Three testimonies from Georgia State Physical Therapy’s service learning trip to the Dominican Republic. Visit the link here to read from more students. 
“This experience was one that opened my eyes to many things. We can’t even imagine what parts of this world look like until you see it with your own eyes. This trip has shown me that our lives are about perspective. To us, we had the opportunity to help a community that is full of poverty and lack of resources. But whats amazing is that to them this is a happy, wonderful life. Every individual we interacted with was filled with positivity and were thankful for our work and service. This sunset was breathtaking and one like I’ve never seen before. But more than that it reminded me that you can find beauty in all parts of the world if you look hard enough. I’m infinitely grateful for the time spent in this country and for the education and service we could provide to these wonderful people!”
– Peyton Chambliss – DPT Student, GSU
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Gandhi.
“Not only was this trip eye-opening from start to finish but I truly believe we are leaving as better students, educators, and individuals from the experience and lessons on life this community gave us. We don’t live in a world that is all our own, and we make a life by what we can give back to others; we often underestimate the power of a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, a helping hand or a small act of caring, all of which can turn a life around. We may have been able to make an instant impact on the community in more ways than one this week, but the community helped give me a new perspective on life, opened my heart, and showed me that true happiness is in the unselfish caring of others. I loved being able to interact with the local families, learn from them, listen and talk with them despite the language barrier and see the joy in these kids eyes when we played and laughed after a long day of work. Our time spent here is invaluable and I am forever grateful to HHI and Comunidad Connect for making this trip a reality and to this community for allowing us to be a part of their lives even for a little bit.”
– Ashley Miller -DPT Student, GSU
“This is my favorite picture on the trip because we were in the process of building a community center in the village of Severet and a little girl started helping me fill the buckets with rocks. You could tell she was interested in what we were doing and she wanted to help. She was very shy but I managed to speak to her in broken Spanish and it was an amazing experience to not only participate in the manual labor of building a community center but also to connect with the local people of the village.”
– Helen To -DPT Student, GSU
