The House of Hope is a place where handicapped children and adults can live, if their family cannot or will not take care of them. The house is run off of volunteers and donations. Sadly, Dominica is weak when it comes to mental health and because of this, no one knows what is wrong with the girls who live at the House of Hope. Needless to say they have no therapy of any sort, not even speech therapy. Which is really sad because I am sure these girls would love to be able to communicate with us more than they do. The only real communication they have is touch and whatever noises they make.
When you drive up and see the colorful drawings outside the buildings it warms your heart. Then you walk inside, meet the residents for the first time and you truly do not know what you are feeling. It is impossible to put the feelings into words, because they are mix of so many emotions. You are sad to see the residents, you are happy when you look at the paintings, and you are grateful when you think of what could have happened if they did not have House of Hope.
The goal of my day was to help give the residents a better life. At first I had no idea what to paint or even do. I went to see and interact with each resident, which was tough at first because I was not sure to approach them. Then Mrs. Boyd and I just wandered out to the deck and added to another painting. After some thought we decided to add a quote to a blank wall "Laughter is the best medicine". Next, we went back into the house and got to help feed the youngest residents of the house, Melissa and Marissa. Melissa was so much fun! In the middle of eating she grabbed my hands and pulled them around her, and then turned around and climbed onto me. I let her out of her bed for a bit and all she wanted to do was clap my hands together. She was having so much fun!
Melissa really helped me to see the true meaning of the House of Hope. You have to go into the entire House of Hope experience with an open mind, you cannot even think about what you want to paint. You just have to walk in, interact with the residents, and let your emotions tell you what to do from there. I wish that everyone could have as good of an experience as I did. I have to say, I am sad we are not going back again!
- Michaela
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