of Accenture's Supply Chain Management Practice, includes a quote by me. With the number of disasters, and their severity growing, we, as educators, can inspire others.

They are Back!

The Bement School 9th graders returned last night around 9PM from their service trip to the La Suiza orphanage in the Dominican Republic, only 2 hours or so late, after an unplanned delay at immigration at the JFK airport since one girl's passport and papers were being challenged. Given numerous stories from colleagues and friends about their misadventures at immigration at JFK, the parents of the travelers breathed a big sigh of relief, when we were finally notified that the student group of 20 and their teachers and coaches could proceed through!

When the 9th graders arrived back to Old Deerfield they were welcomed by parents and the excitement of all at the reunion was palpable. What the "Bementers" accomplished in less than a week is amazing -- they built bookshelves at the orphanage, painted what has now become a library and study area, and designed and painted a big mural. Most importantly, they played with the orphans (45 boys in all), carried the younger ones around, since they blossom with the attention, and organized games of basketball, soccer, and baseball. They played checkers with the children, shared books and toys with them, including hula hoops, climbed mango trees, and communicated with one another as only children can -- with hugs and laughter. They also accompanied the older ones to their school down the hill. The Bementers also helped the staff with dish washing and volunteered to do so since the orphanage is so short-staffed.

The fact that few of the 9th graders knew much, if any Spanish, did not matter!

As my daughter said, upon her return, "We had no TVs, no radios, no Internet, and no watches - time just stood still and it did not matter. It was so wonderful!" The food was delicious - pineapples, eggs, chicken, and rice -- the chickens ran freely there!" "We would help putting the little ones to bed and they even prayed for us." "Every night we collapsed to sleep in our large dormitory rooms, girls in one room and boys in another." "There was no hot water in the showers and sinks and we had fun brushing out teeth, sometimes outside." "Mom, you must do something about the traffic in the Dominican Republic, though, since there are no double yellow lines on the roads and the bus rides were interesting."

When my daughter entered our home late last night she ran up to the bathroom and said that she needed time to just stare and appreciate the bathroom amenities, and especially the shower stall.

One wonders whether $$$ sent to such an orphanage might result in physical improvements but, at the same time, the human contact and shared experiences among the students of the US and those at La Suiza may inspire dreams, which may be more fundamental and lasting. Clearly, a way in which to improve and sustain both the physical and educational infrastructure at the orphanage along with more face-to-face support and kindness plus enriching experiences would be ideal.

Such a trip that the Bement 9th graders experienced, with some associated possible risks, builds not only character, but also empathy, discipline, and appreciation. We hope that it is just the beginning of helping to construct an environment in which those who need it most can enjoy their childhoods, knowing that others care, and the process of growing up.

Learning Experiences, Face-to-Face, Service in an Orphanage in the Dominican Republic

Coincidentally, yesterday's New York Times (Sunday, January 25, 2009) had an article on trips to the Caribbean, just as my daughter was heading out at 5:15AM with her 9th grade class from The Bement School, with a few teachers and coaches, to the Dominican Republic. The caravan of Bement School busses left Old Deerfield in sub-zero weather to JFK airport and JetBlue flew them all down to Santo Domingo. The service adventure has begun. The students have been preparing for this trip for weeks and had assembled suitcases filled with clothes, games, and toys for the children at the orphanage where they are now staying for the week to help out.

Planned activities at the orphanage include educational activities such as math exercises, assisting with building projects, and, most of all, sharing with those who have no families in face-to-face time, basketball and baseball games, and just showing that others care.

These kinds of experiences cannot be obtained through "virtual connectedness." The group of 9th grade "Bementers" includes children from Massachusetts and Vermont, plus boaders from China, South Korea, and Singapore. They will speak in the language of friendship, kindness, and play, and, hopefully, will engender memories that will last a lifetime.

Updated -- January 27, 2009: Today, The Recorder, a newspaper based in Greenfield, Massachusetts, ran an article on this service trip.