HCC students in partnership with The Mariposa Foundation, began work on repairing and painting decaying schools this week in Cabarete, Dominican Republic. Led by Professor of Early Childhood Education, Laurie Noe, the trip combines service learning with a humanities class to offer students a one of a kind experience not found in a traditional classroom.

“Today we’re working on painting a private school in a small town called Cabarete,” Noe said. “Though being near the beach doesn’t hurt.”

This year, the service learning trip has volunteered for The Mariposa Foundation, an organization that focuses on educating and empowering Haitian and Dominican girls through tutoring and creating solutions to end generational poverty.  

Noe, who runs a daily photo blog chronicling her group’s efforts at LaurieNoe.blogspot.com, says the volunteer work has been rewarding.

“It has been very fulfilling,” Noe said. “We’ve worked directly with the Mariposa girls, reading to them in both English and Spanish as well as doing any clean-up and renovations we can to their learning center.”

For more information on study abroad opportunities at HCC, visit http://www.housatonic.edu/degrees-and-certificates/studyabroad. To find out more and contribute to The Mariposa Foundation, visit http://www.mariposadrfoundation.org/index.html