caraballo.

no matter how many international films i've watched, global health reports i've studied, development books i've read, or how informed i've chosen to make myself, there is nothing like real-life experience.

a real-life experience with people who live every day in poverty, who know nothing else.

today, we went to caraballo, a little batey about an hour's drive away from cabarete. 

and after spending only a few hours there, i feel as if am a changed person. 

i've come into contact with poverty, with extreme suffering, with pain.

and sure, i've seen it a lot in films and on the news and in books. 

but never in my life have i come into contact with it in such a manner, 

spent time with an entire community living in such dire circumstances.

historically, the bateys of cuba and the dominican republic are sugar-cane-centered communities that house many immigrants from haiti who come to harvest every year. 

well, the sugar cane factory in caraballo has been shut down for a decade,

so this very remote community has virtually no source of income.

it is filled with a combination of haitians and dominicans,

and it is suffering immensely. 

one-roomed shacks made out of scrap metal serve as houses.

trash is everywhere. 

pigs, horses, goats, chickens run around with barely-clothed children. 

remains of once-successful humanitarian efforts litter the community. 

a single room serves as a bedroom, living room, and shop for a family of (soon-to-be) four. 

and it doesn't stop there. 

but though their living conditions are bleak, 

the people of this little batey are so, so kind.

and the children? where do i even begin...

i spent the afternoon sharing secrets with my new little amiga, 

playing soccer with the sweetest child on the planet, elso, and his buddies,

exchanging contact information with a group of the nicest teenage boys,

and filming the music class in DREAM's montessori preschool.

when i think about all of the inequalities out there,

the huge disparities between what i have been blessed with and what many in the world are lacking,

my heart physically aches.

thinking about my experiences today literally brings me to tears. 

but i am thankful for my experiences.

they have re-ignited my humanitarian flame

and will hopefully serve as a reminder of all i need to be constantly grateful for in my life.

i feel as if i can't really articulate what i'm trying to say in an eloquent manner,
so i'll stop writing before i get too ramble-y.
but if you're in an air-conditioned home reading this, with a full belly and clean clothes on your body,
please take a second to be grateful for what you have.