Testimonials from Darmouth College Volunteers

Katie O’Connor

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

The DR was a formative experience for me. When I came back I wished that I had had more time to do some more things with the school, but I gained a lot of experience and Spanish skills that have pushed me in the direction I am going right now. I think what most profoundly affected me was how amazing it was to communicate in a language that was not my own and to learn about another culture by living it. After I returned to Dartmouth I changed my major from Psychology to Spanish (in my senior year!) and I knew then that I wanted to do something similar after college, but for a more extended period of time.

So in September of 1999 I left for Nicaragua with the Peace Corps. I spent 2 and a half years in the Caribbean town of Puerto Cabezas on the northern coast. I worked with elementary school teachers helping to implement an environmental education curriculum, among other things. The experience in the DR made my transition in Nicaragua fairly easy.

Cabarete was really a pivotal point for me narrowing my academic and post–Dartmouth life. I think that it has done that for many people who went. I know that I will always work with Spanish speakers and hopefully (after I get my Masters) I will work in Latin America again.

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 presence of Tucker Fellows in the community probably made a big difference. For me I could tell that the kids welcomed the interest that I showed in what they were doing and the creativity that I used for projects. They knew they could always expect a project that involved art and reading. I think especially in a town that is a tourist center, Tucker Fellows had a great opportunity to show that foreigners don’t just come for the beaches and the wind surfing and all that. It’s important for them to see that there are people like us who wanted to help improve their education so that they could have more possibilities. It is so important for underprivileged kids (and all kids) to be encouraged to achieve and to be told that they are intelligent. I would love to hear how the program changed. I can see from the list of projects that it really grew and expanded. When I was getting ready to leave, a teacher from one of the other schools in the community came in asking about how he could get someone to help at his school and I see that it’s something that later happened!

What special things, activities, or projects, did you do?

I mostly did reading projects with the kids. I worked with small groups of 2nd graders who still could not identify vowels. I did lots of book reports that involved both writing and art. I tried a little bit of English classes. I tried to give each student a chance to go to the library in a small group by keeping track of who had been there and what they had done. I did some typing skills with some of the students who were interested.

What you are doing now?

Now I am working for a non-profit in Chicago called Latin United Community Housing Association (LUCHA). I run the Community Energy Conservation Program, which works in a mainly Hispanic area of the inner city. I do Energy Ratings on homes and help homeowners do energy rehabs to lower gas bills. I also met and married my husband Michael in Nicaragua. He is from the city where I worked. We have been married for almost a year now and have been in the states since December of 2001.