I was fortunate to go with Fathom on their inaugural cruise on the Adonia to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. On the cruising days there were a variety of community building activities designed with all travelers in mind, especially the socially conscious. From Spanish to How to be a Change Maker to Yoga, dance lessons, scavenger hunts, movie nights, and game nights, everyone has activities to partake in - should they choose. Or, just lounge by the pool.
Once in the Dominican, you port at Amber Cove, which is complete with shopping, a waterpark and pool. Fathom plans to stay there and track the social change they are spearheading. Fathom gives the option to embark on the Impact Activities and everyone has a say in how much or little commitment they have. Travelers eight years and older have the opportunity to create clean drinking water filters, reforest areas that have been depleted, make chocolate for a Women’s Coop, create concrete floors in community homes, teach English or help women create crafts from recycled paper.
I took this challenge head on - I wanted to be a Change Maker in the Dominican Republic.
Fast forward and I am climbing winding roads with my fellow volunteers to families in the local Caberete area of Puerto Plata. After the orientation, we find ourselves sitting on Mayra and Arturo’s couch in their simple home with their 16-year-old son, Manuel and their neighbor Saccharia. We teach them Basic English as part of the community English Program. There was tons of laughter and roosters crowing as we taught them basic phrases like “My name is”, “Nice to Meet you” and” How are you?” We were there for the very first lesson. Entrena, one of the partner non-profits, has created a curriculum that all future impact travelers will continue to implement.
As we chatted with the family, we learned that they are building a church in their community, and for now they are holding services in their house, replete with drums and guidos. Their appreciation is that much sweeter knowing they are putting what they learn right back into their community. Their son dreams of being an architect, their daughter is a nurse. We were honored. They were hungry for more.
We were eager to start the hard work of laying concrete floors for the families of the brutally impoverished neighborhood of El Javilla where it can take families more than 10 years to piecemeal their homes, the majority of which have dirt floors, together a bit at a time. Our team transformed the floor from a dirt rocky floor to a Royal blue concrete. We mixed the concrete right on the ground, it was incredibly heavy and we created a human chain to pass the concrete in buckets to the front of the line where trained workers helped lay the final product. The entire family thanked us and the two boys who lived there sang for us. Their smiles radiated, their voices moved our souls with few dry eyes between.
We had the opportunity to visit the house that had their floors done the day before. A baby drank her bottle on her beautiful sea foam green floors, curiously regarding us. The neighborhood children brought us crabs they had speared, dogs roamed freely alongside a couple of local donkeys and hens and their chicks. Our guide Lawrence, a young 18-year-old with fantastic English proudly showed us his home and told us that he started working for Fathom after they recruited him and he was helping rebuild his best friend’s house. Lawrence will continue to help his community while earning a living, he has plans to Study in Spain in the future.
I wanted to do more - to do ALL the floors for this community who welcomed us with open arms and “musica” to help us keep the beat in our work. Incredible. Every child, no - every human, has so much to gain by seeing their counterparts and helping them. Knowing that these babies will no longer have to worry about mud floors and insects during the rainy season is soul-filling.
The bottom line is we all have “Super Powers” and the potential to create Magic. Fathom has taken the guesswork out of how to change people’s lives for the better. Thanks to Fathom, we can build relationships with the families who directly benefit from the global citizen traveling with purpose. While so many families are hoping for clean water, concrete floors, and the power that learning English brings, we are looking forward to tracking the real outcomes Fathom causes and hope to return soon to Travel Deep.
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The writer received complimentary travel for the purpose of facilitating the preparation of this review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are her own.
