Testimonials from Darmouth College Volunteers

Amy Feldman

How has your time working in Cabarete affected you, now and then? What did the experience mean to you?

I went to Cabarete for 5 months after my graduation from Dartmouth and acceptance to Medical School. When I landed at the Puerto Plata airport, I had no idea what to expect, who I would meet or what I would end up doing. Everything that I did, and everyone that I met far exceeded any expectations I would allow myself to have before arriving. I spent my time teaching in the Callahon School. Since there was only a formal program in the Puerto Cabarete school at the time, the idea was to spearhead the same sort of effort in this smaller school. I ended up having my own classroom of 25 5th graders who were often loud but always lovable. Since I already knew I would be going to medical school and had come to the DR because of a love for Latin American culture learned during my time at Dartmouth, I was not surprised to find myself confirming these desires. I did feel that having this classroom full of kids eager and excited to see me each day reinforced the idea that I wanted to be a pediatrician and serve a Spanish-speaking population. I still long for that feeling of walking into a room, or a dirt playground, and being clobbered with hugs and kisses. I hope that one day I will find it when I have a clinic that serves a Latino population.

Perhaps the most important thing that I learned during my time in the DR was self-confidence. There would be many people who would argue with me if I said that I was not a confident person before going, but I can see a difference in myself, my expectations of myself and in the amount of confidence I carry into any situation since my teaching experience. I don’t feel that this type of confidence, knowing that day after day I could stand in front of and teach 25 Spanish speaking 10-14 year olds, could be found in many other settings. I do feel that I have used it over and over again and I hope that it will serve me well as I embark on my next adventure.

Aside from teaching, my interactions with Iguana Mama and the other Dartmouth volunteers were also an important part of my experience. There is no way that one could underemphasize the importance of seeing what Iguana Mama has done in Cabarete or my faith that I will one day be able to achieve something similar using my medical background. In college, I finally decided that I was going to go to medical school when I spent a term in Nicaragua. Although I loved the work and people there, I felt sure that I wanted to pursue medicine solely based on the number of doctors I met who were there to put their skills to good use. Iguana Mama and the efforts of the Dartmouth program confirmed this again for me but on a much grander scale because of how close I was to the program. I’m not sure if I’m articulating this well enough, but seeing someone else pursue a vision and make it happen has given me the confidence that I will one day be able to do the same and this is what justifies pursuing medicine for me.

Do you feel you or the program made a difference in the lives of the children and in the community? (Give examples.)

I think that the strength of the program and the difference that is felt by the children and community can be seen purely by the longevity of the program and its continued expansion. I was thrilled to hear that a library was now built in Callahon and that there were 26 Dartmouth students who had participated. As for myself, I have no doubt that I made a difference in at least 25 lives. This is not to say that I drastically changed any life at all. But I did give my love, smile and affection to my children and I had at least a moment with each of them when I knew that they knew it. When I returned with some friends 8 months later I was greeted by the same smiles and even the same jokes as I had been when I graduated the class of 5th graders. I can hope that because they saw the attention that I gave them, that they took themselves a little more serious, felt better about themselves and maybe that will save them from a bad track and move them to a better one. If not, maybe I just offered them friendship for a few months, which is still a difference in their lives.

What you are doing now?

I am currently on a break from my fourth year of medical school. During this year I am spending some time at home with my family and am once again headed off to a foreign land to see what I can find. I am now hoping that my near complete medical education will allow for me to pursue a project in public health or community education in Chile.