I’m at the Miami International Airport on my way to Nashville, coincidentally for work. For the next two weeks, my job is to help share the story behind the bags and sell them at conferences along the eastern coast. I am very excited about this portion of my job! Since I spend most of my time in the DR office doing editorial work, this excursion into how New Hope shares its cause around the States will provide excellent context for me to better understand its voice and effect on the public. 

the STI airport. I already miss it!

 New Hope Girls has ties with a US-based conference series called Extraordinary Women (E-Women for short). The height of these conferences occurs every September and March. I will begin this circuit in Nashville, then spend one week in Lynchburg, Virginia, for a separate conference at Liberty University. Next, my coworker and I will drive to Pennsylvania, then back to Virginia for an E-Women weekend at Liberty—that’s three weeks in total. This conference has come at a good time; I have hit a few milestones regarding my goals for the organization and my role in it.

Firstly, the writing retreat with my boss was successful: we completed the first round of rewrites for the first ten chapters! We celebrated with a quick stop to the beach and a dinner out of the house. It was a good time to take a breather, be proud of what we have accomplished, and to prepare for the work ahead. Getting these first ten done means that we can start inviting in beta readers after copyedits (my job), which will only refine the work and make it more affective for readers to enjoy. I cannot wait to get the ARC copies in February!

A quick stop to the beach between writing/editing chapters of the book!

Secondly, while in the States, I will have completed one-third of my time commitment here in the Dominican Republic. During that time, I have grown to understand the rarity of my experience here. Much had to happen for my desired position to open up, for the finances to be provided for, and for my interests and passions to grow enough for me to chase this. I imagine a series of strategically placed dominoes that had to fall in order for this opportunity to reach me—and I hope I’m just another piece in the lineup that reaches someone else.  I could trace the line as far back as high school, but I think the catalyst that really accelerated my interest in moving here to the DR began in the fall of 2022.

I have wanted to study English at Belmont since I was 13 when we dropped my older sister off at Wright Hall for her freshman year. However, by my senior year of high school, I had committed to a university in Chicago. Covid happened (and a few other things), and I ended up renting an apartment down the street from Belmont. Before my lease was up, I enrolled at Belmont. By the fall of 2022, I was enrolled in Dr. Amy Hodges-Hamilton’s wonderful “Writing in the Community” course that teaches students how to write for social change and how to use writing as a therapy model. The main project students complete is a oral hisotry project with a member of the community in connection to a local non-profit. I was partnered with the English-language learners at The Branch of Nashville. As I was meeting with my community partner (who is an immigrant from a Latin country), the founder of New Hope Girls—my now boss!— came to speak to our class. What if I didn’t go to class that day? What if I had been sick? My life would be so different right now.

This is worth mentioning because my young life split into a vast ‘what-if?’ when I moved to Nashville instead of Chicago, and when the opportunity to come to the DR came up. For instance, if factors outside my control had remained within the safe of predictability, I would have been a film student in Chicago and I certainly would have been a different person. This is all speculation, but I probably never would have gone to church again, I would have burned out from film school (really, not my thing…what was I thinking?), and 100% I never would have made it to the DR.

(Thank God that is not what happened!).

Instead, I have secured my dream job within a fantastic organization. Every day, I know my work contributes to the liberation of young girls from the darkest places. New Hope Girls advocates for and acts upon their mission to eradicate sex trafficking from the Dominican Republic. That is worth fighting for! That is worth the journey, time commitment—all of it. I’m thankful to be a part of it, and I anticipate these next few weeks in the States, bearing witness to how the work done in the DR affects, encourages, and emboldens Americans to action.

Santiago 🙂

Helping out with a fabric pick-up to make more beautiful bags! They are made by mothers in the local neighborhood! New Hope provides dignifying wages, hours, and free daycare!