Saratoga native Kelsey Jones volunteered, helped village in Dominican Republic
Above photo. The International Student Volunteers group with residents of the village of Los Francos. The volunteers helped build a community center, latrines and poured concrete floors in houses last year.
Left photo. Kelsey Jones, left, helps dig a trench that will become part of a foundation for a community center. Left photo. Kelsey Jones, left, helps dig a trench that will become part of a foundation for a community center.
Left and middle, Jones takes selfies with some of the children in Los Francos. Right. Jones helped teach the children about nutrition using this interactive food pyramid.
Left and middle, Jones takes selfies with some of the children in Los Francos. Right. Jones helped teach the children about nutrition using this interactive food pyramid.Right. Jones helped teach the children about nutrition using this interactive food pyramid.
Left and middle, Jones takes selfies with some of the children in Los Francos. Right. Jones helped teach the children about nutrition using this interactive food pyramid.
One of four latrines that Jones helped build for the village of Los Francos.
"You give something to a child, even if its just a hug, and you see their faces light up. There really is no better gift than that," Kelsey Jones, 22-year-old University of Wyoming (UW) student and Saratoga native, said about her time volunteering in the Dominican Republic village of Los Francos.
Los Francos is in the southern part of the Dominican Republic near the city of San Cristobal. Jones spent a month in the island nation, two weeks of which were used to build a community center, four latrines and laying a concrete floor for a house. The project was organized by International Student Volunteers (ISV), a California based non-profit that works around the world to provide better infrastructure and education to impoverished communities.
According to their website ISV has had over 35,000 volunteers who have contributed over 3 million hours in education, sustainable development and conservation initiatives in Australia, South Africa, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Thailand and the Dominican Republic.
Jones first heard about the program from recruiters that came to her classes at UW. After the second class where she was able to read ISVs pamphlet, Jones decided to volunteer in the Dominican Republic. That meant raising funds to cover the $3,600 cost of the trip.
Jones said that many local businesses contributed. One of her best fundraising efforts was holding a 50/50 drawing at the Sinclair refinery, where she worked last winter. After the money was raised Jones spent June 19 through July 16, 2015 in the Dominican Republic.
"I just love helping people and I thought it was a great way for me to give back ... it was a very humbling experience for me," Jones said.
Her focus was on the children in the village. "I've just always loved helping children. Before I was a criminal justice and psych major I was majoring in kinesiology because I wanted to be a physical therapist specifically for children," Jones said.
Jones hopes to attend graduate school for forensic psychology after she finishes her degree at UW, hopefully this spring.
The work at Los Francos involved a lot of shoveling to dig latrine holes and foundation trenches. Jones also had to learn to mix her own concrete for the projects. The community center will benefit the entire village and individual families will have use of the latrines.
Jones also taught conversational English and health and wellness to the children as part of her work in Los Francos.
"That was the most humbling thing I have ever done and I hope to go back someday," Jones said. She has no definite plans to return to Los Francos but she said she would like to visit again some day and see how the projects she worked on are helping the community.
Right now, with her busy school schedule, Jones is still managing to make charitable contributions to ISV. Maybe, down the road, she will be able to do some more hands on volunteer work.
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