"The reality of life in the Dominican Republic is poverty. Most families need every single member of the family to work just to put food on the table, including the children. This picture is of some children that we met the first week in Santo Domingo. Children came up to us and asked to shine our shoes for 100 pesos, which is about three dollars; other children come up asking for food or money to buy food. This is daily life for many Dominicans. I knew going down there that we would encounter poverty and homelessness, but I couldn't have prepared myself for as much. I wrote in my journal, “ It's sad to see so many children begging for food and money. As a social work student, I'm frustrated with how little the government cares for the people, especially the children. There really are no laws to protect citizens here in the Dominican Republic.” I was overwhelmed with the amount of help needed, but the experience made me realize how blessed we are to live in the United States and how much we take for granted, even something as simple as drinking water from the faucet unpurified."