We wanted to introduce you to some of the wonderful people we met during our stay in La Guazara. This team has made our stay so much more interesting and fulfilling; and since they became such a big part of our lives here, we wanted to make sure you knew them a little more and put faces to their names.

Eng: COMMUNITY
Spa: COMUNIDAD
/kəˈmjuːnɪti/
noun

Tania

She was our main cook, also known for her delicious fried plantains. Very sweet and always interested in the things we liked so she could cook them again. She is Leiry’s and Danger’s mom. She was born and raised in La Guazara!

Leiry

She is 15 years old and graduated from school just a few weeks ago. She is waiting to start university in January to start med school and she can’t wait. She was always there to help us and guide us in the town of La Guazara but also in the town of Barahona when we needed to buy things. Alaina wrote a nice blog about her experience cooking with Leiry, so check that out too!

Ananyel

She was our second cook and known for her delicious rice that had a toasty and crunchy texture that we all loved. She is currently studying to become an elementary school teacher and will graduate in November. She is married to Eliasar, a fellow maestro, and has two beautiful sons who shared a lot of time with us. They came with us to the beach outing and they made us smile and laugh uncontrollably.

Miquea

Miquea is one of the very special maestros who helped us accomplish our goal of creating 20 floors for the different families in La Guazara. Although Miquea was one of three maestros, he was truly special and will always hold a special place in our hearts. He patiently taught all of us the techniques that came with building the floors, such as leveling the floors. His kind and funny personality made each work day a blast.

Pandu

Pandu was the most effective maestro we worked with. He smoothed out floors at a rate that blew all of us away. Although Pandu was more quiet than Miquea, his constant presence and guidance helped us complete our goal of 20 houses. Pandu never ceased to put a smile on our faces, calling us his distant family on the last day of the trip.

Eliasar

Eliasar is the youngest maestro we worked with. He is married to one of the members of the kitchen crew (Ananyel). Eliasar is working as a foreman part-time, and is also studying to become a lawyer. He will graduate this November. His youthful energy and famous smile was infectious, motivating each of us to work harder. You can see what a beautiful family they have in the picture! The eldest son is called Eliangel ( a combination of his parent’s names!) and the youngest son is called Neisher.

Pablo

Pablo was our guardian angel. He volunteered to be with us the whole time. When we woke up, Pablo was already there and when we went to sleep, Pablo closed the gates of the school. He helped us every day at construction, he took us to the river, he guided us through town, he went with us to the beach, and he made sure we were safe and taken care of. Check out the blog Connor wrote about his bond with Pablo!

Rosaura

She is Tania’s mom and she volunteered to wash our clothes! Even though we did not have electricity, she hand washed our towels and very dirty clothes. She also called herself the grandma of the group and checked on us every once in a while.

We met, worked, and shared experiences with so many people that to show them all would be impossible! These are only some of the closest team we worked with and we were so happy to be able to be part of these communities, if only for a few weeks.

— Juliana & Greg