Marisely Rodriguez volunteers in the Dominican Republic

2013 Feb 25

Senior social work major Marisely Rodriguez and nine other Siena College students spent a week in the Dominican Republic during winter break working with Franciscan sisters in Santo Domingo as part of a service trip sponsored by the Sr. Thea Bowman Center for Women. The group worked in health clinics and taught young children in the community of Los Tres Brazos.

"The trip involved spending time with the children, creating lesson plans for the K-4 school, teaching English lessons for the slightly older children, volunteering when needed at the medical clinic, pharmacy or just running around at recess," said Shannon O'Neil Ph.D., director of the Sr. Thea Bowman Center for Women.

O'Neill said that there are parts of the Dominican Republic that are underdeveloped and are economically suffering. The trip provided Siena students and chaperones with realizations about the conditions others may face.

The students also brought money and donated goods for the Franciscan Sisters to distribute to people in need, as well as Beanie Babies that they gave to the children on the last day of the trip.

This trip is something that both the Siena students and the community of Los Tres Brazos look forward to each year. "We worked really hard to make sure that the Sisters feel really good about the students we have sent down." O'Neil said. "They rave about our group so we have a little Siena pride in that the Sisters think very highly of the work the Siena students do and the ways that the students carry themselves."

This was the Bowman Center's seventh annual service trip to the Dominican Republic.